Hey All....Just stumbled across the board a few days ago. And was just curious if any of ya have redone a Wisdom Raiders before and if so...what did the Art work run ya..The two side panels and the bottom panels..all the real detailed stuff? And the padding they put on it..where else can a guy find it and does it come in any other colors. Thank You any info would be great.

You may want to look into having the image printed on vinyl. The pieces of a Raiders do not get scratched much so it should last. An image is better because you can proof the job before the work is done. There are some very good artists that can do it but they're hard to find. With vinyl, if you have a problem you can have the company reprint a section to be replaced.

The material is available from Rod Haven. He is the purchasing agent for Wisdom but he also does work on his own. I think his company is RHS Supply. I can try and find a number or just call Wisdom and speak to him. We used black on a good bit of ours when we replaced it.

---

This sounds like a job for Mr.Bladerunner ![8D]

---

thanks for the mention boils[:D]

---

we refurbished our raiders last winter. we put about $10 K into it not including the artwork. we put 225 ft of 1 inch square tubing on the ride. new lexan in the slide, new uhmw down the slide, new tops, new steel plating on the floor, the cart that rolls out the back(we scrapped the old one and built a complete new one). the foam padding on the floor you can only get from wisdom they have an exclusive purchase agreement with the makers of the foam. be ready, the foam cost us about $6 per square foot. its a good ride wins money and looks great on the midway, but doesnt seem to be designed real well.
GOOD LUCK!

---

You know what works a little better then that Wisdom foam is a hard rubber that is about 1/2" - 1" thick. It is indestructable unlike the foam Wisdom sells which gets torn up pretty easy. It also doesnt absorb moisture which is a huge plus.

The vinyl artwork that Hoffa spoke of is a neat idea. I dont have any experience with it but it would be a neat idea. The only places artwork on a 28' pup raiders that gets scratched is the edges on each panel from putting it in and taking it out of the rack.

I am unsure what a artist would charge for painting a raiders. Bobby Meyers in Gibtown is currently reufurbishing a raiders for Coleman and I think he is using the painter TJ (or CJ). Dennis Kline does some real nice airbrush work too. He did Wades and the one that Burton owns now.

KingKong- Did you replace the lexan on the side itself or the clear plastic that forms the tube of the slide? If so, how much does it cost? Kids feet really scuff that up pretty good.

Good luck- The Raiders is a great ride.

---

I would look into replacing it with the foam they use for gym mats. You know the stuff they put on the floor when they have gymnastics. I am sure you can find that stuff fairly easy. Maybe run by the local high school and ask the gym teacher where they get it from. It might be cheaper maybe not I don't know but it's worth looking into.

In my experience all of the wisdom made rides don't hold up well. The steel they use is always a problem. I don’t know if it’s underrated for the application or if they get that cheap stuff from China but it never holds up. There rides do make money though.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Scuba875

I would look into replacing it with the foam they use for gym mats. You know the stuff they put on the floor when they have gymnastics. I am sure you can find that stuff fairly easy. Maybe run by the local high school and ask the gym teacher where they get it from. It might be cheaper maybe not I don't know but it's worth looking into.

---

Pat,

That would be great for the kids but the only thing I see would be that it would probaly get torn up pretty easily. With all the water that would collect inside it, it would probaly start to smell pretty bad and eventually rot. Keep in mind the bridges lay down on the deck and each tower has 2 landing pads that lay flat on the trailer which I would assume would tear up the padding.

---

lol cook is a professional raiders engineer lol....we had a stretch raiders it was on "his" unit ..and needless to say it got beat up and we eventually sold it b/c of all the incidents that happend on it. 'He' would always allow it to operate with 1 person, when that ride reall needs 2-3 people to operate it properly.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by BSA Mike

lol cook is a professional raiders engineer lol....

---

Darn straight [;)]

quote:

---

'Past partner' would always allow it to operate with 1 person, when that ride reall needs 2-3 people to operate it properly.

---

Yeah those kids go wild in there- running, and jumping on the bridges. Its nice to have a guy on the bottom and a guy on the top by the slide- also regulate how many kids are on it at one time and dont let the little ones on with the teens. [:)]

---

Not that type Matt the ones that are solid foam not the ones with the vinyl covers on it. I know what you’re saying I should have been clearer about the difference. Astro uses them at the bottom of the slide. I will see if I can find out what the material is called but I know it won't hold water. When I talked to Tom about it he said you can get it in different thicknesses. He also mentioned that they got it from a gym supply place.

Matt- we replaced all the lexan which is the clear tube that wraps around the slide. we used 1/8 inch thick lexan and it cost about $100 dollars a sheet. it was no joy to replace. since we did ours Ive seen Tom Talley paint the outside of his to hide the scuff marks. He painted vines on the outside to match his "TOMB RAIDERS" theme. it was a really good idea.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Kingkong

new uhmw down the slide

---

Did you use the rubber-backed UHMW? I had the hardest time finding the 1/8th inch rubber-backed stuff. I'm gonna have to pick some up b/c ours is cracking.

Of all the rides we re-racked, the Raiders was probably the most productive one.

---

Thanks for all the input everyone, I'm gonna have to look into that printed vinyl. Hey Kingkong...How tough was putting in the slide plexiglass...the bent stuff...did you break any pieces should i order 1 or 3 extras? I broke one pulling it out but then again it was only 20 degrees outside.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Mennayar

Thanks for all the input everyone, I'm gonna have to look into that printed vinyl. Hey Kingkong...How tough was putting in the slide plexiglass...the bent stuff...did you break any pieces should i order 1 or 3 extras? I broke one pulling it out but then again it was only 20 degrees outside.

---

it'll go in easy. Lexan will roll and use the old one as a template.

---