Hunter Engineering

Hunter Engineering Company is an American multinational corporation and a leading manufacturer of automotive service equipment. Based in St. Louis, Missouri, the company was founded by Lee Hunter and incorporated in 1946. Hunter products include wheel alignment systems, wheel balancers, tire changers, brake lathes and brake testers for both cars and heavy duty truck and bus applications.

Company History

In 1936 Lee Hunter, Jr., a 23-year-old inventor, found himself frequently confronted with car battery failure in his Packard convertible. At that time it took several days to recharge a car battery. Hunter was determined to find a better, faster way. Hunter began experimenting and his efforts soon paid off as he developed a battery charger that worked in mere hours. His Kwikurent charger hit the market at the height of the Great Depression and they sold the $497 charger as fast as the company could make them.

After serving in both the U.S. Army in World War II, Hunter returned to St. Louis in 1946 and reopened his business under the name of Hunter Engineering. He went right to work on his groundbreaking inventions including the 'Tune-In' on car balancer and a new wheel alignment system called 'Lite-A-Line,' which became the industry standard for decades. At the same time, Hunter began assembling what would later become the largest dedicated U.S. field sales and service team in the industry. Hunter also laid the foundation for a global distribution base for Hunter products.

In 1969 Hunter took another important step introducing the F60/70 Compute-A-Line, the first successful computerized dynamic wheel aligner. Hunter would continue to lead the industry in the application of computer technology to wheel alignment with the introduction of the A111 in 1982, which laid the foundation for today's advanced computer-based 4-wheel alignment systems. Hunter introduced the first graphic displays to guide vehicle adjustments and it contained the first electronic database of manufacturers' alignment specifications.

Hunter again revolutionized wheel vibration control in 1997 by employing technology and creative solutions to meet a basic customer need. The GSP9700 Vibration Control System is a state-of-the-art wheel balancer that features a computer-simulated road test that measures and isolates non-balance-related wheel vibration. Wheel vibration is a major source of car owner complaints for service and tire shops and vehicle manufacturers.

Nearly 50 years after Lee Hunter founded Hunter Engineering Company, he was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in Dearborn, Michigan. In this shrine of automotive history, Lee Hunter shares the spotlight with industry giants like Henry Ford, Louis Chevrolet, Walter P. Chrysler and Soichiro Honda. The Hall of Fame places Hunter among “individuals who have made a dramatic impact on the development of the automobile and the automotive industry…”.

Products

  • Wheel Alignment Systems
    • HawkEye Digital Imaging Systems.
  • Wheel Balancers
    • GSP9700 Road Force Balancer.
    • SmartWeight Balancer
  • Tire Changers
    • Auto34 Leverless Tire Chager.
    • TCX550 Advanced Tabletop Tire Changer
    • TC3700 Center Post Tire Changer
  • Brake Lathes
    • OCL410 On-Car Brake Lathe.
    • BL505 Advanced Bench Lathe
  • Inspection Lane
    • Integrated Brake, Sideslip and Suspension Test Lanes.
  • Heavy Duty Truck & Bus
    • Multi-Axle Alignment Systems
    • Heavy Duty Tire Changers & Wheel Balancers
    • Brake Test Lanes

See also

  • Wheel alignment
  • Tire balance
  • Vehicle brake