Rogue's first R3.5?

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I'm pretty sure I'm not the first person to do this, but I haven't seen anyone else with a setup like this lol Not bragging or anything, just saying. So I've had this ****ty A-Frame weight tree for some time now, the thing wobbles, doesn't have enough space for all my plates, and it's a pain in the ass to walk around the rack to put plates on the other side of the barbell.

Instead of spending $700+ on R6 parts to attach to my R3, I decided to sacrifice half of my rack and just buy the Vertical Plate Storage pins and Spotter Arms to make a much cheaper version of the R6. It ended up costing me exactly half of the cost of R6 parts so it wouldn't be a total disaster if it didn't work out.

Shipping took 2 days, it arrived last night but I had already lifted and was tired from work so I didn't attempt to attach everything and make this crappy review lol. Once I attached everything to the rack this morning, my initial impression was that it looked bad ass. The Spotter Arms are absolute monsters, they weigh a little over 15Lbs each and are apparently made out of 7 gauge steel. The weight storage on the back made that space look much bigger now and it resembles a more minimalist version of an EFS rack.

I haven't failed a lift in so long I actually can't remember lol But I won't hesitate to drop the bar on the Spotter Arms should I need to, I feel no less secure then I did lifting inside the rack. They're 20" and imo are long enough, unless you completely fell backwards during squats I doubt you'll ever miss them. Another thing I like is the plastic on them, shrugging on the pine/pipe safeties left marks on the safeties and bar so the plastic will offer more protection for my TPB.

The one issue people might find with with Spotter Arms is that because of the different hole spacing, the hole for the pin on the bottom of the Arms will only line up with every other hole, but it would take quite a lot of lateral force to even come close to knocking them out of the hole because of the size.

The Vertical Storage is awesome, they're long enough to hold twice the amount of weights that I have and I doubt any amount of plates could even remotely damage them or the pins that hold them in place.

The one major drawback for me, is that I can't do Suspended Chain GM', Squats, Presses, etc. I'm gonna have to get creative to figure out how to perform these now.

Although I've only done one workout with this setup, I'm incredibly satisfied with the attachments and if someone is looking to get an R6, I highly recommend considering buying an R3 with 4 Single Vertical Storage, 2 Double vertical Storage, and Spotter Arms for $500-$600 less then getting an R6. I hope this terrible review can save someone money, that's pretty much why I decided to do this :D

Very cool. If you put your 45's on the lowest horns, and your j-hooks on the inside of the front uprights, would you be able to squat within the rack, facing out?

[QUOTE=Stasher1;986844743]Very cool. If you put your 45's on the lowest horns, and your j-hooks on the inside of the front uprights, would you be able to squat within the rack, facing out?[/QUOTE]
I'm sure I can but I wouldn't bother doing that just for Squats, the 45's are at the perfect height right now for me. Now that I think of it, for me to do Suspended Chain GM's and what not, I could probably just take off the 45's and do them normally.

This is what I meant with the Spotter misalignment with every other hole.
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Very cool, Im glad youre happy with it. Looks nice. Is that a TPB? I can tell them from far away, hahha.

[QUOTE=Accutron;986854303]Very cool, Im glad youre happy with it. Looks nice. Is that a TPB? I can tell them from far away, hahha.[/QUOTE]
Haha yeah it is, I'm obsessed with it since I started with one of those cheap Troy bars that comes with the 300Lb VTX Set

[QUOTE=IronAddict7;986840713]
But I won't hesitate to drop the bar on the Spotter Arms should I need to, I feel no less secure then I did lifting inside the rack. They're 20" and imo are long enough, unless you completely fell backwards during squats I doubt you'll ever miss them. Another thing I like is the plastic on them, shrugging on the pine/pipe safeties left marks on the safeties and bar so the plastic will offer more protection for my TPB. [/QUOTE]

Any concerns about the rack flipping forward? If you have moved alot of the weight from the rack to the bar and it lands towards the end of the spotters that is alot of leverage without much to stop it.

[QUOTE=BuckWyld;986858023]Any concerns about the rack flipping forward? If you have moved alot of the weight from the rack to the bar and it lands towards the end of the spotters that is alot of leverage without much to stop it.[/QUOTE]
The rack is bolted into the floor, it's basically indestructible lol

[QUOTE=IronAddict7;986847143]

This is what I meant with the Spotter misalignment with every other hole.
[IMG]http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd81/shanej8/2012-11-30_14-20-24_343.jpg[IMG][/QUOTE]

Regarding the alignment, is it supposed to be like that? (Pic in post #3)

I've wanted to build that exact same setup for so long, looks awesome man!

[QUOTE=IronAddict7;986855143]Haha yeah it is, I'm obsessed with it since I started with one of those cheap Troy bars that comes with the 300Lb VTX Set[/QUOTE]

Me too hahah, I can tell by the way it holds the chalk my TPB is the same with the chalk...

[QUOTE=Accutron;986860073]Regarding the alignment, is it supposed to be like that? (Pic in post #3)[/QUOTE]

the westside hole spacing does not go all the way to the bottom so for some of the holes in the 1" hole section do not have corresponding lower holes for the pin. If he moved the spotter up or down 1" (hole) then it would match up.

[QUOTE=Accutron;986860073]Regarding the alignment, is it supposed to be like that? (Pic in post #3)[/QUOTE]
I didn't mean misalignment in that sense. If you think about it, with 1" & 2" spacing in the uprights, it would be impossible to have it line up with all of them unless there were two holes for the bottom pin, offsetting each other. It lines up with every other hole so it is not a problem at all imo, more of an observation. For Benching today, it happen to line up perfectly for me and even if it didn't, there would only be a 1" difference. There's no safety concerns with it, I can't see how one could manage to hit it hard enough for it to swing upward.

EDIT- I'll take a picture of the Spotter Arms in a little so you can see what I mean.

[QUOTE=IronAddict7;986863253]I didn't mean misalignment in that sense. If you think about it, with 1" & 2" spacing in the uprights, it would be impossible to have it line up with all of them unless there were two holes for the bottom pin, offsetting each other. It lines up with every other hole so it is not a problem at all imo, more of an observation. For Benching today, it happen to line up perfectly for me and even if it didn't, there would only be a 1" difference. There's no safety concerns with it, I can't see how one could manage to hit it hard enough for it to swing upward.

EDIT- I'll take a picture of the Spotter Arms in a little so you can see what I mean.[/QUOTE]

OMG sorry bro, slow day for my brain, I know 100% what you mean sorry about that. That Westside spacing is awesome.

[QUOTE=IronAddict7;986863253]I didn't mean misalignment in that sense. If you think about it, with 1" & 2" spacing in the uprights, it would be impossible to have it line up with all of them unless there were two holes for the bottom pin, offsetting each other. It lines up with every other hole so it is not a problem at all imo, more of an observation. For Benching today, it happen to line up perfectly for me and even if it didn't, there would only be a 1" difference. There's no safety concerns with it, I can't see how one could manage to hit it hard enough for it to swing upward.

EDIT- I'll take a picture of the Spotter Arms in a little so you can see what I mean.[/QUOTE]

They should have made them with 2 holes so you could use it at every 1" increment through the bench region, sort of stupid and easy to fix. Oh well.

[QUOTE=f0rbidden;986868633]They should have made them with 2 holes so you could use it at every 1" increment through the bench region, sort of stupid and easy to fix. Oh well.[/QUOTE]
Well you really don't even need the pin in the bottom at all, there's just no way it could ever be a problem. Sorry if I mis-worded it, but I did not mean that you can't put the spotter arms in every hole, I only meant you can't put the pin in every hole, which isn't necessary to begin with imo.

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Those aren't scratches on the safeties btw, just some dirt lol

my earlier version spotters don't have that bottom hole to put a pin. it isn't necessary

[QUOTE=jshpark;986886283]my earlier version spotters don't have that bottom hole to put a pin. it isn't necessary[/QUOTE]
They probably only added it to make people feel more secure, one less thing for them to complain about.

Any way you can upload a side angle picture?

I still dont see why you cant use the rack for its purpose and just get some suspended safety straps/chains?

Thats why im interested in a side angle pic

[QUOTE=817boy;986921973]Any way you can upload a side angle picture?

I still dont see why you cant use the rack for its purpose and just get some suspended safety straps/chains?

Thats why im interested in a side angle pic[/QUOTE]
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EDIT- Just to make sure, I put on the 45's and slowly squatted down and immediately hit the Storage Horn with the 10's on it. There just isn't enough room.

[QUOTE=IronAddict7;986928633][IMG]http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd81/shanej8/2012-11-30_17-33-37_544.jpg[/IMG]
EDIT- Just to make sure, I put on the 45's and slowly squatted down and immediately hit the Storage Horn with the 10's on it. There just isn't enough room.[/QUOTE]

Understandable, one more suggestion (not trying to frustrate you or anything) just trying stuff out.

Anyway you could put the weight horns on the safety spotter arms (might not even be able to work) just trying to make rack more versitile.

thanks for the side pic, nice set up you have.

[QUOTE=817boy;986937633]Understandable, one more suggestion (not trying to frustrate you or anything) just trying stuff out.

Anyway you could put the weight horns on the safety spotter arms (might not even be able to work) just trying to make rack more versitile.

thanks for the side pic, nice set up you have.[/QUOTE]
I actually thought about that but I'm gonna have to have the spotters free for when I use bands because putting pins in the spotter arms is the only way I can use bands now lol

[QUOTE=IronAddict7;986941393]I actually thought about that but I'm gonna have to have the spotters free for when I use bands because putting pins in the spotter arms is the only way I can use bands now lol[/QUOTE]

Gotcha. Well nice setup you have. I like what you did w/ the fans (so simple and cheaper than the bigger revolving fans w/ stands.

Great post, real nice setup. I've been thinking about doing this for a while.. I'm not sure if I'll ever do it, but it's nice to have a photo to reference if I ever decide to go that route. Thanks

[QUOTE=817boy;986946323]Gotcha. Well nice setup you have. I like what you did w/ the fans (so simple and cheaper than the bigger revolving fans w/ stands.[/QUOTE]
Thanks, the fans were one of the first things I thought of because we had those t.v. holders lying around in the garage and I just put 2 and 2 together lol saved a ton of money
[QUOTE=thejosef;987231993]Great post, real nice setup. I've been thinking about doing this for a while.. I'm not sure if I'll ever do it, but it's nice to have a photo to reference if I ever decide to go that route. Thanks[/QUOTE]
Thanks a lot, I would definitely recommend it if plate storage is an issue, but it's definitely not a necessity. I was saving up for an Edge Fitness Mono Attachment but I figured this would be a better use of my money. One thing I wish I had done was put more space between the wall and the R3, another 3 inches would give me enough room to put plates on without almost crushing my fingers, I just have to watch where I'm holding the 45's before I put them on.

I have a small update even though it's only been a day lol I solved the issue of not being able to use the Suspended Chain exercises that I like to do, here's a picture of a simple solution I should have thought of in the first place.
[IMG]http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd81/shanej8/2012-12-01_11-43-31_747.jpg[/IMG]
Obviously the chains won't be set that low, I just didn't feel like adjusting them just for the picture.

[QUOTE=IronAddict7;987257513]Thanks, the fans were one of the first things I thought of because we had those t.v. holders lying around in the garage and I just put 2 and 2 together lol saved a ton of money

Thanks a lot, I would definitely recommend it if plate storage is an issue, but it's definitely not a necessity. I was saving up for an Edge Fitness Mono Attachment but I figured this would be a better use of my money. One thing I wish I had done was put more space between the wall and the R3, another 3 inches would give me enough room to put plates on without almost crushing my fingers, I just have to watch where I'm holding the 45's before I put them on.

I have a small update even though it's only been a day lol I solved the issue of not being able to use the Suspended Chain exercises that I like to do, here's a picture of a simple solution I should have thought of in the first place.
[IMG]http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd81/shanej8/2012-12-01_11-43-31_747.jpg[/IMG]
Obviously the chains won't be set that low, I just didn't feel like adjusting them just for the picture.[/QUOTE]

Looks great. Some really good ideas and innovative solutions. You have me thinking more about thes uses of the spotter arms.

[QUOTE=GarageIron;987308473]Looks great. Some really good ideas and innovative solutions. You have me thinking more about thes uses of the spotter arms.[/QUOTE]
Thank you, I didn't think they'd be so useful when I ordered them lol Now I realize you can use them for Benching/Squatting with Bands, Suspended Chain Exercises, Spotters, and if you had an R4 Rod/Pipe safety, you could put it through the Spotter Arms and use it for pull ups if you wanna superset benching and pull ups and your Bar is in the way of the pull up bar.

It actually got me thinking about an extremely easy, affordable and depth adjustable monolift add on. I'm sure you can see what I mean. Will those things fit inside the 24"?