Fold Up Racks

[LimieJosh]

Does anyone have any experience with the racks designed to be folded back into the wall after use? Rogue has about 6 different ones that are difficult to discern the difference among them. So, anyone got any experience with these? And if so, what options are must haves?

[Michael Wolf]

I'm not sure which specific model they are, but Inna uses these at Woodmere Fitness Club. I've staffed several seminars there where we used them throughout the weekend and they seemed fine. I don't think she's here on the forum but would probably answer an email inquiry or something, or maybe someone here knows which model they are.

[Satch12879]

I have one. With the new prefabricated steel stringers that Rogue sells, installation is child’s play.

N.b.; if you are mounting this on the side wall of your garage, that single course of CMU at the bottom will force you to locate the lower support higher than the instructions specify. This can mess up placement of the safety spotter arms. They won’t be unusable; you’ll just not get the full range out of them. It can also prevent you from completely closing the unit.

Other than that, it is great. I don’t worry about the thing coming off the wall, chins are stable, a great option.

[LimieJosh]

Thanks, Wolf. My main concern was whether they are fit for purpose. If Inna uses them and youve seen no obvious issues then I think I can put that concern aside.

[wsmoran]

The only concern is that those are built to lift outside of the rack, similar to how you would lift at a half rack or squat stands. If you take this route, definitely buy spotter arms.

[Adam Levine]

I just had the opportunity to use some PRx vertical folding racks when getting a free "evaluation" from another non-SSC local lifting coach that probably won't work out. The racks were very nice, but pricier than Rogue's side-folding racks.

I'm considering buying their side-fold rack. Unfortunately, my ceilings are too low for their vertical fold rack.

-->Adam

[Terry G]

I have one and love it. Without it, we could not have gotten both cars in the garage, and that was a must. I have the deeper 41" Rogue ML.

A couple of notes...

I took a full morning to install it....maybe a little longer. I took the whole "measure twice; cut once" thing to a new level. It was only my 2nd time to use stringers, and I wanted these to look better than the 1st time from a uniformity & neatness perspective, particularly the placement of my lag screws (This was before the Rogue stringers were out.) I also wanted my uprights to never be resting directly on the brackets themselves - they are always on the floor (with spacers) and the 'wall side' is always 'floating' in the bracket so the 'vertical axles' (I don't know what to call these?!?) are bearing the weight.

If you want to risk it with Titan, be aware that their brackets seem to have much less play in them than Rogue's. I HAD to have that play because my uprights rest on the little step / tire stop when folded, but down on the regular garage floor when unfolded. This is another reason why I was so careful/patience with the install - I had a couple of "moving parts" to consider. That extra play would also come in handy if you were 'off' just a bit in your measurements.

Lastly, I do use use spotters like someone else recommended, but I think I read somewhere that you are not supposed to on this type of rack....but I am also not loading the bar with super-heavy weights and the safer route always wins here. if I were squatting or rack pulling big weights, I don't think I'd feel super-comfortable with any kind of wall mount (in a residential setting). Define "big weight" however you want.

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[Evelyn O'Donnell]

This thread is a few months old, but I'll add my two cents. We recently got one of the Rogue fold-up racks, which I love. They basically told me that if I install the rack improperly, then it's on me (literally) if I drop a heavy weight on the spotter arms and the whole thing comes crashing down. So, yeah, the spotter arms fit and are useful. But you have to install the rack properly, which is true with or without the spotter arms.

One thing I'd mention: Depending on where you need to install the bottom stringer, you might not be able to use the spotter arms where you want them, because the horizonal arm and its hardware interfere with the arms, which take up about four holes of vertical space. In fact, my skinny son needs the spotter arms lower than I do for his bench, and they can't go that low. So he has to ask me for a spot when he wants to bench, which is fine for now. When he gets strong enough that it's hard for me to spot him, maybe his chest will be big enough that he can put the spotter arms up a notch!