@thogan831 where did you get that handle?
I order these off amazon
One on each side. Great to hold onto and hang stuff from.
Thanks for the handle link. I am realizing I need a plethora of t-nuts and bolts!
Ok finally got around to modding the ladder. 1st step was to get rid of all those unneeded extra steps, makes climbing up and down much easier. 2nd was to wrap rungs with some pipe insulation. Maybe not barefoot approved but seems better. Bonus is ladder is bit lighter now too.
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He has a trip planned to test them in his own rig, so with his experience and my feedback, hopefully soon! This is the ladder I got from GFC, just popped off the caps and installed the Shittco parts.
Nice! Might have to do the same. The barefoot thing kills.
Foam on the ladder steps…good call! They do hurt on bare feet!
Thank you!
I’m a huge GFC supporter but the ladder seems to be in need of some help. The pipe insulation is a nice temporary fix but with use/weight/boots/shoes etc, that will eventually rip. I hunt/camp with my wife and putting a bag to attach shoes or even having to wear shoes to get in and out of bed just doesnt fly. GFC does a tremendous job of keeping things simple and the ladder seems to not be that way. Has anyone tried the iKamper ladder and given it use barefoot? Just seems like too much $$ for something that you can’t use barefoot or need a bunch of stuff to get down in the middle of the night to take a leak.
You’re right the pipe insulation is temporary at best and only a marginal improvement in comfort. But it is cheap enough to replace if needed. I am thinking of making a wood cap that would fit over the existing rungs. Make it so the treads are level with the ladder deployed and with rounded edges. Maybe a bit wider too. Since I eliminated 3 steps the added wood will probably keep the ladder close to the original closed size. Just got to play around with my tablesaw and some oak.
I have the iKamper ladder and it doesn’t hurt my feet. My kids have a ladder that isn’t angled to get in and out of their trampoline and it kills my feet so I opted for the iKamper. The rungs aren’t that angled but they are enough to where it doesn’t hurt climbing up and down without shoes.
I’m molded into my chair–too lazy to walk out to the garage–can you tell us how hard it was to take out the rungs?
Oh and I decided losing 3 steps worked for me. However depending on your vehicle height and how wide you deploy the ladder, you might only want to lose 2 steps. When I cut I left about 2" above the step because I wasn’t sure what I was going to find. When you go to reattach the GFC “wing”, you’ll see that it is too long since rungs get progressively shorter as you move down the ladder. So I cut the wing to fit tight to the sliding locks, that way the 2" nubs couldn’t slide down. Found some 1 1/2" plugs that fit nice and snug with a couple wraps of tape. Gave it a nice finished look.
I’ve parked on a slope with logs under the rear wheels. Short ladder wouldn’t have been good. It wasn’t so easy to get up the tailgate either.
Some really great ideas here I’ll be following this thread until I get my GFC. Thanks to everyone for the in put here.
IDK. I thought about shortening my ladder bc it is kinda heavy. But a shortened ladder is long enough until it isn’t. Like sunset says, I’ve had to level on some pretty uneven spots and was glad to have an extra rung or two.
Also, don’t forget about bunk mode. I go that way whenever I’m solo in the tent. Don’t have to think about that ladder at all in bunk mode.
Peace.
Likely gonna go with the shittco attachment hooks (when they come available) and iKamper ladder unless something changes in the future. Im still a ways out (XL #1308) but am pumped to be thinking about this stuff now.
Yeah i’ve spent a crap load $$$ on stuff for my GFC. And the waiting to install this stuff on my camper is killing me. LOL
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Just got the roofnest ladder but it didn’t come with the brackets you out in your extrusion. You didn’t order that separately?