DESCRIPTION
5' to 10' — by hand crank, or in under 10 seconds with a drill.
A dual-spring, lift-assist mechanism neutralizes the weight of the backboard, so players of any age adjust the height with the simple turn of a handle — clockwise up, counter-clockwise down, stop when you're there. The mechanism is fully enclosed, the height meter mounts where the person adjusting can read it, and it's calibrated after your concrete cures.
Lightning Adjust™ — THOR is the first and only hoop with drill-powered height adjustment: 5 to 10 feet in under 10 seconds with the squeeze of a trigger (patent pending). A flip-down holster holds any 18–24-volt battery drill for effortless one-handed use; the hardened-steel deep socket takes the torque, not your wrist. Manual adjustment stays a turn of the handle — a child of six can do it; the drill belongs in adult hands, low gear, never a corded or impact drill.
Already own a THOR? The Lightning Adjust actuator swaps onto existing systems in about 10 minutes with two wrenches, working on just two bolts from a standing position.
Drill mode
The holster holds any 18–24V battery drill; one hand, one trigger.
Manual mode
No drill, no problem — the hand crank is always included.
Storage mode
Holster rotates up and out of the way for a clean look.
DESCRIPTION
33% more glass. 9% better rebound than the closest alternative.
Almost every gymnasium board is ½-inch tempered glass; most residential hoops use thinner or softer materials. So we tested it: identical boards, identical framing, a ball dropped from 55 inches, a high-speed camera to measure the bounce.
Tempered glass is about four times heavier than acrylic — that mass firms up the whole system — and it's harder, which kills the drumhead effect that deadens rebounds on acrylic boards. Like a windshield, it resists scratching and stays clear where acrylic scuffs and clouds.
Acrylic does have its place: we recommend it for institutional courts where vandalism is likely. For a driveway, glass wins.
BACKBOARD MATERIALREBOUND RESPONSE
½" tempered glass (ours)winner · +9% vs ⅝"
⅝" tempered glass−9%
Acrylic38%
DESCRIPTION
Mounted the way NBA and NCAA boards are — mechanically, never glued.
The glass sits in a ¼"-thick die-cast aluminum frame, locked at each corner with ¼" steel L-brackets, in a channel lined with a rubber gasket. No pressure on the glass, no adhesive.
Many residential systems glue the glass to the frame. Adhesive weakens in the elements and exposes the glass edges — the place breaks start. The mechanical method costs more and lasts longer.
Support lands where bank shots actually hit: square joints are more rigid than curved, and the structure is placed at the crucial zone instead of sacrificed to styling.
DESCRIPTION
The quickest way to judge any hoop: check the pole.
The THOR Gold rides a one-piece, square, 7-gauge (3/16") steel pole. As steel prices rise, many manufacturers quietly thin their poles — less stiffness, more wobble.
Stay away from multi-piece poles. They're split for cheap shipping, and the joints are the weak link right out of the box; corrosion only widens them. Every premium hoop ever made uses a one-piece square or rectangular pole. There's a reason.
DESCRIPTION
Galvanized in molten zinc at 860°. Still handsome in twenty years.
With the Rust Armor package, the main structural parts pass through a bath of molten zinc — hot-dip galvanization — forming an impermeable zinc-carbonate layer that also acts as a sacrificial anode: the coating corrodes so the steel can't. Every fastener upgrades to stainless steel (UNS S20100): no rust streaks, no seized bolts — which also makes the system easy to unbolt and move to your next house.
The system is designed to stay that way to look at, too: a proportionate, thin-bezel board, minimal clutter behind the glass, a pole no taller than it needs to be. Branding is a small sticker on the backboard and arm — we don't treat your system like a billboard. Tempered glass stays clear for decades where acrylic goes dull; Rust Armor keeps the steel from ever becoming the eyesore on the street.
DESCRIPTION
Warranted for dunking and hanging. Padded for everything else.
Every system includes the full padding set: shock-absorbing backboard padding for heads at dunk height, wrap-around pole padding for players driving hard to the rim, gusset padding so nobody rolls an ankle on the base. The heavy-duty breakaway rim absorbs dunks and pops back. Overhang is a safety feature too: with the backboard 4 feet in front of the pole, the pole leaves the playing area and lay-ups have room to land.
Forty years of building hoops went into a system designed for aggressive play — and warranted for it, for a lifetime, dunking and hanging included. Most manufacturers didn't design for that, so they won't cover it. With Rust Armor, corrosion damage is covered for a lifetime too, coastal salt included.
DESCRIPTION
Assembled standing on the ground. About 15 fasteners. No ladders.
Plan on roughly 1.5 hours to set the pier, 1 to 5 days of concrete cure, then about 1.5 hours of assembly — all from a standing position, no ladders or special tools. Backboard padding and the H-bracket arrive pre-installed, which top assembly pros say saves about 30 minutes.
Self-leveling nuts square the system after the pier cures, and the rim height is calibrated at the end so it's exact. Phone support from an experienced installation expert is included — a real person.
