Fitting out a vehicle workshop: what to buy first, and in what order
Lifts, washing and tyre equipment bought in the wrong order leave a bay that cannot be used. The sequence that works.
Workshop equipment is one of the few divisions here bought as often by a single operator as by a fleet. The questions are the same either way, but the order they are answered in decides whether the bay works on the first day or after the second order.
The bay decides the machine
Before any equipment is specified, three measurements settle most of it: the clear height of the bay, the floor slab, and the water and power available at that point. Garage lifting equipment is the item most often bought against a vehicle list and then found not to fit the building - a two-post lift needs headroom the drawing shows and the roof truss does not.
Washing comes next and is where the services matter. Washing, drying and cleaning equipment has a water consumption figure as well as a power figure, and on sites where water is bought by the tanker the first decides running cost more than the second. Steam units use markedly less water than pressure washing for the same result, which is why they sell into markets where water is expensive.
Tyre care equipment is usually last and usually underestimated. A changer and balancer sized for passenger cars will not take light commercial rims, and most workshops in our markets end up doing both.
Single bay or several
Fleet operators, municipalities and service chains buy this division in quantity, and the specification changes when they do. Across several sites the argument for identical equipment is not price - it is that one set of consumables, one set of spares and one training session covers the lot. Tell us how many bays and whether they are identical, and the quotation reflects it.
Judging the supplier
Workshop equipment is where a quotation most often hides the installation. Ask any Chinese supplier, including us:
- What arrives assembled and what does not, and what tools are needed to commission it.
- The anchor requirement for lifting equipment, in writing, before the slab is poured if the building is new.
- Water and power at the machine, not nominal ratings.
- Whether the quotation includes the consumables needed to run it for the first month.
For African and South American buyers
Supply voltage is the recurring issue. Most of the African markets we ship into run 230 V or 240 V at 50 Hz; parts of South America and the Caribbean run 110 V to 127 V at 60 Hz, which changes the motor, not just the plug. It is the easiest thing to get right beforehand and the most expensive to discover after arrival. Name the supply in the enquiry.
Send the bay dimensions, the vehicles you handle and the number of sites. Request a quotation, or see the full workshop range.