working around large hole spacing on power rack

[Dexhex]

Hello everyone,

recently i ordered this power rack (see attached picture). Now i finally received it and assembled it, and overall it seems to be really nice. 3" uprights, 11ga steel tubing, 30mm (1 3/16") solid steel safety rods, pullup bar is welded to the top frame and knurled on all grip positions. There is only one thing i'm concerned about: the hole spacing: it's 8cm (3 3/16") intervals (i.e. from middle of first hole to middle of next hole), and when doing flat bench presses i can't find a hole which fits my need, one is too high so i can't get the bar completely down to the chest, the next one is so low that i can't drop the bar on it.
Does any of you know a good workaround for such a problem? Maybe glue some rubber mats on a piece of plywood large enough to put my bench on and put that under my bench so i lie a bit higher? Or get some hollow steel rods of larger diameter and put those around the original safeties so the safeties get a bit higher?
I have 2 weeks to return the rack to the dealer if i don't like it, so if there is no workaround for my problem, i will probably send it back to the dealer and buy a powertec power rack instead (even a few bucks cheaper). I've seen a lot of people use the powertec power rack here, does it have a better hole spacing or do you have the same problem like i have with my barbarian rack with it?

[Edit: forgot to attach the picture of my rack :-P ]
Best wishes,
Dexhex

[Skidmarx]

Yeah your bench needs to come up....rubber mats, plywood, whatever works.

[Dexhex]

do you think it would be enough to just put two smaller pieces of plywood under the feet of my bench, or should i make something like a 60"x30" platform where i put my entire bench (and my own feet when doing bench presses) onto?
Has anyone actually ever made such a platform and can post a picture of it?

Best regards,
Dexhex

[Dexhex]

no one have an idea?
can anyone tell me the adjustment intervals of the powertec rack then? maybe i should just send my rack back and order the powertec one instead and avoid all that hazzle (well, unless the powertec has the same wide hole spacing...)?

[stunmai3]

My rack has 4" hole spacing, but luckily they are in the exact right positions. What about your bench, do you love it, or maybe it's time for an upgrade, maybe a shorter bench so as to use the next lower holes? Maybe a simple flat bench, they are usually lower?

[Skidmarx]

My rack spacing is 3" apart. On my old bench I cut two 6"x24" plywood strips for the feet of my bench, to raise it up. My new flat bench is the perfect high so I lucked out.

[Dexhex]

Thanks a lot to both of you for the input.
I have 2 benches, a flat bench (barbarian flat workbench) and a fid bench (barbarian fid bench), but unfortunately they are exactly the same height in the flat positions (well, maybe it has something to do with them being from the same manufacturer :-P ), and they are both awesome. I would ten times rather go for a new rack than exchange these benches...
I'm probably gonna try skidmarks suggestion and make 2 plywood strips.

Do you think my "other" idea about putting some hollow steel pipes around the safeties is feasible as well(i could certainly get these manufactured as i know a person who works in a company that makes such kind of stuff, but i don't know if the weight of these pipes and the handling would be acceptable)?

Best regards,
dexhex

[stunmai3]

Thanks a lot to both of you for the input.
I have 2 benches, a flat bench (barbarian flat workbench) and a fid bench (barbarian fid bench), but unfortunately they are exactly the same height in the flat positions (well, maybe it has something to do with them being from the same manufacturer :-P ), and they are both awesome. I would ten times rather go for a new rack than exchange these benches...
I'm probably gonna try skidmarks suggestion and make 2 plywood strips.

Do you think my "other" idea about putting some hollow steel pipes around the safeties is feasible as well(i could certainly get these manufactured as i know a person who works in a company that makes such kind of stuff, but i don't know if the weight of these pipes and the handling would be acceptable)?

Best regards,
dexhex

How much space are you trying to take up? I am guessing 1 1/2"- that would require a spacer 4" in diameter and the depth of the rack since you wouldn't want to take a chance on it sliding away or missing it, so that would be a HUGE chunk of metal! What about spacing the rack UP, on lengths of 2x4's? (They are 1 3/4 thick)

[Dexhex]

yeah you are right that would probably be very unwieldy.
But i like your idea of spacing the rack up, would be very easy as the lower frame of it is designed to stand on 4 feet anyway. THANKS!!

[Keetman]

I have the same problem, but I got an idea here a few months ago that has helped me.
I set the safeties at the lower of the two close settings. If I fail and can't push the bar up I slowly lower it to my chest & roll it back to the low position over my neck. Sounds weird, but the safety is lower than my chest & higher than my neck.

It'll work unless your planning to fail to a point that you can't safely maneuver the bar to your chest. A dropped bar, like a failed squat, would be a really bad situation!
I haven't had to modify anything this way.

[Kung-Fool]

I'd just cut a piece of 3/4" plywood wide enough to fit inside the rack and long enough that your bench and feet will rest on it when benching.

[AaronCF]

I noticed with my powertec rack while benching, the bar will hit my chest before it hits the sabres, but if I roll the bar back a little toward my neck, it finds the sabres and then I can roll it back over my head... Is this feasible in your situation?

I'm not sure of the distance between holes, will measure when I get home.

[Dexhex]

I already tried that but i have to roll it very high up to my neck in order to hit the sabres. But today i bought large piece of plywood (about 3/4" thick) and put it under my bench, and it seems to be fine now.

Thanks a lot for your input everyone!!

Dexhex