My 100 in 100 took a hit today. I hate running outside when its colder than 50 and the deck on my preform pro 2000 cracked mid run today. I would rather just replace the deck then get a new treadmill, but how sturdy are replacement decks from places like the treadmill doctor. I am 6'4 195 lbs . Are the replacement decks from the treadmill doctor going to last any longer? I had been lubing it regularly, but I also use it A lot. The thing is a little more than a year old, (not under warranty, very long story). Prior to wasting money and time on this POS I had a cheap garage sale treadmill for 10 years with 0 problems, this thing has been constant problems. Anyone else have problems with cracking decks. Is replacing the deck on a treadmill that hard? Do they make thicker decks. Moral of the story, stay away from preform!!
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Re: Replacing a treadmill deck [jhouckwsu]
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Sorry man. I've replaced the deck on a Spirit due to scratching and cracking underneath. Mine was a warranty replacement, but treadmill doctor has solid stuff and I wouldn't hesitate from buying from them. Weight ratings on decks are usually way above 250 lb, so weight isn't an issue. Thicker decks won't really work because of the way the belt clearance is set by the design. Will it last longer? I don't know, but most treadmills have 10 yr warranties, so they really should hold up well.
From what I can tell, most of these thigns are built pretty similar. Hard to replace? Not really, but it takes some time and the tools. Youtube is your friend, there are several videos for how to pull it apart and put it back together. Things to note: practically every screw was overtorqued on mine, so use care not to strip. You might consider replacing the motor drive belt and deck belt since you're going to have to take everything apart anyway and they're not that expensive. I know, it might be good money after bad, but these things wear out too.
Sounds like a headache. Good luck! -J
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Life is tough. But it's tougher when you're stupid. -John Wayne
From what I can tell, most of these thigns are built pretty similar. Hard to replace? Not really, but it takes some time and the tools. Youtube is your friend, there are several videos for how to pull it apart and put it back together. Things to note: practically every screw was overtorqued on mine, so use care not to strip. You might consider replacing the motor drive belt and deck belt since you're going to have to take everything apart anyway and they're not that expensive. I know, it might be good money after bad, but these things wear out too.
Sounds like a headache. Good luck! -J
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Life is tough. But it's tougher when you're stupid. -John Wayne
I had a mildly cracked deck with my Sole F80 after 4 years of use, despite being not a heavy runner.
In retrospect, the cracking was probably so mild that it didn't matter - I only noticed it when walking barefoot (I rarely do that) on my TM, and felt a small ridge. I didn't notice any change in belt heating, TM performance, or smoothness of the ride with or without shoes after I changed the deck since the cracking ridges were so small on mine.
Sole sent me a replacement deck instantly for free, shipping included when I called just to ask about what the cracking was (I had no idea what a cracked deck was.)
They didn't have good instructions on how to change the deck (actually, NO instructions...) but there are quite a few good videos on youtube that will likely apply to your TM even if it's not exactly the same. It's not hard at all, but mildly time consuming - the hardest part on my Sole was getting the siderails off (lots of screws, and two not so obvious ones) - once those were off, it was very easy to swap out the deck. Took me about an hour and 15 minutes while doing it carefully - an experienced person could do it in under 20 minutes for sure, if not under 10 minutes.
If your TM is giving you problems other than the deck, I'd probably just buy a new one - no sense dealing with a piece of hardware that you dislike in the first place, when there are so many good options out there. But if it's fine other than the deck, replacing the deck will fix any deck-related problems.
In retrospect, the cracking was probably so mild that it didn't matter - I only noticed it when walking barefoot (I rarely do that) on my TM, and felt a small ridge. I didn't notice any change in belt heating, TM performance, or smoothness of the ride with or without shoes after I changed the deck since the cracking ridges were so small on mine.
Sole sent me a replacement deck instantly for free, shipping included when I called just to ask about what the cracking was (I had no idea what a cracked deck was.)
They didn't have good instructions on how to change the deck (actually, NO instructions...) but there are quite a few good videos on youtube that will likely apply to your TM even if it's not exactly the same. It's not hard at all, but mildly time consuming - the hardest part on my Sole was getting the siderails off (lots of screws, and two not so obvious ones) - once those were off, it was very easy to swap out the deck. Took me about an hour and 15 minutes while doing it carefully - an experienced person could do it in under 20 minutes for sure, if not under 10 minutes.
If your TM is giving you problems other than the deck, I'd probably just buy a new one - no sense dealing with a piece of hardware that you dislike in the first place, when there are so many good options out there. But if it's fine other than the deck, replacing the deck will fix any deck-related problems.