Customer Reviews

Lifetime 1558 XL Base Height-Adjustable Portable Basketball System with Clear 52-Inch Square Shatter Guard Backboard

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is an excellent Basketball goal, at a very fair price. Once completed, you have an attractive basketball goal that looks like it means business...and it does. The goal's design is fairly heavy duty, and holds up well to fully grown people hanging briefly from the rim, along with the other expected abuses a hoops goal goes through. It adjusts easily, and is well-balanced, so that two people can relocate the goal without trouble. Filled with 407 pounds of sand (use DRY sand to speed this cumbersome process), the thing stays put once positioned, also. All-in-all, the finished product is very satisfactory, and I expect it to provide many years of healthy fun for my family.

Now for the headaches: Amazon says the goal will be shipped in its original packaging. The packaging is simply not up to the job, and my friendly Fed-Ex delivery person said that items of this size and weight that aren't given extra packaging rarely make it to their destination intact. In my case, the box had split open, and spilled several of the pipes comprising the pole, along with several of the hardware packets. (I notice from the other reviews that missing hardware is a frequesnt complaint.) Luckilly, my Fedex guy was able to gather the spilled parts, and nothing was lost or damaged. While Lifetime offers a toll-free number to obtain missing parts, it would be frustrating to have to wait for an essential part once assembly had commenced.

The other headache was the assembly instructions. Clarity was sacrificed in order to make the instructions as short as possible. Many steps could have been broken down into several sections, and illustrated in more detail. There was no complete parts list, and some of the pictures of parts were inaccurate or mislabled. There also seemed to be no order to the way the hardware was packaged. I consider myself very handy, but I was frustrated with these instructions, and ended up improvising a lot of the assembly. Consider the assembly a MAJOR PROJECT with poor instructions from Lifetime.

In the end, I am quite pleased with my new basketball goal and would reccommend it to others as long as one is aware of the potential headaches associated with shipping and assembly. The price is right, the free shipping very convenient, and the finished product looks GREAT, and plays well.

6-23-2010:
Two years later, and the system is still in excellent shape. It's been played hard, been exposed to extremes in temperature and weather for two years, and hasn't deteriorated in any noticeable way. I'd say this makes it an even better buy.

I bought this through Amazon a couple of years ago. Granted we have small kids here but sometimes the neighbors older kids would join us for some B Ball. This thing has held up well and has a bigger more solid backboard than many I've seen for sale at higher prices. After this gruelling Chicago winter and a sure-to-be stifling Chicago summer I will try to report back on its durability as it sits on the driveway year long. It's not recommended to assemble this alone, but I did. The instructions must have made sense or it wouldn't be standing. It took me the better part of a day. For goodness sake get DRY sand to fill this base up to save lots of time. It adjusts up and down for different heights very easily, my 9 year old could do it. After it's base is filled with sand (not water, especially if you live in subfreezing climates) it's so heavy I don't worry about it walking off on it's own, if you know what I mean. You have the option of mounting it on it's portable stand and base or on your garage. You can also install it permanently on the pole into a cement base of your own. The rim is also adjustable (spring loaded) for tension so you can have a firm rim or one that bounces a little if you choose. It looks a lot better than all the equally or higher priced models I see at K-Mart, Toys R Us, Wal-Mart and Target. I've seen models going for well over thousand dollars. This one is doing the job well at a quarter of that price. The backboard is not thick, less than half an inch, but it is more than enough. If I needed another I'd buy this one again. Best for the price I could find and I compared a lot of different models.

After a lot of time surfing the web for a portable basket ball hoop, I settled on this one. The large 52" backboard is great. When I see neighbors with smaller ones, they look so tiny I'm glad I didn't trade a couple of bucks for the smaller size. The base and adjustable pole seem to be very sturdy. Again, the slightly larger pole diameter is worth the extra $ as it makes a much sturdier looking hoop. Height adjustment is a breeze. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it works great. The only thing I don't like is that I have to stand on the base to do it, but maybe that's just because I'm short. The only other negative to me is that the backboard wobbles quite a bit when the ball hits it, especially towards the sides. I would have thought is should be more rigid.
As for the value, I was hard-pressed to find this same model cheaper anywhere, and the free super-saver shipping clinched the deal. According to the shipping terms, I fully expected to wait as much as two weeks for this to show up and we had it in 2 DAYS! (ordered Sunday, delivered Tuesday) That was great as a 7-year old waiting for his new toy does not have much patience.
I couldn't give an accurate time for assembly as we worked on ours here and there when we had time to fit it in. But I can say that the instructions were pretty easy to follow and doing it in bits and pieces didn't bother a thing. I will say though, that you have to take the time to read each step ahead of time at least once or twice through to make sure you don't miss anything. When we got all the way to the end we found that we had installed the pole in the plastic base backwards so that the height adjustment was on the front under the hoop instead of in the back over the base. Luckily we were able to remove the axle from the base with relative ease and just turn the pole around and re-install the wheels and axle. Other than this, our assembly went without a hitch. I also have to agree with the other reviewer who recommends DRY sand. For some reason, the sand we bought had some bags nice and dry and some damp. Even a little dampness causes the sand to clump and makes filling the base very aggravating and time consuming. We did not even consider water as we live in NY and this will be out all winter in sub-freezing temperatures.
Overall, we have been very happy with our purchase.

A very good value. Assembly took some time but everything went together smoothly. All parts are well labled for installation. The backboard shakes a little more than I had hoped, but not too bad. Height adjustment is very easy, my nine year old can easily adjust the height.

What an excellent portable basketball hoop. After much research, I chose this model for the size of the backboard and the adjustability. I am NOT disappointed. It took about 1 1/2 hours to put together (one person)although he is like MacGiver. This system is easy to adjust. My 7 yr old son (4ft tall) can adjust it to any height he likes at any time. Filled the base with water and it is moveable. Love the larger backboard as the narrower ones just wouldn't cut it. Definately worth the money!

O.k. I am not sure what the problem is with directions that everyone is talking about. I read all the reviews and warned my son we might be hours after buying this the night before Thanksgiving. I didn't want him to get his hopes up... after all the horrible reviews - I was more than a little worried.

I FOUND THE DIRECTIONS... FANTASTIC!!! Each section was proceeded by pictures of all the tools and all the parts needed. Each bolt, nut and small part shown in actual size. AND MOST IMPORTANT... each set of parts needed were bagged together. No mixing up parts. I followed the directions and wonderful pictures.

We started at 8pm and my son was putting the net on (last step) at 9:45pm. It is now 10:15pm and I am writing the review to debunk all that is written about the directions. They were accurate and easy for my 13 year old son and I. We completed assembly in 1 3/4 hours.

I am amazed at how easy it is to change from 7.5' up to 10' and 1/2 ft. increments.

We are going to put this to good use. It was $279 at Miejer and I am happy with quality and price AND DIRECTIONS!!!! No parts missing and it all went together as shown in directions.

I got this for my 7 yr old son and he loves it. Given our driveway/landscape configuration that includes an irrigation system, we opted not for an in-ground backboard system but a portable one like this unit. For his age, we also needed needed one with adjustable heights. The height adjustment system with this unit is very easy to use: simply grip the handle, hold the trigger and within seconds the height can be adjusted. Although this unit does not have the stability of an in-ground system or more expensive portable system, this provides decent stability and again it is easy to adjust the height. Much of the installation can be done by one person with assistance required for roughly one-third to one-half of the steps - all in all a fairly straightforward installation process. Once installed and with water used to stabilize the base, I do find the unit very hard to manuever - this is my key criticism. Otherwise, good value and good function.

I consider myself reasonably handy. Over the years, I have put together a lot of toys and sports gear, made lots or household repairs and figured out a lot mechanical problems. But the Lifetime instruction booklet was my Waterloo. I must say that the quality of the product is good; no problem there. But the instructions are confusing and incomplete.

Each step consists of an exploded drawing of parts with a self-evident sentence, such as "Place the plastic rim guard on the back of the rim" and "Make sure the U-bolt is in the notches." At one point, I realized the wrong springs had been packaged for the rim spring-back feature; a call to the company fixed this, but it was three days of waiting for the proper springs. The company needs to put some work into these instructions, including more descriptive writing about parts assembly. Assembly is nightmarish using the existing instruction manual.

We purchased this item, arrived on Wednesday in less than a week from Amazon. I spent 4-5 hours putting it together myself today and now that it is done and we've used it for a couple of hours I can say we are quite pleased with it. Very happy to have gone with a 52" backboard, I don't think you want any smaller but I also don't see the need to go any bigger than this. Some of the other reviews had complaints about the backboard either in shipping (scratches) or in vibration, but we don't have either of those issues. The backboard comes with a plastic peel off coating which protects during shipping. The backboard also has metal all around the outside so this provides sturdiness. I am quite happy with it it takes 15-20ft bank shots quite well. As to the height adjustment, this is very easy to do - even a kid can adjust the height from 7 1/2 feet to 10 feet with one hand. Very nice system in that regard. And yes I threw down a few dunks at 9' to see how it held up, very good stability although I don't think you want your 16yr old hanging off the rim for too long (the rim is spring loaded therefore flexible when dunking). A few other thoughts: putting it together will take some time, here are some tips: one person can put it together but you'll want to have plenty of lawn furniture and/or outside chair cushions to prop the pole and backboard up on as you are assembling. Lining up the holes on the small/large support bars with the pole is the hardest part. Also, you're going to want an electric drill, not a cordless, as drilling the 10 or so screw holes on the backboard and pole (2) was much easier with an electric drill. Last, be careful with the pole going into the base as there is only one way it can go (don't install it upside down like I did, had to take the wheels back off which is a pain). Also there is a part for the height adjustment which the instructions don't make really clear which side it should be on (put it on the back toward the base and away from the rim). Overall, I am very happy with this purchase and don't see the need to spend $900 on one of the more expensive Spalding models. As to tippyness, the unit is quite stable at all heights when filled with water, but we'll probably leave it on its lowest height when away as we live in a quite windy locale.

I'd originally been considering a Spalding model but after reading reviews I determined that I'd get a bit of a better product for my money with much less assembly hassle with Lifetime. I was not disappointed.

The package arrived in pretty good shape about 5 days after I ordered. As others have mentioned, it's not necessarily packaged well for home delivery, but mine had been reinforced at several locations with packing tape and no parts were missing or damaged. The front of the backboard was covering in a protective film, but the rear was not. As a result there are a number of scuff marks from other parts shifting around during shipping. This is disappointing for a brand new backboard, especially considering how easy it would be to protect against this.

Assembly was straightforward. I mentioned earlier that this was important to me. Several reviews of the Spalding products mentioned very poor machining and the need to use files, drills, or even different size screws obtained from the hardware store to get everything together. The experience with the Lifetime kit couldn't have been more different. Everything fit together perfectly, with only the occasional need to use a mallet to help a large bolt make it through several holes - a sign of good, tight tolerances, not poor machining.

The entire assembly process was about 2 hours, with help from my wife needed during only a couple of steps. It would have been challenging to do completely on my own, but possible. As with any assembly process, take your time and carefully study the instructions. There are several points where it's possible to assemble something backwards, with various levels of difficulty involved in correcting the error. This is especially important when assembling the pole as there are a few "irreversible" steps involved.

Be sure to read through each step thoroughly before commencing work. For whatever reason, the warnings about common mistakes are placed after the instructions about how to complete the step, by which time you may have already made the error it's warning you about.

The most difficult step was filling the base with sand. Unless your sand is so dry that it flows like water, expect to spend a lot of back-breaking time trying to coax the sand into the base. Unfortunately all of the sand at our hardware store was a bit damp so we probably spent an hour just pouring eight bags of sand into the base. (Our method - Have one person holding a large funnel while the second pours the sand. Shake the funnel furiously as you pour to keep the sand moving through.)

The final product is fantastic. I see no perceptible wobble or shake when the ball hits the backboard or rim. It won't be used much by aggressive adults or teens, so I can't say how it would take extended hardcore play, but it seems as sturdy as any home system I've seen. The adjustment system is extremely easy to use - my short 12-year-old daughter can move it through the entire range on her own. It also looks pretty sharp.