What Is A Ladder Rack?

13 comments Feb 28, 2023

A ladder rack is a specific type of vehicle rack that is designed to safely and securely transport ladders, as well as other longer objects or over-sized cargo, mostly used for contractor or construction purposes, such as lumber, wood, tubes and other materials.

Ladder racks are mostly installed on the exterior of vehicles such as trucks, vans and SUVs. They differentiate from regular roof racks or bed racks, because they tend to have a lot of mounting points to secure the ladders or longer objects in place, often having raised sides so that the ladders don’t fly off the rack even if they slide towards the sides.

Ladder racks are normally heavy duty, therefore stronger, sturdier, made of tougher materials such as steel, and installed to the vehicle with safer mounting points.

For example, and SUV might have plastic cross bars that clamp onto the raised side roof rails of the vehicle, with a weight capacity of close to 165 lbs when the car is on motion. A ladder rack would normally be bolted onto the vehicle’s roof to have as much sturdiness and stability as possible, made of metal to avoid breaking or giving in or for scratches to be irrelevant, and have a higher weight rating.

Types Of Ladder Racks

There are different types of ladder racks for the different types of vehicles, as well as of the uses. The purpose is to always make it safe to transport the ladders or larger cargo, as well as making it easier for the contractor, worker or user to manipulate such cargo.

Truck Ladder Racks:

Over-the-cab and side-mounted styles. These come in two types, the regular bed rack style such as the Thule TracRac TracOne which just has two raised bed bars with a few tying points.

Then you have the longer truck ladder racks that extend the entire structure to also sit over the cab. This second option has raised sides on both the bed and cab portion, and are made to transport longer, larger and heavier ladders, as well as more materials. They have more tying points, and secure the ladders from falling off the vehicle with the raised sides.

Drop-Down Ladder Racks:

For high-roof vans. These are perfect as they’re the most ergonomic design. Since vans tend to be both long and tall vehicles, accessing the rack isn’t easy. That’s why often times you see that there are literally rack ladders to climb on top of the van’s roof. However, the drop-down ladder racks have a special mechanism that allows you to pull down a portion of the rack towards the ground and side of the van and untie or unsecure any of the cargo. This allows you to avoid climbing up and down the van.

Utility Roof Racks:

For longer SUVs and vans. If you own a longer or larger SUV, such as Toyota 4Runner or an Escalade just to name a few, or own a van, you will want to get a Utility roof rack. It’s just like a regular roof rack but with raised side rails or panels. You can also customize a regular roof rack such as a Prinsu or Front Runner roof rack, by adding the raised rails or panels. The purpose of these are to secure the ladders or cargo from flying off the rack when driving.

Interior Ladder Racks:

Just like you read, a ladder rack but in the interior of the vehicle. Longer vehicles such as vans, or if you own a truck and have a bed cap over it, allow you to mount a structure inside the vehicle, attached to the inside of the roof, where you can mount a ladder.

These aren’t the most convenient as they can disturb the driver, there isn’t as much space inside the vehicle, plus of the ladder or cargo is dirty it can affect the interior of the vehicle. However, they tend to be the safest ones, meaning, the ladder will never fly off the rack, you don’t need as many tie down points, and they’re safe from theft!

Rear-Access Ladder Racks:

These are designed for all sorts of vehicles, trucks, vans, SUVs, and they’re simply a ladder rack with a roller at the back. What is a roller? Just like it sounds, a rolling mechanism going from side to side of the rear of the vehicle. Just place the ladder over the roller and push, the roller will help you mount or unmount the ladder from the rack so you don’t put as much effort. Great for those who are on their own!

Benefits Of A Ladder Rack

Using a ladder rack brings a lot of benefits, which are honestly quite obvious:

• Maximizes interior space: no need to be putting the ladder or contractor materials inside the car in odd positions to make them fit. Free up space for comfort of the driver, or to carry more valuable gear inside the vehicle.
• Reduces risk of injury: you won’t have a ladder dancing inside your car with the risk of hitting you in every turn.
• Prevents vehicle damage: having the ladder or objects over the car, tied safely and securely, and over a rack, prevents the ladder or objects from scratching the roof of the car and damaging it.
• Simplifies ladder loading and unloading: how much easier is it to mount and unmount the ladder and other things when on a rack designed for that? Imagine having a drop-down ladder rack? Piece of cake!

How To Install A Ladder Rack?

Different ladder racks will have different installation types. However, most ladder racks have similar characteristics: they tend to bolt onto either the vehicle’s roof mounting points, or bolt into the truck bed’s interior rail system. 

Therefore, to install the ladder rack you will need basic work tools, such as a wrench, a screwdriver, and potentially a drill in case you will need to drill holes onto your vehicle.

• Preparation:
• Gather necessary tools (wrenches, drills, etc.).
• Confirm compatibility with your vehicle and ladder rack.
• Installation Steps:
• Position the rack on the roof or bed of your vehicle according to manufacturer instructions.
• Secure mounting brackets or bolts.
• Test the stability by applying pressure and adjusting as needed.
• Check for proper alignment and tighten all fasteners.
• Professional Installation:
• Some racks may require professional installation for optimal safety and durability. If you’re not comfortable using work tools, contact immediately a professional to install it.

What Vehicles Are Suitable For A Ladder Rack?

Are all vehicles capable of sustaining a ladder rack? Short answer is yes, even a smaller sedan can have a rack that can transport a ladder. However, the correct answer is no. Not all vehicles should be transporting ladders or longer cargo, and not all vehicles are really made to have a rack over them.

They types of vehicles that are truly suited for a ladder rack are the following:

• Trucks: Pickup trucks, pretty much any model.
• Vans: High-roof and standard vans, including utility and cargo models. For example, Sprinter vans.
• SUVs: Certain models with reinforced roof structures and longer chassis, such as the Toyota 4Runner, Cadillac Escalade, Lincoln Navigator, Nissan Xterra, so on and so forth.

What Ladder Rack To Choose?

How should you know what ladder rack to choose? Well, there are a few factors to consider:

• Vehicle compatibility: of course the type of vehicle you own is the first thing. If you have a pick up truck, then you will clearly choose a truck bed ladder rack. Now, if you just want a standard bed rack with raised bed bars, or a full ladder rack covering the cab, it’ll depend on some of the factors below.
• Load capacity: will the ladder or other materials and objects you carry be quite heavy? If yes, get a ladder rack with a high load rating. Remember, whatever you carry over the rack cannot exceed the racks dynamic load rating (which is the weight capacity when the car is in motion).
• Durability and materials: if you use the ladder rack for contractor purposes, and you know you will “mistreat it”, or better, not care much for it, then get a heavy duty rack made of steel or some strong metal, perhaps ignore any form of powder coating as scratches can ruin that, and focus on durability.
• Security and locking features: get one with a lot of tying and mounting points. If you plan to carry more than one ladder at once, you need room over it, as well as side rails or panels to keep the ladders and objects in place.
• Installation complexity and ergonomic features: perhaps not as important or relevant, since once the rack is installed, you should be good to go, and because the ergonomic features do make it smoother and easier to mount ladders up or take them down, but aren’t as key. However, think of that too. Are you using the rack on your own? If so, features such as a drop-down rack or a roller rack will help you a lot!

Let's Wrap It Up

What is a ladder rack? Well, as we explained above, any rack can be a ladder rack, but the truth is ladder racks are sturdier, stronger and have important safety features to differentiate them from regular racks and make it much safer and better to carry any ladder or over-sized object over them.

Finding the right ladder rack isn’t that complicated, most vehicles have specific racks that work for ladders, for example you can find specific Tacoma ladder racks, so on and so forth.

Make sure to search the web, look for pros and cons of each type of rack, and then if you still have questions, feel free to contact us, we’ll answer them!