bench · flat bench · how to · product assembly ·Nov 13, 2020

Flat Bench Leveling and Assembly: How to stabilize your wobbly bench

Is your flat bench wobbly after assembly? 9 times out of 10, the problems we see at Fringe Sport with a wobbly flat bench come from the assembly mistakes you’ll see below. There are 3 different wrong ways you can assemble a flat bench… and all 3 will give you a bench that’s unlevel. That’s kind of a lot… especially when that isn’t what you want.

(Don’t worry - we’re also gonna fill you in on how to get a stable, level bench.)

We’re going to run you through all 3 of those ways, so you can avoid a wobbly, unlevel bench.

Your legs are flailing in the air. “Dead bug” isn’t a great athletic, stable position for you, and it’s not a great position for your bench to be completely assembled in either.
You’re tightening one leg all the way down and then moving on to the next. Much like your own joints, one side is tighter than the other.
You’ve assembled the bench in a different location than where you’re going to use it. Either the ground where you’ve assembled the bench is unlevel, or the location you’re using it is unlevel compared to the spot you put it together.

To get your bench level and sitting ~~purdy~~ sturdy, you’re going to need a ratchet to get the bolts tightened completely. You’ll need to set it up with it’s feet in the air, pad-side down. If you go from this point and tighten down the bolts all the way, you might end up with an off-center alignment. Although the ground underneath your bench might be level, your bench won’t be, and it’ll feel wobbly.

This is not a “tighten one leg then tighten the opposite on the same end and you’re good to go” situation, although we might wish that it could be.

With the legs in the air, like PK below, you need to first set all of the pad bolts in (but not tightening them as you put them in), and once they’re all set in, then slowly tighten them, one by one with your fingers as you make your way around, and around, and around… forever (but really only until all of the bolts are finger-tight and ready to rock).

Ideally, you’ll assemble this bench on a flat surface, and even more ideally on the surface you’ll be using the bench.

Now, flip your bench into its correct position, and then we can begin to tighten with reinforcements: the ratchet. We like to go top to bottom, then on the opposite side, top to bottom again as we tighten the bolts down to make sure everything is level.

To make sure your bench is stable, level, and sturdy, make sure you do these things:

Set your bench up with the pad-side down, legs in the air, and finger-tighten your bolts in the criss-cross pattern we talked about.
Next, flip your bench back over. With your ratchet, tighten the bolts further to engage the “lock” part of the lock nut in the same criss-cross pattern.
Assemble your bench in the same spot that you’ll be using it.

In doing these things, you can ensure that you’ll get a sturdy, level bench and will avoid any wobbling issues.

Let us know if this helped you and your wobbly bench below. If you’ve got more questions about your bench or assembly, let us know at team@fringesport.com.

Want to see more how-to’s and tips for your products? Let us know below!

As always: lift heavy, lift happy.

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