A vehicle-straightening bench (20) is utilized to apply pulling forces to a
damaged vehicle chassis to restore the damaged chassis to an original
configuration. The bench includes a vehicle platform (22) with a carriage
track (24) having a plurality of carriage assemblies (100) movably
received by the carriage track (24). Each carriage assembly (100) supports
a pulling assembly (200) for applying the pulling forces. A trapezoidal
carriage body (102) of the carriage assembly (100) rolls in the carriage
track (24), and the carriage assembly also includes a tower positioning
mechanism (104) to hold the pulling assemblies (200) in place while the
carriage body (102) is are rolled on the track (24). The carriage assembly
(100) also includes a locking mechanism (106) to lock them in place during
a vehicle a pull. A force arm (206) is extended between the pulling
mechanism (200) and the platform (22), so that the carriage assembly (100)
is not the only force transmission path between the pulling assembly (200)
and the bench (20). The automated control system (300) of the bench (20)
utilizes two hydraulic pumps(316, 314) to power front and back lifts (65,
64), respectively. Only one of the pumps (314) is used by the pulling
assemblies (200). A PLC (308) and a remote control (310) are used to
control the bench (20).
