Steel Wheels on S:TE?

When I went to SFMM, I noticed two things about S:TE. 

First:  That thing is loud!  you can hear it throughout the whole park when its running.  It sounds like a fighter jet flying over. 

Second: it does not get very close to the top of the tower.  When I watched a TV special on it it looked like it got a lot higher than it did when I was there. 

My cousin, (who frequents SFMM) said that when it opened the ride had normal wheels, was quieter, and got a lot higher on the tower.  Is he right?  Did SFMM change the wheels on the ride?  and if so, Why did they do it?

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"Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you are a mile away and you have their shoes."

i think it was because the wheels couldnt handle the speed and got screwed up or something
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"It was sure nice of Mr. Crab to give me a job here!" "And he was sure nice to start you off at $50 an hour! When i started, i had to pay Mr. Crab $100 an hour!"

As for the height, it seems to depend on the weight af the passengers. I rode it once with only 2 people, myself included (that was interesting!) and it got VERY close to the top. We ran around to the entrance again and had a full train on the next launch, where it didn't even get close.
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- Peabody

Just a guess, but I don't think those LIM's last forever.

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Jes
Webmaster, Jes's Roller Coasters
"Thank You Jeff Putz"

They are LSM's, not LIM's.  The height the car will travel up the tower does in fact depend on the wieght of the car.  I had a whole train to myself one day in the off season and caught the brakes at the top of the tower.  The wheel thing I am not sure about, but as far as I know it has always been that noisy.

Yup, your right, I can never remember which magnet is which.

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Jes
Webmaster, Jes's Roller Coasters
"Thank You Jeff Putz"

Yup, the wheels on S:TE have been changed cause come on know wheels don't last forever.  Those LSM's shoot that car up going 100 mph.  They would have to change the eventually.

I'm pretty sure that they probably changed the wheels they're bound to with the speed the thing achieves. But as for it being more quiet when it opened, as far as I can recall, the thing has always been really loud. And I know the height depends on the weight. I rode with 3 other people once and we did come very cloe to the top. First time a ride actually made me worry with how close we got to the brakes. The best part was that I had the whole front row to myself. So I sat in the middle and took in the view on the way up.

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My current top 5:
1)Goliath 2)Vertical Velocity(SFMW) 3)Medusa(SFMW) 4)Stealth (PGA) 5)Riddler's Revenge