It is a brilliant idea to equip your pick-up truck with ladder racks and make your vehicle able to transport long equipment like ladders, pipes, drywall, kayaks, canoes, and more. A ladder rack can create a frame platform above the truck bed to make your truck able to transport all types of roof-mounted cargo carriers and large pieces of equipment or gear.
Who needs ladder racks?
If you are a contractor or an experienced construction worker, you need a ladder rack on your truck to make your daily life much easier. Moreover, ladder racks are not only for working but also for most outdoor activities.
When comparing ladder racks, you can find they are in different sizes to fit long or short trunk beds; furthermore, manufacturers use sturdy materials (aluminum or steel) to produce these racks for truck owners. However, what are the differences between these ladder carriers, and what are the benefits of each type? You can continue reading to find answers.
Why do you need a ladder carrier?
A ladder rack brings many benefits to truck drivers, so it becomes one of the most popular car accessories that people choose to add to their pick-up trucks: Ford F150, Ram 1500, GMC Canyon, Ford Maverick, Honda Ridgeline, Toyota Tundra, RAM 3500, and Ford F-350, etc.
Ladder racks can create much spare space above the trunk bed and increase your truck’s loading capacity with easy access when loading or unloading large pieces of things: furniture, equipment, gear, construction supplies, and more. You can build a versatile cargo solution with ladder racks on your pick-up trucks to transport everything you need between locations.
After having ladder carriers on your truck, you can mount almost all types of rooftop cargo carriers there to deliver luggage, bikes, skis, kayaks, and more you need for outdoor activities. However, before mounting a rooftop cargo carrier on the ladder racks, you must ensure the distance between two crossbars suits the cargo carrier’s requirement.
Size and Materials
We don’t know the size of your truck bed, so you have to do the measurement yourself and use the numbers to select the suitable ladder racks to fit the specific trunk bed. Some universal adjustable ladder racks fit on most trunk beds, so if you don’t have time for dimension checking, you can choose universal-fitting ladder carriers without a compatibility issue.
When choosing ladder racks, you can find alloy-steel and aluminum options; consequently, you need to know the difference between these materials.
Alloy steel is a predominantly iron-made combination of chemical elements like silicon, carbon fiber, manganese, vanadium, and more. (Find more information about Alloy Steel on Wikipedia)
Aluminum is an ultra-light metal material, so manufacturers often use it to produce aircraft components or car parts.
When selecting ladder racks for your trucks or Vans, you should know that the aluminum racks are lightweight and sturdy, and the alloy-steel options are strong enough but heavier than aluminum-made racks.
Aluminum ladder carriers are lightweight, durable, and anti-corrosion, and they are also easy to install and maintain, which makes these aluminum racks the most cost-effective choice for many working vehicles. However, aluminum racks are not as strong as alloy-steel racks when handling heavy loads.
Steel ladder racks can hold heavier loads, which makes them a perfect choice for people who often drive their trucks for heavy-duty jobs. Furthermore, steel ladder carriers can cost more gas mileage because of their heavy weight. Most people say the effect is ignorable.
Ultimately, you better choose the most suitable ladder carriers based on your situation. Before choosing one, you must consider the weight of loads, the frequency of use, the condition of your truck, and the environmental factors that can affect the rack’s effectiveness. With these tips, you can find the most suitable ladder racks today.
Installation
If you are new to ladder carriers, you may want to know the process of attaching ladder racks to a truck trunk bed. It is a challenging job for people who have never done that before, so you better read the installation manual and follow the steps during the assembling process.
First, you have to measure the dimensions of your truck’s trunk bed and choose the appropriate ladder carriers that fit the vehicle you drive. Second, you can prepare some tools for the installation if needed; however, most ladder carriers offer tool-free installation.
You can invite someone else to join the installation for security and accuracy. When positioning ladder racks on the trunk bed, you can adjust the distance between two ladder rack bars to fit specific cargo carriers you want to mount on the rack bars. When ladder racks are in use, you better prepare some high-quality straps to tie large pieces of equipment to the rack bars to ensure safety and risk-free trips.
Loading Capacity
Most pick-up trucks’ trunk beds can carry up to 800 – 1000 pounds, and most popular ladder carriers can hold up to 800 lbs of loads. When using ladder racks to transport things, you don’t need to worry too much about the weight limit and overloading because of the high loading capacity that ladder carriers provide.
If you add a roof cargo box on the ladder racks, you must follow the cargo box’s loading limit, not the ladder racks’. Other roof-mounted cargo carriers use clamps or bolts to lock and connect to crossbars, and the mounting hardware cannot securely grasp on bars if the box is overloaded.
Related Topic: Find Tonneau Cover for pickup trucks
Clean and Maintenence
After using ladder racks on your trucks for a while, you should clean and maintain them for a longer lifecycle and smooth working conditions. When do you need to clean or maintain the ladder carriers? It depends on the frequency of use, what environment you often take them to, and what kinds of jobs they usually handle. According to experts, a month is a good time point between each maintenance when having ladder racks on a truck trunk bed.
What do you need to check?
After having ladder carriers on your trucks, you must perform regular safety checks on the components and make sure they are securely connected.
First, you need to make sure all screws are tight. Second, you have to clean the rack joints to make sure they are clean without dust, mod, and other natural elements. Third, you can use chemical cleaners to clean the surface of the ladder carriers to increase their overall appearance and the ability to stand with water and Ultraviolet. You can use the methods of cleaning roof racks, cargo boxes, and bike racks to take care of the ladder carriers.
When hauling large gear or equipment on ladder carriers, you must check the tightness during the trip and ensure all straps and screws are secured. You can prepare extra straps and use them for added security.
Effective cleaning and maintenance can make ladder carriers live longer and work better, so you should take care of your ladder racks each time after delivering ladders, bulky items, scaffolds, and other long gear like kayaks.
You should not allow dirt, debris, or other natural elements to accumulate on the ladder carriers because these elements cause corrosion. When cleaning the joints or small parts on the ladder carriers, you can use a brush to make the tiny area free of dirt. You can utilize a high-pressure washer to clean ladder carriers. After cleaning the ladder racks, it is time to apply lubrication powder or oil on all joints and connections to ensure proper functioning and prevent future rust.
Well-maintained ladder racks can make your business time more effective, and better cleaning and maintenance also ensure the safety and durability of your truck.
Additionally, added ladder carriers can increase your truck’s selling price on the market, and most truck buyers confirmed that ladder racks add value to pick-up trucks.
Related Topic: Find trunk bed storage boxes for pickup trucks
Conclusion
It is an article for truck drivers. When selecting ladder carriers for specific pick-up trucks, you should consider the loading capacity, trunk bed size, ladder racks’ dimensions, materials, and installation.
You can mount almost all roof-mounted cargo carriers on ladder racks, but you must adjust the distance between two crossbars to meet the carrier’s requirement; consequently, it is better to check before action.
In general, ladder racks are universal to most trunk beds, especially those adjustable ones.
Some ladder racks expand to the truck roof as roof racks, and you can use almost all roof-mounted cargo carriers on this type of ladder rack. However, those ladder racks without expansions to the truck roof cannot support roof-mounted cargo carriers.
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