Snap-on Equipment Courting Entry-Level Market with New Balancer and Changer

Snap-on Equipment has recently introduced new entry-level tyre changers and wheel balancers, which it believes will help workshops access greater wheel service revenue. Available under the Hofmann and John Bean brands, Snap-on offers offer a two-year warranty on the machines, which it says are “robustly built”. Installation and training are also provided as standard. Chris Behan, general manager, Snap-on Equipment, comments: “Our new entry-level tyre changers and wheel balancers are ideal for workshops seeking to expand their business into the tyre market, without compromising on quality or technology.”

In terms of the specification of these machines, both the Hofmann monty 1000 and John Bean T900 tyre changers feature a swing arm design for handling a wide range of rim and wheel sizes, as well as a 14mm-thick square turntable to withstand the increased bending forces when demounting and mounting large and low-profile tyres. Other features include foot pedals with high ground clearance for ease of use with safety boots and a proven wheel clamping system with plastic protection.

The new wheel balancers – the Hofmann geodyna 800 and John Bean b9100 – offer garages a spoke mode with a hidden weight placement function, five alloy modes, a motorcycle mode and Real Plane Imaging technology. The new balancers occupy minimal floor space thanks to a compact footprint and are equipped with a wheel guard as standard.

Snap-on also continues to offer an extensive range of tyre changing and wheel balancing equipment under the Hofmann and John Bean brands, which it believes will cover the service level volume of “any tyre shop”. The company says it focuses on providing customers with the right solution to handle the latest developments in undercar technology, exemplified by the recent introduction of two new ‘lever-less’ semi-automatic tyre changers under both the aforementioned brands.

The Hofmann monty 3300 racing AT plus and John Bean T5000-24 AT plus feature a reinforced tilt back post design and an automatic mounting head with an integrated ‘finger’ incorporated into a pneumatic mounting tool, enabling tyres to be handled without a lever. As a result, the new machines enable the user-friendly mounting and demounting of run-flat and ultra high performance tyres, Snap-on says. Both changers have an outer clamping range of up to 24” to meet what Snap-on perceives as a growing need for tyre shops and garages to handle larger wheel diameters fitted to an increasing number of cars on the road. Other standard features include a two-speed turntable for faster tyre changing and a double-acting bead breaker cylinder.

Hofmann and John Bean tyre changers are manufactured at Snap-on Equipment’s factory in Italy. Leading vehicle manufacturers such as Audi, BMW, Ford, Mercedes-Benz and VW provide original equipment recommendation for Hofmann and John Bean equipment.  Snap-on Equipment’s comprehensive aftersales support is designed to show customers that it understands garage equipment is business-critical. The company states that it is “the first manufacturer to achieve independent, third-party authorisation to provide training courses for the safe mounting and demounting of run-flat tyres” from WDK, the Association of the German Rubber Industry.