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Ladder Rack

L

lanchepoor

Full Member
Joined
Apr 28, 2003
Messages
44
Location
Frederick, Maryland USA
I just picked up my 2003 1500 last week (thank you), and I need to put a 28' extension ladder on it. I read about a hitch adapter that would let you carry something, but I need to put the tailgate down on every single job.

I've seen mods where someone figured out how to put a bike rack over the cargo covers. Anyone ever figured out how to put a ladder rack in the same way?

Help. I told my wife I could figure this one out, and I really need to.
 
check out the kayak thread in Outdoor activities forum. GRF has a kayak rack that sits on the panels. Looks like it weighs a ton though. Maybe something like that.
 
Using stock roof rack why not let part of ladder sit on it and the rest sit on tailgate...remove rear bed cover and reach inside top tie off to top rear hook thingys.....and tie off front of ladder to rack....

And then avoid low roof places ;D
 
Why not drop the mid gate then put down the tailgate. You should have more than enough length to keep the ladder from tipping out.

The rack I built was made out of pressure treated 2x4's, you could probably make it out of thinner boards. Or none pressure treated wood. It just would not hold up as long. PVC piping would probably work as well. Now that I think of it, I could probably had built a more stable rack out of pvc.

GRF
 
Sorry GRF :( I was off by 1965 lbs. Looks super stable though!
 
How long is the ladder? It is not 28' collapsed, is it? I think that you could meake similar racks out of PVC that GRF made, and attach them to the #1 & #3 covers, and it will support the ladder. If you have a roof rack, taht would give you even more support.

It does not sound or look like it would be too hard. Experiment around, and let us know how it turns out (I need to carry ladders too, but nothing that large!)

Good luck!
 
GRF,

So how did you get the clip to attach to the #2 cover? Any special brackets or anything, and is it still waterproof?

I am a real novice at working with my hands on things that I care about. But I have a small affection for dewalt. Would have gotten then yellow AV if I could have, but I'm not someone to wait for things. I had to have mine off the lot.
 
Lanchepoor,

If all you want to do is haul a ladder occasionally you might want to check this out. It mounts on your receiver hitch and supports the end of the ladder while the rest sits on the roof rack.
 
hehe. know what ou mean.

I saw those at cabellas too. The only problem is that I need to drop the tailgate for work, and that would make it kinda hard.

Thanks for the suggestion though
 
Lanchepoor,

I saw a slightly different on in a Northern Equipment catalog. It looked like you could extend it out far enough from the receiver to open the tailgate. I couldn't find it on thier web site, but the catalog was spring 2003.
 
Someone on this site found that Yakima Qtowers and Q30 clips would fit around the panel perfectly. I Just played with the spacing on the 48" crossbar and the bolts that hold the clips in place. The clip just slips around the panel. Yakima has a tab with a cam like design. You flip the tap up and you loosen the clip when you flip it down it tightens the clip. Thus the reason I had to play with the spacing on the cross bar and the tightness of the bolt that holds the tap onto the Qtower. If you want I can get you some more detailed pictures of the Yakima part of the rack.

I have not done a test for waterproof yet. I probably should do that. I figured that any water the got in would probably fall into the drain cutter that runs under the rail for the covers.

For measurements I just measured (eyeballed) the distance from the top of the panels to the top of the roof rack and went from there. It has been about a month or 2 since I made the rack. I believe the cross piece is 20" off the ground, but I did that so my wheels would line up with the saddles I have. I think the stock roof rack is about 22" from the panels.

To figure out how high up to drill the holes for the Yakima cross bar to pass though I just put the Yakima towers on the ground and measured the height to the center of the cross bar.

If you do not have a Yakima rack already this might be a costly design. You might want to look into just strapping the rack to the sailplanes and the trailer hitch. I use to attach the rack to my Dakota that way. In that case just a couple eye bolts to either side of the wooden cross bar. When you got to the job site you could take off the straps that get in the way of the tailgate. Or you could probably figure a way to use the clip with out buying the rest of the rack system or just have a couple pieces of 10 or 12-gauge steel bent up. Some how mount the clip so that you could tighten a bolt or nut and the clip would travel up and pinch the panel between the clip and your rack. Hmmm, something for me to think about this weekend.
 
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