mlr fab ez rater

[maypop racing engines]

anyone use this rater price is way under the rest assumed there is a reason for that any feed back will help thanks

[MasterSbilt_Racer]

anyone use this rater price is way under the rest assumed there is a reason for that any feed back will help thanks

I have been considering buying one. Really, that is what one with those options should cost.

[joortega22]

got mine a few months ago does everything as advertised and have not had any issues yet

[collateralDamage]

If you are going to use the machine for what 90% of the people that have a spring smasher are going to use it for, it works adequately. It is not a fool-proof machine though, you must pay attention to calibration which can be a little time consuming and cumbersome. It's $1000 jump to a machine at the next price point though....

The variable speed actuator is AWESOME and no one else has it in a manual machine that i know of. The DRO does give you a little false sense of precision with increments of .0005(?). It is (probably) more accurate than a tape measure though. It would be worth $500 more if it had a more rigid base/guide/actuator fitment and ditch the magnetic stripe for a linear cable encoder.

If you are getting down to rating bump stops or setting up any type of dual stage stack this probably isn't for you. If you just need to confirm loading at maybe a couple points of travel or swap a spring out it will do just fine.

[maypop racing engines]

I was about ready to place my order for one until i read cd response i run the stack currently on lr wanted to spend more time with lr and also play with stacking rf, I really wanted a accuforce smasher but was hoping this would be close enough to get bye with for was less $$$ i guess either bite the bullet or shop for a used one....thanks for the responses guys

[MLR19]

We use our machine weekly to set up bump stops & stack springs, and have for the past 3 seasons. We have sold over 120 units to date with very few complaints. I get the question often why is it cheaper than the competiton? My answer is we are a small shop with low overhead and we don't give away product to the big teams, then double the cost to the small teams to pay for it. As with our lifts we market direct to the racer which keeps our prices affordable.
Yes we could add a linear encoder & readout and charge more, but that market is already covered.

Thanks , Larry

[Kromulous]

Seems like a fine machine to me, but then again some people can F'up an Anvil...

[MasterSbilt_Racer]

It all depends on what you need or think you need. If you want to really be accurate, the frame could be so heavy a forklift would be needed to move it to remove all deflection. Then you would want a linear lvdt that costs $500. Then you could set everything to that accuracy and bolt it on a chassis where the upper shock mount wraps 2 degrees mid corner and the upper rails rack over a quarter inch.

[MasterSbilt_Racer]

I used to use a servo hydraulic frame at work designed for fatigue testing rated at 100,000#. The machine and controls were well over $100,000. That made life easy, but was certainly overkill.

[maypop racing engines]

mlr19 thanks for the response, nice to get input straight from the manufacturer im a weekend warrior with little setup knowledge but enjoy trying different stuff to see what works ....always used my buddies accuforce works great just never have it at the track and i think that is key bought a xr1 and i think its a must have now

[MLR19]

People get concerned with accuracy of the machine,but remember you are checking the coil over center to center dimensions on the car with a tape measure. And to Masters_bilt racers point, I have checked deflection on the competitors machine at 3000 pounds of load and can tell you that it has A LOT more deflection than ours.
To be fair,was on about a 4 year old machine, they may have improved on the newer models.
When spring raters first came out they were primarily used for setting static load numbers so
they didn't need to be as heavy as they do to check bump numbers.

[riddle28]

ive got one and its worked great for me so far. checks bumps and stacks just fine

[MLR19]

We have our website updated to show the spring un-loader option for the EZ-Rater.

http://mlrfab.com/rater.php

Thanks, Larry

[collateralDamage]

What is the maximum center to center you can fit in the EZ-Rater?

[MLR19]

26" fully extended, I assumed from your review that you had used one?

[collateralDamage]

I have used 2 of your machines, new about a year ago. I have also used an older model. Not sure how old, it was just a little different than the other two. I have also spent a lot of hours on 2 different Accuforce machines and both versions of Boyd's machines. I feel like I have a valid opinion? My intentions weren't to cost you a sale, I was just trying to give the guy an honest opinion to help him make a decision. If your machine was the only one I have every used I probably wouldn't have much to say.

As far as the rigidity comments. I am referring to how the actuator is fitted to the support crossmember that contains the ruler indicator, the mag strip and the lower shock clevis.

My opinion is a years old, so maybe it isn't valid. I really don't feel like I gave a negative opinion of your machine.

[MLR19]

On the early machines we allowed the yoke to float, the thinking being that it would prevent the user from retracting the actuator too far and either damaging the load cell or shock. This meant that the length readout was only accurate when it had a shock/spring in it and was under compression, which in reality is all that matters. This was confusing to some so the yoke is now solidly attached to the actuator.
You are certainly entitled to your opinion, we are just trying to build a machine to be usable & dependable at an affordable price,that does everything we advertise it to do.

Thanks, Larry

[fastford]

I built my own , because there was a few custom things i wanted to do , but i have a friend that bought one of yours , and in my opinion , its as good as any , except maybe mine...LOL....

[maypop racing engines]

tried to order one from a dealer of yours and i got my money sent back to me sounds like a ton of drama in your business

[zeroracing]

Clean out your pms may pop

[MLR19]

The drama is with the dealer, not our business, not sure what you were told , but call me & I will give you the real story.