Sand ladder

[fhp6]

How do you keep them from scratching the roof? What holds them in place?

[1 Bored Clerk]

Those orange ones could double as back boards for your own rescue! A Little help for the paramedics

[volhoo]

Great info, thanks Mike!

[blackseabk]

mir207 previously said:

Guys, you know I use them to communicate with the inhabitants of Tyberon 5, and that they use them to send me the coordinates to the mother ship. What the heck are sand ladders?



This thread asked about using them, though. I'm shamed to say that I've not yet been on a practice run to test them. Right now their only use is to make my truck look bangin'.

Re: bridging: the ones I have are indeed NOT strong enough to bridge, although there are some aluminium ladders that have more rigid design and can be used to bridge.

Thank you for everyones input.When I saw Mir207;s truck the first time those sand ladders gave me an idea. I ordered the ARB roof rack mounting kit and thinking of running three crossbars and put them on top like a roof rack and killing two birds with one stone that way.I will update with pics when I am done with the project.

[webshot]

blackseabk previously said:

Thank you for everyones input.When I saw Mir207;s truck the first time those sand ladders gave me an idea. I ordered the ARB roof rack mounting kit and thinking of running three crossbars and put them on top like a roof rack and killing two birds with one stone that way.I will update with pics when I am done with the project.

You have a really good idea there! I'm starting to rethink my roof rack options and incorporate these!

I just read an article on the Terra Trax ladders ($195 + Ship) and it seems they are simply pieces of fiberglass gratting that you can purchase on E-bay for $12 a square foot ($96 + Ship).

2" FIBERGLASS MOLDED GRATING, VINYLESTER RESIN - (eBay item 120200251791 end time Dec-28-07 19:51:54 PST)


Here is an informative article on this grating:

Bridging Ladder Buying Tips - IH8MUD.com Forum

Thanks for the idea!

[uphill]

Sand ladders (sand mats in the UK) aren't a bad idea, but bridging ladders are a better one. I know that we take pride in rolling our rigs over water falls (yeah, me too) but using bridging ladders to augment our lack of clearance makes more sense.

In my experience, an FJC with 12.5" wide tires in 4WD and IFS does VERY WELL in deep sand. I am not talking Sahara Desert Dunes, but the normal drifting dunes pose no problem. If I was doing a lot of desert driving alone (1 rig) I might throw sand ladders on to be safe. With 2 well equipped FJC's with winches/tow straps, I think that the need drops significantly.

Bridging is a separate issue and for heavy duty trailing, they're never a bad idea. I don't think every rig on the trip needs a set - but one set among several rigs is a good choice IMO. And if you're going to do that, the expensive aluminum ladders are the way to go.

[blackseabk]

webshot previously said:

You have a really good idea there! I'm starting to rethink my roof rack options and incorporate these!

I just read an article on the Terra Trax ladders ($195 + Ship) and it seems they are simply pieces of fiberglass gratting that you can purchase on E-bay for $12 a square foot ($96 + Ship).

2" FIBERGLASS MOLDED GRATING, VINYLESTER RESIN - (eBay item 120200251791 end time Dec-28-07 19:51:54 PST)


Here is an informative article on this grating:

Bridging Ladder Buying Tips - IH8MUD.com Forum

Thanks for the idea!

And thank you for the links, will come in handy.

I decided on bridging ladders instead of sand ladders because bridging ladders can work as sand ladders but sand ladders will quickly bend when used as bridging ladders. The 2 options I found were either fiberglass resin or steel.

If you are looking for the 2" fiberglass resin grating, then ebay has a guy. They are about half price of the terratrax product but are the same exact dimensions and weight. I presume that since the weights and dimensions were the exactly the same, then so were the strengths - possible long leap of faith. I found out about them from a poster on Ih8mud. If you order from this guy, make sure you get the closed ends all around:
2" FIBERGLASS MOLDED GRATING, VINYLESTER RESIN - (eBay item 120200251791 end time Dec-28-07 19:51:54 PST)

I went the cheapest route I could find which turned out to be $60. I purchased some WWII surplus Marsden Mats which are the extremely similar to the steel mats sold here:
OKoffroad.com 4x4 Recovery - Sand Ladders

They were basically used as pre-formed "instant" airplane runways. I figured that if huge military planes can safely land on them, then our 2 1/2 ton vehicles cant hurt them. Read about them here:
Marsden Matting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
They are also called PSP or perforated steel plate and I found out about them from a post on a jeep forum.

They come in either 5' or 10' lengths. I purchased one 10' and had it cut down to two 52" lengths (5' would not fit in the back with seats down)and then had the side hooks cut off to try and save some of the interior plastics (no roof rack on mine). They have most of their surplus painted finish with a light surface rust in areas and weigh close to 30# each but they were cheap (so am I). I haven't had a use for them for anything as of yet but they're nice to have as insurance. I purchased them and had them plasma cut down from these guys in Mojave, California:

[Ulfr]

Thanks everyone for the links.

I think I would like to have a couple of the terra-trax type around, mostly for bridging, if I need it in something squishy I could always try to put a tarp under it.

I don't know if I would trust a 4' section of Marsden Matting to not bend up pretty good if used for bridging, anyone done it?

oh, first post, lurked for 6 months, became a member, lurked another 6ish... a lot of knowledge out there.

[awilson529]

fhp6 previously said:

How do you keep them from scratching the roof? What holds them in place?

Very good question. I'm interested, also.