Wheel alignment and electrical

Donstar · January 10, 2021

No issue, just curious. Today I had my truck in for a wheel alignment at a popular tire store. I noticed the rear lights were on while the truck was on the hoist. When I peeked in later, I noticed the hood was up. Everything works fine and I was pleased with the service. My curiosity now has the better of me and can't figure out why the lights were on or why they needed to be in the engine compartment for adjusting wheel alignment. One theory I have is that they left the ignition on so the steering lock wouldn't engage and later needed a boost to start the truck. However, the lights are on auto and I think they would of told me if my battery was weak. Is there an obvious explanation ?

CamGTP · January 10, 2021

Depending on the alignment machine and lift we would leave the vehicle is neutral because we would roll the vehicle back and foward again for a rolling compensation. From there we chalk the left rear tire and do a caster swing. When doing that the we would put a brake pedal depresser on, start the vehicle, do the swing left to right and center the steering wheel and shut it off.

If the service took a long time because of frozen up parts it wasn't uncommon for it to drain the battery down. The key always has to be in the ignition so the steering wheel doesn't lock.

Donstar · January 10, 2021

9 hours ago, CamGTP said:

Depending on the alignment machine and lift we would leave the vehicle is neutral because we would roll the vehicle back and foward again for a rolling compensation. From there we chalk the left rear tire and do a caster swing. When doing that the we would put a brake pedal depresser on, start the vehicle, do the swing left to right and center the steering wheel and shut it off.

If the service took a long time because of frozen up parts it wasn't uncommon for it to drain the battery down. The key always has to be in the ignition so the steering wheel doesn't lock.

Thank you! This explanation fits perfectly with my observations. I was very impressed with this shop and assumed they had good reason. This shop was so good they may have burst my 20 year loyalty to Michelin tires! "All weather" tires with long tread life warranties are now high on my research list!

BlackisBeautiful · January 10, 2021

Hunter Equipment is in most chain stores and their process/procedures have a brake pedal depressor to set the toe on older equipment and caster sweeps on all of them. Batteries running down is common so jumping to start would not necessarily mean there was anything wrong with the battery.

Hope that helps.

slimjim2525 · January 10, 2021

11 hours ago, CamGTP said:

Depending on the alignment machine and lift we would leave the vehicle is neutral because we would roll the vehicle back and foward again for a rolling compensation. From there we chalk the left rear tire and do a caster swing. When doing that the we would put a brake pedal depresser on, start the vehicle, do the swing left to right and center the steering wheel and shut it off.

If the service took a long time because of frozen up parts it wasn't uncommon for it to drain the battery down. The key always has to be in the ignition so the steering wheel doesn't lock.

WOW, great explanation. I would NEVER have known.