This is an extremely well-built unit, but beware. If you don't have some very serious horsepower behind your effort, some serious garage tools other than a little starter socket set, and two strong men, it may not be worth the effort. The main post is a beast. It comes in 3 parts, which press together only with Hurculean effort. And you get only one chance because if you actually manage to get them pressed in even a half inch of the 5 or 6 inches required, they aren't coming apart again. Just banging it on that scrap piece of wood they recommend isn't going to work. An hour later, I still had half to go with no sign of progress for the better part of that effort. In the end, I ended up pressing the assembly between an F250 and an oak tree. That's all I had left. That actually worked, but there's a story behind that due to my wife being behind the wheel while I held the beam in place, which is the stuff of tragic comedy. I just needed another quarter inch to get the first bolt hole lined up, which she interpreted as "put the pedal to the floor." That otherwise solid and nearly indestructible 9 foot beam turned into a four foot tangled steel mess, a broken window in the truck, and a big black tire mark on the driveway as she spun the tires on dry concrete with 1500 pounds in the bed. Seriously, I should have gotten that on video. But one quick trip to the local steel supplier later with some good metal drill bits, and I recovered from that. At least now we have a solid steel post instead of an assembled one. If you have a winch or your unit was built differently than mine, you're golden. The rest is just taking your time and deciphering the otherwise very weird instructions. I give it 5 stars because I'm very happy with the result. The rim is spring mounted, which i consider a great feature much like what you see in the pro courts. There is no movement at all when the ball bounces off the backboard or rim. I'm fully confident this unit will outlast me. But seriously, take heed of my warning about the weight and assembly of this thing. I'd like to tell you it's a 2 hour assembly, and maybe if I had to do another myself, it would be knowing what I know. In all, with the failed first attempt and essentially fabricating a new main post, I had at least 5 hours in the assembly. But I did it myself with help only in the end moving it into place. One little tip. When you're ready to right it for the first time with an empty base, it absolutely will flop over to the other side and come crashing down. Kids and pets inside! Ask me how I know. But even crashing down with the full weight and inertia on the rim and back glass at 9.8m/s/s, it wasn't damaged in the least. This is a very well built unit. The spring mounted rim saved it, believe it or not, and the backboard is bulletproof. If you can stomach half of what I'm saying, go for it. If any of this didn't resonate with you, choose another. The photo is the fabricated beam.
