OEM Ladder fit

[to8nbeyond]

Could anyone that has the rear oem ladder installed tell me how you feel it fits? I’m mostly interested in the seal or fit where the handle mounts back over where the ladder mounts on the bottom. Mine has a bit of a gap and it seems like a good place for moisture or rain to get in.

I can’t find a picture that shows a close up of the area I’m looking for.

Thanks.

 

[to8nbeyond]

i figured it would be better if someone could see mine and determine if it looks the same as theirs instead of the other way around. The right side looks somewhat snug but the left side has let’s call it wiggle room.

 

[Kbutler1]

Following

Just ordered one and hope to install it myself in a couple weeks.

 

[to8nbeyond]

The long story is maybe helpful so here goes. The ladder that came on the truck wasn’t installed correctly or got bent at some point hitting a garage or something along the same lines. When the lift gate opened, it caused the ladder to hit the top of the car which turned into a rust spot. When I had the rust fixed I decided to replace the ladder because the old one couldn’t be adjusted. I found a decent deal on a new one and went to install it based on the usual videos online. I work on my car just often enough to know I have to measure 9 times to cut once.

Based on the instructions that came with the new ladder, it doesn’t appear that the old one was installed properly. I didn’t remove it so couldn’t say how it was mounted but they didn’t use the rivnut inserts. (This was dealer installed to so I’m a bit surprised). Anyway, there is. A good post from user dipan here if you search for rivnuts and lamp guard that describes how to go about it.

I used an 11/32 to expand the holes first then moved up to an 23/64 bit and it fit perfectly. I rigged an rivnut expander based on this post:

Mine looked like this. Mostly due to what was available at Lowe’s. I added some silicone around them to avoid exposure. There is a video online showing paint being used also.



The install went fine and the top no longer hits the roof, but I’m still a little concerned about the gap on the handle.

 

[Pfunk951]

From the pic, it appears that the ladder bracket is not snug on the left side (as you stated), and may be:

1. The bracket is not bent to the contour of the tailgate (it kind of looks like this might be a contributor).. If you look at the bracket, Right by the "L" in Land Rover, it is centered between the metal tailgate and the plastic handle assembly. As it continues out, it is touching only the tailgate, and then bends back out to be touching only the handle assembly.

2. The hardware is not completely cinched down on the lift gate handle assembly (done from inside the vehicle, as you know)

3. you have interference somewhere between the ladder, the metal tail gate panel, and handle assembly..

I'm betting on both 1 and 2. Let me know if you want pics of mine..

Mike

 

[iSurfvilano]

I've put the factory ladder on both LR4s I've owned and obsessed over minor fit issues like this. I just got it tight enough and called it from there. The picture looks like the spacing on mine.

 

[to8nbeyond]

Pfunk got me to take a third look but I finished too late to take much of a picture and it's been raining since. I was reluctant to push the fit the way it appeared to want to line up. That caused the whole fit to be guided by the top hook over the top of the door. That resulted in this fit once the top was secure and the bolts into the riv-nuts secure.





Basically you can see that everything sits a bit too low even though the top fits ok. I wound up removing the rev-nut bolts and pushing upward so the tabs
sat a little closer to the body and then tightened back down. There was a decent amount of give to it so it didn't seem to affect anything negatively. Here is the new fit. It doesn't look that drastic but it definitely fits better. The top clearance is still maintained as well which was the big deal. Kind of makes me wonder if a small bead of silicone inside would be a good idea.

 

[jpjp]

This is what mine looks like...

 

[to8nbeyond]

Yours looks better jpjp but I'm going to fight my OCD and call it close enough. Still thinking a bit of silicone inside might make me sleep better at night.

 

[Pfunk951]

Looks good!

I was thinking about silicone also, but I came to the conclusion that maybe there is no intent of this ever being watertight.. I definitely wouldn't want to trap water in there, so I let it go..

No brown streaks coming from under it when it rains.. Yet!

Mike