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Jake Rodenroth of asTech on Vehicle Tech’s Relation to Collision Repair Diagnostics

Telematics, Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and OEM repair procedures are all predicted to significantly impact the way vehicles are repaired in the future, according to Jake Rodenroth, director of OEM and industry technical relations for asTech.

During a virtual presentation co-sponsored by the Nebraska Auto Body Association (NABA) and the Kansas Auto Body Association (KABA), Rodenroth shared insight about several vehicle technologies and how they relate to collision repair diagnostics. He also discussed some of the future concerns technicians will likely face.

Diagnostics

In the evolving landscape of vehicle diagnostics, Rodenroth said body shops must recognize the difference between collision diagnostics and mechanical diagnostics.

“Collision repair technicians and mechanical technicians will look at the same vehicle from a very different perspective,” said Rodenroth. Speaking from firsthand experience working as a master technician for a large OEM in his earlier career, he shared the difference between the two.

On the mechanical side, most of the repairs revolve around a concern or the vehicle’s maintenance schedule.

“The technician’s job is to identify the cause of that concern and then recommend the correction or repair on the vehicle,” said Rodrenroth.

Since many mechanical repairs are routine, he said the correction is usually predictable. Therefore, a

My SEMA variety of tools can be used to access the systems responsible for the with Stacey Phillips cause. Ultimately, mechanical diagnostics comes down to first identifying the concern, and then the cause and correction. In comparison, collision diShop Strategies agnostics involves having technicians first confirm the vehicle model and trim levwith Victoria Antonelli el and then determining the cause and correction. It also involves inspecting the severity of damage by confirmProduct Innovation Jake Rodenroth, asTech’s director of OEM and industry ing body specification and suspension geometry using pre-alignments and 3D meawith Ed Attanasio technical relations, wearing augmented reality glasses suring systems. “The trim level designates how many features and control modules it has,” said Rodenroth. “All collisions are inheritably differOE Shop Certification ent and there is nothing routine about each vehicle repair.” with Gary Ledoux

Often dealing with the newest vehicles in the worst shape, technicians need access to all vehicle control modules and features to ensure a safe and proper repair. Welding and painting operations, as well as vehicle disassembly, may impact the vehicle control systems. In addition, many labor operations require ADAS calibration.

“After a collision, we should be really focused on making sure we see all of the modules and identify all of the problems as proactively as possible,” said Rodenroth.

OEM Repair Procedures & Scan Tools

Although some collision repair technicians turn to YouTube when looking for information to repair a vehicle, Rodenroth highly advises checking the OEM repair procedures.

“I feel like we learn on every car,” he said. “We have to humble

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