spotter bar for weider squat rack

I just bought a weider squat rack (including a bench, bar and plates
that I don't really need) for $100 on craigslist. I thought I was
getting a real deal.

When I brought it home and finished assembling it, it did not include
spotter bars, but it did have the little "placement pins" that would
be about shoulder height in squat rack.

The original owner said that there were no spotter bars originally,
and he has been really cool throughout the whole transaction so I
believe him. The model looks like this:

http://www.iconservice.com/pdf/WEBE96490.pdf

but I don't have the exact model number right now as it is under the
bench, not where I am.

Weider appears to have discontinued all similar squat racks, and so
has no spotter bars parts to sell.

My concern is safety. I think that using two lengths of black
plumber's pipe would work well, but I wanted to check to see what
others with more experience thought.

Thanks

cumin <jkilbourne@gmail.com> writes:

> I just bought a weider squat rack (including a bench, bar and plates
> that I don't really need) for $100 on craigslist. I thought I was
> getting a real deal.

If what you bought is anything like the PDF you linked to you did very
well indeed.

> When I brought it home and finished assembling it, it did not include
> spotter bars, but it did have the little "placement pins" that would
> be about shoulder height in squat rack.

That's a bit of a bummer, but you can purchase replacement parts
relatively inexpensively.

Is this what you need?

http://www.newyorkbarbells.com/safetybars.html

> The original owner said that there were no spotter bars originally,
> and he has been really cool throughout the whole transaction so I
> believe him. The model looks like this:
>
> http://www.iconservice.com/pdf/WEBE96490.pdf
>
> but I don't have the exact model number right now as it is under the
> bench, not where I am.
>
> Weider appears to have discontinued all similar squat racks, and so
> has no spotter bars parts to sell.
>
> My concern is safety. I think that using two lengths of black
> plumber's pipe would work well, but I wanted to check to see what
> others with more experience thought.

You probably want a solid steel bar here. I am not sure what "black
plumber's pipe" consists of, but you don't want to find out that it
isn't sturdy enough after missing a heavy bench press. If you replace
the solid steel pins with a pipe you could very well be turning your
squat rack into a human sized mouse trap.

The good news is that replacement pins are probably less than $50, and
that means that you got a bench and squat rack for the ridiculously
low price of $150.

Jason

"cumin" <jkilbourne@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1178127145.145838.179610@n76g2000hsh.googlegr oups.com...
> On May 2, 1:16 pm, Jason Earl <j...@xmission.com> wrote:
> > cumin <jkilbou...@gmail.com> writes:
> > > I just bought a weider squat rack (including a bench, bar and plates
> > > that I don't really need) for $100 on craigslist. I thought I was
> > > getting a real deal.
> >
> > If what you bought is anything like the PDF you linked to you did very
> > well indeed.
> >
> > > When I brought it home and finished assembling it, it did not include
> > > spotter bars, but it did have the little "placement pins" that would
> > > be about shoulder height in squat rack.
> >
> > That's a bit of a bummer, but you can purchase replacement parts
> > relatively inexpensively.
> >
> > Is this what you need?
> >
> > http://www.newyorkbarbells.com/safetybars.html
> >
> > > The original owner said that there were no spotter bars originally,
> > > and he has been really cool throughout the whole transaction so I
> > > believe him. The model looks like this:
> >
> > >http://www.iconservice.com/pdf/WEBE96490.pdf
> >
> > > but I don't have the exact model number right now as it is under the
> > > bench, not where I am.
> >
> > > Weider appears to have discontinued all similar squat racks, and so
> > > has no spotter bars parts to sell.
> >
> > > My concern is safety. I think that using two lengths of black
> > > plumber's pipe would work well, but I wanted to check to see what
> > > others with more experience thought.
> >
> > You probably want a solid steel bar here. I am not sure what "black
> > plumber's pipe" consists of, but you don't want to find out that it
> > isn't sturdy enough after missing a heavy bench press. If you replace
> > the solid steel pins with a pipe you could very well be turning your
> > squat rack into a human sized mouse trap.
> >
> > The good news is that replacement pins are probably less than $50, and
> > that means that you got a bench and squat rack for the ridiculously
> > low price of $150.
> >
> > Jason
>
> This looks perfect; I'm not interested in getting wrapped in collapsed
> metal. There are some videos of failed squats and bench presses on the
> web that are scary, which is why I got the squat cage in the first
> place.


You mean like this failed bench press...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xq-PQMQvS3Q

Cast your vote.. did he live or die?



> Weider didn't have the parts; I hadn't thought of trying someone else.
> Thanks
>

On May 2, 8:03 pm, "Richard" <n...@spam.invalid.domain> wrote:
> "cumin" <jkilbou...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>
> news:1178127145.145838.179610@n76g2000hsh.googlegr oups.com...
>
>
>
> > On May 2, 1:16 pm, Jason Earl <j...@xmission.com> wrote:
> > > cumin <jkilbou...@gmail.com> writes:
> > > > I just bought a weider squat rack (including a bench, bar and plates
> > > > that I don't really need) for $100 on craigslist. I thought I was
> > > > getting a real deal.
>
> > > If what you bought is anything like the PDF you linked to you did very
> > > well indeed.
>
> > > > When I brought it home and finished assembling it, it did not include
> > > > spotter bars, but it did have the little "placement pins" that would
> > > > be about shoulder height in squat rack.
>
> > > That's a bit of a bummer, but you can purchase replacement parts
> > > relatively inexpensively.
>
> > > Is this what you need?
>
> > >http://www.newyorkbarbells.com/safetybars.html
>
> > > > The original owner said that there were no spotter bars originally,
> > > > and he has been really cool throughout the whole transaction so I
> > > > believe him. The model looks like this:
>
> > > >http://www.iconservice.com/pdf/WEBE96490.pdf
>
> > > > but I don't have the exact model number right now as it is under the
> > > > bench, not where I am.
>
> > > > Weider appears to have discontinued all similar squat racks, and so
> > > > has no spotter bars parts to sell.
>
> > > > My concern is safety. I think that using two lengths of black
> > > > plumber's pipe would work well, but I wanted to check to see what
> > > > others with more experience thought.
>
> > > You probably want a solid steel bar here. I am not sure what "black
> > > plumber's pipe" consists of, but you don't want to find out that it
> > > isn't sturdy enough after missing a heavy bench press. If you replace
> > > the solid steel pins with a pipe you could very well be turning your
> > > squat rack into a human sized mouse trap.
>
> > > The good news is that replacement pins are probably less than $50, and
> > > that means that you got a bench and squat rack for the ridiculously
> > > low price of $150.
>
> > > Jason
>
> > This looks perfect; I'm not interested in getting wrapped in collapsed
> > metal. There are some videos of failed squats and bench presses on the
> > web that are scary, which is why I got the squat cage in the first
> > place.
>
> You mean like this failed bench press...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xq-PQMQvS3Q
>
> Cast your vote.. did he live or die?
>
> > Weider didn't have the parts; I hadn't thought of trying someone else.
> > , but Thanks

That wasn't one of the videos I saw.

The common denominator of all the failures I've seen is that the
lifter had spotters. I'm glad I got my cage; I think it's safer to
squat alone.

cumin <jkilbourne@gmail.com> writes:

> On May 2, 1:16 pm, Jason Earl <j...@xmission.com> wrote:

<snip>

>> You probably want a solid steel bar here. I am not sure what
>> "black plumber's pipe" consists of, but you don't want to find out
>> that it isn't sturdy enough after missing a heavy bench press. If
>> you replace the solid steel pins with a pipe you could very well be
>> turning your squat rack into a human sized mouse trap.
>>
>> The good news is that replacement pins are probably less than $50,
>> and that means that you got a bench and squat rack for the
>> ridiculously low price of $150.
>>
>> Jason
>
> This looks perfect; I'm not interested in getting wrapped in
> collapsed metal. There are some videos of failed squats and bench
> presses on the web that are scary, which is why I got the squat cage
> in the first place.

I couldn't resist the human-sized mousetrap image. I actually figured
that anyone buying a power rack (and not some other less effective
piece of equipment) probably understood what they were doing.

> Weider didn't have the parts; I hadn't thought of trying someone
> else. Thanks

Glad I could help.

Jason