What happened to REAL Gorilla Racks?

[mslim]

After 28 years in the same place,I bought a new (3 yr. old) house and moved the contents of my 2 car garage/workshop into it. The good news is that it has a three car garage with one slot divided by a wall from the other two.

In my other space I had a real 48x18x60" Gorilla Rack in my office closet. It was built well out of good gauge steel with double rivet shelf brackets and 5/8 or 3/4" particle board shelves that dropped into a lip in each bracket and the shelves were supported at the mid point by a little crossbrace steel rib.

In my original garage, I bought a set of 48x16(+ or -)x72" Edsal steel shelves. The uprights are delivered in 36" sections with a steel sleeve type splice. Besides being hard to assemble due the flexing of the angle metal, the particle board shelves it was delivered with weren't as thick as the metal crosspieces so every time you dragged something heavy off the shelf you had to lift it to clear the lip. These sufficed but were less than satisfactory. I gave them away when I moved.

In my new garage I've got an 8' wall I'd like to fill with shelving units. I did quite a bit of web surfing today and "Gorilla Rack" only turned up shelving units that looked identical to the Edsal/Muscle Rack ones.

I did find some sturdy looking shelves on Global Industrial. I didn't mind parting with a Benjamin + for the units but the $120 shipping charge blew it out of reach for my fixed income.

Anybody know a good substitute for original Gorilla Racks? The were a great product at a fair price. What the hell happened to them?

Slim

 

[Dagny]

menards has them

 

[southalabama]

I've got a couple sets of those Edsal racks in one of my store rooms. I should have known better and not even assembled them with particle board. At the time I didn't have time to cut ply. Over a couple years the particle board buckled and collapsed into the next shelf which then collapsed onto the next. It's kinda how a skyscraper collapses when an upper floor gives way. It's a disaster waiting to happen. This spring will slowly remove stuff and hope it doesn't finish collapsing.

The gorilla racks with wire shelving as held up best for me.

 

[ssdave]

http://www.globalindustrial.com/c/storage/shelving

http://www.globalindustrial.com/c/storage/shelving

not cheap, but they are what you need. Search for the quality level that works for you.

 

[jetnow1]

Check with Costco also.

 

[432bullet]

Sams club used to carry them. ???

 

[mslim]

Check with Costco also.

My Costco carried Whalen racks at a pretty good price but now I'm in NW Arkansas and Mr. Walton has seen to it that the nearest Costco is 82 miles away in Tulsa.

 

[mslim]

http://www.globalindustrial.com/c/storage/shelving

http://www.globalindustrial.com/c/storage/shelving

not cheap, but they are what you need. Search for the quality level that works for you.

At this point it looks like I might have to step up to the plate and spend $400 for two shelving racks. The units are very reasonable given the quality at $117/ea. but the shipping estimate was $109.45 + $45 for residential delivery. Ouch!

 

[BDT/NWMN]

menards has them

The Grand Forks, ND Menards used to carry the Gorilla brand.. A few years ago, the Gorilla name disappeared from that display.. Whether Menards sourced a similar product from a different supplier, or the Gorilla name was bought out; I don't know. The newer stock does look similar to the Old Gorilla stock they used to carry.

 

[nes999]

At this point it looks like I might have to step up to the plate and spend $400 for two shelving racks. The units are very reasonable given the quality at $117/ea. but the shipping estimate was $109.45 + $45 for residential delivery. Ouch!

Can you have it shipped to your place of employment? I think it would be worth the 45 bucks to ask.

Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk

 

[mslim]

Can you have it shipped to your place of employment? I think it would be worth the 45 bucks to ask.

Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk

No. As I am retired.

Anybody bought from Menards recently? I looked online and all I saw listed were the usual Edsals and Muscle Racks. The nearest Menards is up near Branson somewhere but I don't want to make the drive to find out they don't stock them. Anybody got a link to their Gorilla Rack equivalent??

 

[Lhorn]

I recently decided to upgrade my shelving. I alreadyhave some shelves which are 48 inches wide, 18 inches deep. Described by some retailers as "boltless" shelves etc. They are OK but I wanted bigger (taller, wider, deeper). I googled "rack shelving" and found a place local that sells various grades of shelves from "wire" type shelves to "bulk" storage shelves to pallet racks. I ended up with "bulk storage racks." They are really nice and I could get them taller and deeper than the shelves available from big box stores. Having examined the "Gladiator" and "Edsal" shelves, I think these are constructed of much heavier steel. Each end upright is a fully welded pieces (not constructed of several pieces that happen to fit in the box and spliced together. You can get wire shelves or particle board that is supported by several metal supports.

It would be prohibitively expensive to have something like this shipped (they are 8 feet tall, 36 inches wide), but consider doing a search for "rack" or "bulk" shelving retailers in your area. They are more expensive than the Gladiator version but considering mine are taller and deeper, I feel they are worth the cost because they they allow me to use my space for efficiently.

 

[reader2580]

Try searching for Xtreme Garage on Menards.com. The brand name has changed a few times over the years, but same basic shelving.

 

[scottm]

I have a few of the Menards shelves in the barn bought at different times, and some of it says Xtream Garage and some says Gorilla Rack. As far as I can tell it all rolled out of the same factory. Identical design, color, everything but the sticker. One of the shelves was bought when the store was changing over the brand, so I even have pieces labeled Xtream and Gorilla in the same unit.

 

[A_Pmech]

Used pallet rack and package shelving is all over most craigslists.

 

[artrem]

Yeah, I have about 5 of the Edsal 4' x 2' shelving units that I've had for years. I recently bought another one and was disappointed to see that the metal shelf supports are thinner and flex, unlike the older ones. The particle board shelves are thinner too. I double-checked the model number, thinking I bought a lesser unit, but nope, they are the same model, just flimsier. Same cost of course.

I understand costs go up but I'd rather pay a little more for a quality unit.

 

[kd3pc]

Yeah, I have about 5 of the Edsal 4' x 2' shelving units that I've had for years. I recently bought another one and was disappointed to see that the metal shelf supports are thinner and flex, unlike the older ones. The particle board shelves are thinner too. I double-checked the model number, thinking I bought a lesser unit, but nope, they are the same model, just flimsier. Same cost of course.

I understand costs go up but I'd rather pay a little more for a quality unit.

Mine were so cheap the shelves sagged with just 12-15 pounds on them. I called Edsal and they did send out some "braces" that mount midways between the long side to provide support. OK, but tells you how cheap they have gotten in just the past 4 or 5 years.

bests

 

[bmes1982]

Look up the Xtreme Garage racks at Menards. There website also has stock levels that you can check for each store. Whenever I've looked at their stock online and went to the store it was spot on. The racking is identical to the Gorilla Rack they used to sell.

 

[mslim]

Thought I'd bump this with a little review of the Global Industrial racks. I bought two of their #255684 Extra Heavy Duty Shelving 48"W x 18"D x 72"H With 5 Shelves, Wood Deck (actually particle board).

These ship strapped on a wooden pallet with the slotted angle vertical uprights intact. By intact I mean there's no fiddly joining of two half length pieces to make a full height upright. Ya!! No pinched fingers.

The 14 gauge slotted angle is substantial. It's not flexy like the **** on Edsals. Easy to assemble if you know the drill. All horizontal members had double rivet attachments. No tools needed except a rubber hammer.

Price? Well that's another issue. I felt like the shelving units themselves were very fairly priced at $117 each. The freight charge (mine came Yellow Freight or YRC as they're now called) was stiff at $135 + a $45 upcharge for residential delivery. Maybe you're luckier than me, but anytime something is delivered to me truck freight, there's always an element of FUBAR and WTF. Apparently these guys had the shipment at their local terminal on Thursday but couldn't get it 20 miles to my door until Tuesday. Nothing was bent and driver used his pallet jack to roll the pallet to my garage and waited while I stripped the goods off the pallet and he hauled the pallet away. So kudos there.

My only real niggle is that Global doesn't pad the horizontal members with anything when they're packed. They're just banded together and the rivets scratch the paint on the adjacent pieces. Maybe I'm just a little OCD and it wouldn't matter to a warehouse manager who buys 30 of these racks at a time.

So these are slightly overkill and my old Gorilla Racks would have sufficed at a friendlier price point but I couldn't find anything between unsatisfactory and the Global Industrial Extra Heavy Duty double rivet shelving.

If you've got the gelt, I say go for 'em.

Slim

 

[555]

I bought my Gorilla racks at Sam's Club many years back. I was in Sam's recently and it looks like the same shelving units are now called Muscle Racks.
Regards,
John

 

[mslim]

I guess we are talking about two different iterations of Gorilla Racks. Mine are pretty old.

My original Gorilla Racks don't have the "Z" indentations of the Muscle Rack or the Edsals.

They have a nice wrinkle finish and smooth shelf supports with metal front to back crossbraces under the shelves. Also the slotted angle vertical supports are of a nice heavy gauge metal so that they don't require those splice collars.

 

[driftpin]

I recently bought the Whirlpool Corp. brand Gladiator storage racks. I didn't want used pallet racks in my new garage, and I found the Gladiator brand offered at Home Depot and Sears. I bought mine at Sears. The size I got was 74" H x 77" L X 18" D. Each shelf has a welded wire shelf piece, supported by two stamped-steel brackets and a bearing lip around the circumference of each shelf structural perimeter. No tools are needed to assemble it, and the shelves are rated for this size at 2,000 lb. apiece, there are 4 shelves, so 8,000 lb. for the unit. I think they may be similar to the old Edsal but these are capable of supporting much weight.

I had a particular need for a 13" deep shelf, so I modified the end structural members, reducing them from 18" to 13". I use a combination of wood and box-section aluminum to change the depth and cut the welded wire shelf units to fit. My primary need was to support the weight and bulk of a collection of vinyl L.P's, which I've acquired over 50 years of collecting. That, and tools. The modified shelves are very sturdy, and they fit in the space on the sides of my garage 'returns' from the overhead door sides to the side wall.

I think the Gladiator products are of good quality, they clip together, and are capable of supporting a lot of weight. They are hammertone powder-coated. I've included some pics of the mods to the shelves.

I bought my shelves at Sears for $149 before taxes, they normally sell for $200. They have different sizes, primarily in shorter lengths. I have two 6 ft.+ units and a 5 ft. unit along one wall of my average two-car garage.

 

[PeterT]

I have several of the Edsel shelves in my barn, and I cut OSB to fit over the wire shelving, painted them and they are very nice. Bought most of them from Menards, but I did pick up a couple units from Costco recently, they had they same sale price as menards $99,, but the ones from Costco were like 10 feet instead of 6 wide,,, It says 3000lbs per shelf and I believe it.

 

[dcg9381]

I have the Whalen racks from Costco circa 2015. Currently, they are available in "2 packs" for $400 with free delivery. They were, if I recall, right, rated at 3000 lbs.

There are indications that the newer racks are rated at 2000 lbs, but I haven't confirmed.

Recently, in a bind, I bought the Gladiator rack from Lowes. They were available at $179 each. They are rated at 2000 lbs.

Here's what I know:
1) 2015 Whalen racks are definitely heavier gauge steel. They're also a different finish - a flat, probably a bed-liner like urethane. Flat. In terms of fit, they're about the same.
2) 2018 Gladiator racks and 2018 Whalen racks list out at about the same weight - 179 for Gladator and 183 for Whalen, in the package - makes me think these are fairly identical products.
3) 2000/3000 lbs, I'd use either. Good solid products.

If you buy 2 racks, you can really remove the cross braces on top and bottom, span, both and end up with a 3rd rack...

 

[driftpin]

I have the Whalen racks from Costco circa 2015. Currently, they are available in "2 packs" for $400 with free delivery. They were, if I recall, right, rated at 3000 lbs.

There are indications that the newer racks are rated at 2000 lbs, but I haven't confirmed.

Recently, in a bind, I bought the Gladiator rack from Lowes. They were available at $179 each. They are rated at 2000 lbs.

Here's what I know:
1) 2015 Whalen racks are definitely heavier gauge steel. They're also a different finish - a flat, probably a bed-liner like urethane. Flat. In terms of fit, they're about the same.
2) 2018 Gladiator racks and 2018 Whalen racks list out at about the same weight - 179 for Gladator and 183 for Whalen, in the package - makes me think these are fairly identical products.
3) 2000/3000 lbs, I'd use either. Good solid products.

If you buy 2 racks, you can really remove the cross braces on top and bottom, span, both and end up with a 3rd rack...

The Whalen racks are rated at 2,000 lbs/shelf and have two cross pieces supporting the shelf.
https://www.costco.com/Whalen-Industrial-Rack,-77W-x-24D-x-72H,-2-pack.product.100341995.html

The Whirlpool Corp. 'Gladiator' 77" wide shelves are rated at 2,000 lbs/shelf and have 3 cross-braces per shelf. For me, the 3 cross-braces offers more support than the Whalen two cross-braces.

Lowe's currently has the Gladiator 77" wide shelves from Gladiator for $179 apiece, HD has them now at $209 when I checked this past week. The Gladiator shelves you can also 'gang'-together, using three end uprights for two end-to-end units.

Best Buy also carries the Gladiator line.

I have 6 in different sizes and am very satisfied w/them.

 

[ptgarcia]

I have some old Gorilla Racks in the garage at the office from the early '90s. They are painted green, and definitely heavier gauge than the current Gorilla Racks (I have a couple of those at home). Some are taller, too: the uprights are 8' tall. I do have some that are 6', too.

 

[karloz]

I have a number of Gorilla Racks, 97 inch nominal. They are 5 to 10 years old.

Recently, I went to Menards to get some more shelf rails.

they looked similar but not quite. Bought two, took to shop and found that they were 1/8 inch too long (97-1/8) and would not fit any of the old shelves I have.

I talked to Menards and they gave a contact in California that could not provide a drawing or other info. Apparently, Gorilla Rack no longer exists. What Menards sold me came from China. I recall all original Gorilla Rack was made in the USA.

I would like to get some more 97inch shelf rails but only the so-called 'replacement' types, e.g. Extreme Garage by Menards, are to be found and they did not fit for me.

BTW, the units at Menards are rectangular tube, the originals are open.

 

[karloz]

I built a workbench using Gorilla Racks, and bought an extra couple "just in case".

Way better quality than what's available now.

And it's true they were made in the USA, see pic.

.

Interesting finding. Upon looking at the photos, these are very different than the Made In USA Gorilla Racks from a few years back that I have. The difference is both in the standards and rails.

Also, Rapid Rack Industries does not show this kind of product on that web page.

It would be interesting to get the phone number on the package and call it.

When I called the number on the paper that came with my old shelves, it rang as no longer in service.

 

[ScottsGT]

As I'm reading this thread, a Gorilla Glue commercial came on. With the explosion of Gorilla products in the past years, I bet they bought the name from them to eliminate confusion between the products/companies.

 

[My Old Tools]

Price? Well that's another issue. I felt like the shelving units themselves were very fairly priced at $117 each. The freight charge (mine came Yellow Freight or YRC as they're now called) was stiff at $135 + a $45 upcharge for residential delivery. Maybe you're luckier than me, but anytime something is delivered to me truck freight, there's always an element of FUBAR and WTF. Apparently these guys had the shipment at their local terminal on Thursday but couldn't get it 20 miles to my door until Tuesday. Nothing was bent and driver used his pallet jack to roll the pallet to my garage and waited while I stripped the goods off the pallet and he hauled the pallet away. So kudos there.


Slim

I always have mine shipped to the nearest freight terminal for pickup. Usually a lot cheaper than any home delivery. They will load your pickup or trailer for you.

 

[karloz]

I found the Menard's version of the Gorilla Rack to be incompatible lengthwise with the original, Made In USA sold a few years ago.

I tried the recent Menard's version and the 97inch are just too long to fit into my existing units.

Just today, i got some original racks from a shop that was closing. they were on ebay and the images were just as advertised-
so, if you need to retro fit some older units, you might be able to find some second hand like I did. John, the seller, was very helpful and had a number more of the units.
I picked up, not sure if they ship.

 

[matrixdev]

The 2019 Menards Xtreme garage racks - 97" horizontal members fit the 8' Gorilla racks. They fit perfectly even with being intermixed with the original beams (I need two more shelves). However, the horizontal beams are about half the weight so I put them on the top. They still seem to be strong enough-we'll see. I'd also recommend getting some small lock washers for the nuts. Over tightening the hex screw will indent the sidewall-so careful.

It would be nice to see the original product manufactured in the USA again.

 

[langss]

I have the Whalen racks from Costco I bought in 05. They currently are supporting an untold amount of weight and that's on the boards they came with. No sagging or any indication of failure. Of course the heavy stuff stays low. I strapped the mid point,and the top half to the wall with plumbers pipe strap. I was worried it could fall over if we ever have another "Northridge".

 

[MisterFixIt1952]

I bought my Gorilla racks (ugly, baby **** brown) from Costco back in 1997. I think they were about $50-60 each back then. I owned a computer store/repair shop and needed shelving for my back storage room. The ceilings were really high so I had 2 racks stacked on top of each other. When I closed the business I kept the racks so I have, something like 10, 48" x 16" x 72" racks.

Recently I bought a new TIG welder, a Mig welder and a plasma cutter and needed a rack to stack them on. Because I am severely lacking in free shop space (my shop is only 15' wide but about 65' long) and filled up with tools, I needed a rack 16" x 24" x 72". The closest equivalent racks I could find were the Global Industrial™ Boltless Steel Shelving (2 rivets). They look like the shelf parts would work on my rack corners but I couldn't find any source for individual parts, only fixed units. Since you cannot get the original Gorilla racks, anymore, I cut the 48" shelf sections in half, drilled rivet holes and made rivets on my lathe. I now have a 16"w x 24"d shelf rack, the same depth as my work bench.

I miss the fact that you cannot buy the original Gorilla racks anymore and I'm glad I have extras left. I even have about 4 of them in my attic for storage. I was going to sell some of them off as I keep running into rack parts all over the shop but after seeing how much shipping was on the new racks, I've decided to keep them.

 

[nadogail]

If I wanted pallet racks, I would investigate the many vendors of used racks.
I can paint them any color I want or have them Powder Coated them in over 100 colors.

 

[bcoke]

Try crags list or facebook market place I found a great deal of offers found guy selling shelves @ 220 of them and a guy selling just posts @ 80 of them ,,,,old heavy steel very good condition dirty but almost no rust so $900 later had around 25 7foot tall 5-6 shelf steel shelving , opps forgot @ 125 dollars worth od 1/4 x20 bots and nuts...where I made double shelves think 8 foot wide I used just 6 uprights the middle being sistered [one bold holding two shelves..... total cost @ $40 each with a lot of leftover shelves and uprights for other uses.......

 

[ArseneLupin]

It certainly appears to me that Whalen Furniture has inherited the shelving I once knew as Gorilla Racks (which we probably got sometime around 2005).

After carelessly losing several of the post inserts (to join lower and upper shelves) for our Gorilla Racks in a move, I went to Costco to see what they had, and to me it looked like what they had was visibly identical to what I was looking for parts for, with the exception of the fact that (1) our shelves were 18x72, while Costco was offering 24x72, and (2) the shelves themselves of our Gorilla Racks were made of bare plywood, whereas these were dark gray/black and I wasn't sure exactly what they were made of. They had a display model so I could see that the posts, shelf support beams, and configuration appeared identical to our Gorilla Racks (including the look of the "powder coat finish", and what the holes in the posts look like, etc.). They were shown as "Whalen 5-Shelf Z-Beam Steel Storage Rack".

When I got home and searched for "whalen z-beam parts" online, I also found that every one of the parts in the assembly instructions for "CoCA 991070 Heavy Duty Storage Rack 20150519HH" look absolutely identical to ours, including the post inserts I lost, as well as the clips and post caps.

I'm planning to give this a try tomorrow - "Please call for replacement parts or assistance: 1-866-942-5362 (English, Spanish and French) 8:30a.m. – 4:30p.m. Monday - Friday, PST".

(I joined this forum just to pass along this information to others who were searching for this the same as I was, which means I haven't posted enough times to be able to include the links I found such as the assembly PDF with parts and phone number, a product page with pictures, etc., so you'll need to do your own googling for any more details ).

 

[Innovate1]

I just looked at the Costco site and didn't find Whalen racks. I am looking for good racks and have looked at the menards stuff but with 14' ceilings I want something taller than 6' Don't really need to go all the way up but 8 - 10 ft would be nice. Got a link to the Costco stuff?