Not everyone was a fan of the bulky, costly bench repair systems that started appearing in bodyshops back in the early days. Master collision repair technician Raine Ruitta longed for a much simpler and more affordable way to pull and straighten vehicle frames and components.

So he picked up a pencil and paper and started sketching. The result, supported by his employer at a large and successful Vancouver operation, was a new way to anchor, measure and straighten damaged vehicles – a lightweight but incredibly strong system of wedges and clamps that used the shop’s concrete floor as an anchor base, adaptable to any unibody vehicle.

It was the first Wedge Clamp System. Since that time in the late 1980s, the amazing Wedge Clamp System has slowly but surely been changing the car repair process in enlightened bodyshops all over the world – a process that accelerated in 2014, when the company was wholly acquired by the Craftsman Group of Companies, owner of the well-known Craftsman Collision autobody chain. Today with more than 27,000 installations in North America and in countries as far away as Germany and Japan, autobody technicians are delighting in the many benefits of the Wedge Clamp’s ingenious simplicity.

No more heavy lifting, no more unwieldy pieces of equipment, no more wasted space, and no more having to move vehicles around the shop every time you perform a different task. Instead, you can tie virtually any full-frame or unibody car or light truck to floor-mounted rails in under 10 minutes – saving time, effort and money in anchoring, measuring and pulling. Repairs are faster, easier and more profitable for the business owner. And clean-up is a breeze, with many of the components hanging in convenient space-saving racks on the wall, leaving a clear floor for the next job.

The Wedge Clamp System’s light weight, portability and modest space requirements make it ideal for the many small and medium-size jobs comprising so many of today’s collision repair claims. And with the significant resources and marketing expertise of the Craftsman Group behind them, Wedge Clamp has stepped into a much brighter global spotlight.

Additionally, since the Craftsman Group purchase, Wedge Clamp has taken on the distribution rights to a number of new products. They include the ultra-efficient NitroHeat nitrogen spraypainting system, a sophisticated static-eliminating, hand-held, paint-prep device, the Eclipse Plus Electronic Measuring System, and two plastic welding systems, Nitro Weld and Fusion Plus.

Anchoring Wedge Clamp’s presence in the important U.S. market is the company’s base in Los Angeles, while in China, Asian business continues to expand from regional headquarters in Suzhou (near Shanghai). And in 2019, autobody business veteran Mark Greenberg took the helm at Wedge Clamp, bringing years of valuable experience as an autobody repair technician (for which he still holds his Red Seal Certification), realtor, bodyshop manager, Alberta Regional Manager and General Manager of Business Development with Craftsman Collision. Wedge Clamp is excited to be championing technologies geared to driving the autobody repair industry towards greater efficiency, environmental sustainability and profitability.