Front Runner Ladder for Land Rover Defender 90/110 - Rear Mount - 28-3/8" Tall

Video Transcript for One Year Review - Front Runner Rear Mount Ladder

Howdy, John with etrailer, and if you're looking for a way to get up and down from your platform rack, or just happen to need a way to get up to your roof, then the front runner ladders are going to be a way that you can go. But if you're wanting to have this put on your vehicle, you are going to have it as a permanent solution. You're gonna wanna make sure it's something you wanna live with, and you are gonna have to do some drilling and some installation. So you wanna make sure that this is something that you're actually going to use, and it's going to be able to hold up. That's why I'm going to be going over it. I've had this on here for about a year now, and I can kind of walk through some of the situations I've used it in and show if it's actually held up to those situations.

And when it comes to use case, a lot of people will use these to go up and then put things on top of their platform rack, whether that be a kayak or just some of their luggage. I don't use it as much for that. Sometimes I'll use it if I need a little bit of extra help to put some lumber on, I'll have my wife go to the back, and then climb up and help load some of it on there. But what I mainly use it for is if I want to get up on top of my slim line and use it for star gazing or anything else, because it is one that you can go all the way up with. And it does hold up pretty well.

It's still a thinner ladder, but it's pretty easy to work with. And I am in the 180 pound range, and I don't feel like I'm stressing it out at all. I've had some of our other coworkers who happen to be a little bit larger than me use it. And they've had no problem whatsoever. And it makes it easy to get up and down from the top of your platform rack.

Now considering how it's held up over about a year and a half of use, it's still in pretty good condition. The power coat on most of it is still looking good and doesn't have any scratches or anything. The bolts do have a bit of corrosion to them, but that isn't too bad in our Midwest conditions, when we have a lot of snow, and a lot of sleet that are kicking around. And all of the points are still pretty solid. I don't feel like any of the actual attachment points on the bottom where we drilled in are loosening at all.

And as you saw earlier, I'm easily able to go up and down it without it rattling at all. So I feel like it definitely holds up to a good amount. Now, some stuff that I wish I had whenever I first got this attached that I've noticed over use that it's something that I may want to get right off the bat. So we have it on a 4Runner right now, and we have a lipid right here, which is nice. I'm glad that we have that. It makes it a lot easier to get up and get to the top of my ladder, but especially, if somebody's using it that isn't as easily able to get up on top of that like I am. Or you have another vehicle that doesn't have that lip, having something that can go inside your hitch like a step. They have hitch steps here at etrailer.com. I would say getting one of those makes it way easier to be able to get up on top of the ladder and then on top of your rack. The other thing that may be something you wanna look at is getting new struts. We also have those here at etrailer. The struts right now are working relatively well, but whenever it gets very cold, because we have this on the back, it is going to make it a lot easier for it to just come down. I actually had that happen whenever we we inchesre at a convention where it was very cold outside, and whenever we we inchesre unloading things, I had my wife holding it up and because when she let it go, it came down and hit me in the head. It's one of those things that you just don't notice that until you get in those conditions that the struts can be not as powerful for having this extra weight on the back. So looking back, if I had to make the decision again to get this ladder, I think I definitely get it. It's one of those things that if you have a SUV or a van and you already have or are getting a platform rack, you might as well have a ladder attached, especially, if you maybe don't have running boards or you're in a situation where it's tougher to get to the top and load. This makes it a heck of a lot easier and you can get up and down it pretty quickly. If you do see that the installation might be a little too much, we do have our installation videos you can follow, but we also have our dealer locator where you can go through and get set up with a dealer that can install this for you. Hopefully this one year review made it easier for you to decide if the front runner ladder is the right choice for you.