AFFORDABLE SAND LADDERS FOR EXPEDITIONARY VEHICLES - MAXINGOUT

maxingout

Adventurer
Sand ladders can be a major expense when you are outfitting an expeditionary vehicle. Some sand ladders make excellent posing gear and are real overland bling. As soon as you mount expensive sand ladders on your truck, you achieve the status of explorer and world traveler, or so it would appear.

If you are not looking for overland bling, and you want affordable sand ladders, you can construct them yourself. It’s not that hard to do, and you get the satisfaction of designing and creating something for your expeditionary vehicle.

I always construct sand ladders out of one inch angle iron with five rungs welded across the sand ladder. If you ever wanted to weld something yourself, but you are afraid that it would not look good when you were done, welding your own sand ladders is a good place to start. Even if the spot welds look amateurish, it doesn’t matter, and your sand ladders won’t care. Unsightly welds may reduce the bling factor of your ladders, but they will still work fine.

Creating them is easy.

You can make your sand ladders any size you want. Since you are cutting the steel angle iron yourself, you get to choose the size.

Sand ladder 1.jpg

These sand ladders are 36 inches long, and the rungs are 12 inches wide. An angle grinder with cut off discs can cut out a set of sand ladders in about an hour. Even if you aren’t good with an angle grinder, no one will ever know about your compromised steel working skills since the spot welds will cover a multitude of mistakes.

Sand ladder 2.jpg

If you don’t want to do the welding yourself, you can take the sand ladder components to a muffler shop for them to weld. That’s what I did. They placed three spot welds on the end of each rung, and after 120 spot welds, the sand ladders were assembled. That cost me sixty dollars, which comes to fifty cents for each spot weld. That was cheaper than me going out and purchasing a welding machine.

Sand ladder 3.jpg

Next, you round the ends of the sand ladder rails so they don’t puncture a tire, and they don’t have any sharp edges. That requires at least another hour unless you are fast with an angle grinder and a file to smooth the edges.

Sand ladder 4.jpg

In Arabia, we sometimes painted our sand ladders black, sometimes white, and sometimes we left them without any paint because it was dry in Arabia, and things tended not to rust.

I decided to spray paint my sand ladders white with Rusteoleum, because we have two periods of rainy weather in the southwest, the longest one being the southwestern monsoon from mid July to mid September. I also selected white because white has good visibility in the sand and it is much cooler in the hot Arizona sun. Black Sand ladders are very hot in direct sunlight when the ambient temperature is 110 degrees Fahrenheit.

Sand ladder 5.jpg

The final stage in creating a set of sand ladders is to attach a chain and rope to the ladders when it is time to use them. If you don’t have a chain and rope attached when you use the ladders in sand, it will be hard to locate the ladders when they get pushed six inches under the surface of the soft sand by the weight of the truck. If the sand ladders are buried without an attached rope and chain, you will have to walk along the tire tracks with a shovel, and jam the shovel into the sand to locate the sand ladders. With the chain and six feet of rope attached to the ladders, you know exactly where the ladders are located after the vehicle recovery, and you simply pull on the rope and chain to recover the ladders.

Sand Ladder 6.jpg

If you need to use the sand ladders another time because the vehicle only moved a few feet before getting stuck once again, you simply drag the sand ladders to the new location with the rope, and place the sand ladders for another use.

The reason you have a short length of chain attached to the ladders is to prevent the tire from severing the rope tether. If the rope was attached directly to the sand ladder, a spinning tire might cut the rope, and you would have to go searching for the sand ladder.

On our Land Rovers, we mount our sand ladders on our Brownchurch roof rack or on our bull bar. Either place works fine. If you are in a lot of soft stuff, and if you are going to be using the ladders frequently, then mounting them on the bulbar is faster and easier. It also keeps the center of gravity lower in the truck when they are mounted on the bulbar. I have had six Land Rovers, and four times I mounted the sand ladders on the bulbar and twice on the roof rack. If you are going to do a lot of off camber driving, then mounting on the bullbar would be safer than having their weight on the roof.

Sand ladder 7.JPG

These four sand ladders are neatly stacked and waiting to be placed on the bullbar or roof rack.

Is it worth making your own sand ladders? That depends.

If your last name is Rockefeller or Trump, don’t bother making your own.

But if you want to put affordable sand ladders under all four tires when you are recovering a vehicle in soft sand, then these ladders might work for you. I have put them on every one of my Land Rovers, and I have never been disappointed with their performance. What they lack in bling, they make up for in cost and power. And as posing gear, they are not half bad either.

You pay your money and make your choice.
 
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tacr2man

Adventurer
It might be worth checking ex mil suppliers , as I have a pair of aluminum assault ladders , approx 5ft long that I have used for past 25 yrs cost me £5 each HTSH

Yours is a good suggestion on a DIY basis, as the usual psp style are very heavy (and expensive) for a limited use add on JMHO
 

overlander

Expedition Leader
Another great thread Dave!

It might be worth checking ex mil suppliers , as I have a pair of aluminum assault ladders , approx 5ft long that I have used for past 25 yrs cost me £5 each HTSHO

I would love to see a pic of those assault ladders!
 

Cody1771

Explorer
have you load tested them in soft sand yet? i have a feeling they are going to look like bananas after not to long
 

maxingout

Adventurer
have you load tested them in soft sand yet? i have a feeling they are going to look like bananas after not to long

I spent ten years driving in the sand dunes of Arabia, and I have used the one inch angle iron sand ladders hundreds of times on our expeditions without them ever bending, These are not bridging ladders, They are sand ladders. If you made them out of aluminum or smaller angle iron, it could be a different story.

This link has photos of them on trucks and being used in sand recoveries.

http://outbackandbeyond.com/Expeditionary_Sandbook.htm

At the boottom page of that link you will see a picture of a large water truck and its angle iron sand ladder that is not bent.
 
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maxingout

Adventurer
When you are bogged down like this in sand, it's time to get out the sand ladders if you are alone. If you are with other vehicles, you can use sand ladders, snatch strap, or winch.

Bogged-2-2.jpg

The problem with the snatch strap and winch is that you may be in a sea of soft sand, and the rescue vehicle may not be able to get close enough to pull you out without himself getting stuck.

Sand-ladders-2.jpg

Here is a picture of sand ladders being dragged into position to recover a Defender bogged in the sands of the Empty Quarter of Saudi Arabia.

Front-Sand-ladders-2.jpg

Sand ladders mounted on the bumper/bullbar.

Green-Defender-in-Hole.jpg

Sand ladders mounted on bumper of Green Defender.

High-sided-digging-out.jpg

Sand ladders mounted on bumper of Red Defender.

Sand-Ladder-Green-110-2.jpg

Sand ladders on bumper of Green Defender. If you look at the sand ladders mounted on the bumper, you will see that the chain and rope tether remains attached to the angle iron sand ladders with the tethers running up on the bonnet and attaching to the spare tire mount. When you are in a sea of soft sand, and you will be using the sand ladders a great deal, it may be a good idea to keep the tethers attached and ready for action.

Sand-ladder-sand-tires2.jpg

Sand ladders mounted on side of roof roof rack.

Haddida-110-2.jpg

Sand ladders mounted on roof rack of Defender.

Sand-ladder-water-truck2.jpg

Large angle iron sand ladders used by a two-wheel drive water truck in the Empty Quarter.


I have seen two-wheel drive water trucks traveling alone 200 km in the sand dunes, and all they had was two angle iron sand ladders to free themselves when bogged down in the sand. The water truck drivers are experts at sand driving, but even the best driver sometimes gets into trouble. When they get stuck, they use extra large size angle iron sand ladders to free themselves. It is amazing what you can do with a two-wheel drive water truck in the sand dunes when you have a set of sand ladders, and you know what you are doing.
 
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1leglance

2007 Expedition Trophy Champion, Overland Certifie
Great write up and pics...and nice that you include real world demos of them in action.

Now I have a question, based on your experience it is worth it to have 4 of them or would 2 be enough?
Any idea how much a set of 2 or 4 wgt?

thanks for taking the time to write this stuff up, many of us are really enjoying it.
 

loren85022

Explorer
Max, would there be any value in having 2 of them being slightly longer? When a tire is buried, longer can be cumbersome to get properly angled, but with the other tires, it gives you one more rung of traction. Just pondering.


Sent from my iToaster
 

maxingout

Adventurer
Great write up and pics...and nice that you include real world demos of them in action.

Now I have a question, based on your experience it is worth it to have 4 of them or would 2 be enough?
Any idea how much a set of 2 or 4 wgt?

thanks for taking the time to write this stuff up, many of us are really enjoying it.

I just weighed the four sand ladders on my bathroom scale. Their total weight was 35 pounds. So two of them would weigh about 17.5 pounds in the present dimensions.

When I constructed these sand ladders, I wasn't sure how big I wanted to go with them. These are about six inches longer than the ones I typically used in Arabia. I decided to make them a bit larger in all dimensions, because I wasn't sure how and where I was going to be using them. I am planning a driving trip around the world, and so I built them bigger, because it remains to be seen the type of conditions I will encounter on the trip - sand- mud - snow etc. I can easily cut them down by eight inches of length and still have a very functional ladder in the sand. My thought was to go large, but if the length isn't need, then cut them down to lighten the load. It would be possible to have three inches less width and eight inches less length if I was only going to use them in sand. In mud or snow, a longer and larger ladder could be beneficial. So my constructed length may not be the final length. A few minutes with an angle grinder and a cut off disc can shorten them to any length.

We always used four sand ladders when bogged down in the sand since we had four wheel drive. But if a person has only two wheel drive, I see no benefit from carrying four sand ladders. That's what the large water trucks do in the sand dunes. They have only two wheel drive and so they use only two sand ladders.

I have been amazed what you can accomplish with two wheel drive in the sand dunes if you know what you are doing. Twice in the Empty Quarter of Arabia, I have seen Defenders driven in two wheel drive without too much difficulty. One Defender broke a front half shaft at base of a dune after descent down a slip face. The other Defender had a broken rear differential, and they disconnected the rear prop shaft and removed the diff from the vehicle, and it still drove around in the dunes for another week using only front wheel drive.

If you only have two wheel drive, there is no point carrying four sand ladders unless you are laying down a track in the sand on which the vehicle will drive.
 
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maxingout

Adventurer
Max, would there be any value in having 2 of them being slightly longer? When a tire is buried, longer can be cumbersome to get properly angled, but with the other tires, it gives you one more rung of traction. Just pondering.


Sent from my iToaster

The longer the sand ladder, the greater the chance that it will flip up and hit the frame or the underside of the vehicle when the tire engages the first rung of the sand ladder. Usually you clear some sand away from the bogged tire and jam the sand ladder in front or behind the tire depending on the direction of the recovery. When the tire rides up on the first rung of the sand ladder, the ladder tilts upward (just like when you put weight on a teeter totter). If you have a big body lift, you can use a longer steel sand ladder without it engaging the frame or body of the vehicle. If you are a water truck, you can use a really long sand ladder because the sand ladder will never rise up and hit the underside of the vehicle.

So for our types of vehicles, I would say that the amount of body lift on the truck determines how long you can make your sand ladders without them engaging the underside of the truck.
 

Antichrist

Expedition Leader
I am planning a driving trip around the world, and so I built them bigger, because it remains to be seen the type of conditions I will encounter on the trip
I would think that something which could also be used as a bridging ladder would be advisable when you're likely to encounter a great variety of terrain types.
 

tacr2man

Adventurer
JMHE but have only had to use sand ladders for bridging once , and just put rocks under to support , and then could have found a way round but just decided easier to do what we did, with sand its just a matter of spreading the weight footprint , and getting back on top so to speak, so a well made short ali ladder works OK its the rung to side rail fixing that is the biggest factor . Most times I have used its because had not aired the tyres down for soft sand , but hard for faster travel , if you are down to say 18-20psi and are still sinking in then its time to reconsider your route in view of your weight( groundpressure) .
 

maxingout

Adventurer
I would think that something which could also be used as a bridging ladder would be advisable when you're likely to encounter a great variety of terrain types.

I have been looking at bridging ladders for a long time, and I can see their benefits when they are needed. It all comes down to the type of wheeling you do as to whether you need to invest in bridging ladders.

Most of what I know about driving off-road comes from my experience in Saudi Arabia, and that limits my perspective to a significant degree. I spent 90% of my off-road driving in the sand (which is not surprising since Arabia is one of the largest sand boxes in the world). Whenever I drove on dissected terrain, I followed bedouin tracks that made quick business of the complications associated with dissected terrain. In ten years I never needed to use bridging ladders in Arabia because we followed tracks through the dissected terrain. On rare occasions we might move a few rocks around to smooth the way, but bridging ladders never were needed. So my bias is slanted in favor of sand ladders and away from bridging ladders because of where I drive and how I drive. Other people live in locations where dissected terrain rules their off-road experience, and bridging ladders are an important part of their standard operating procedures. They attack dissected terrain and go where no one has gone before, and bridging ladders are an important part of what they do off-road.

When driving in Africa and Australia, heading cross country without following tracks is hazardous to your tires. Thorns make Africa into the land of a thousand tire punctures. If you drive off the developed tracks and head cross country, you better have lots of spare tires, tubes, patches, and tire repair kits. In Australia you discover how efficiently mulga stumps penetrate the sidewalls of your tires when you get off the tracks in the outback.

In a driving trip around the world, I would expect to spend the majority of my time on tracks where bridging ladders would not be necessary when traversing dissected terrain. I would let the desert tracks do the work for me. I would also stick to existing tracks as I don't like flat tires in remote locations when I am only carrying two spare tires. When I did an externship in Kenya in medical school, we made a safari out to Masai Mara game reserve, and I will never forget all the flat tires. The person I was with told me that on one trip he had to repair five flat tires punctured by thorns in a single day. Rightly or wrongly, that has left a lasting impression on my approach to the African off-road experience, and it is one of the reasons I want to run Michelin XZL tires in Africa because of their resistance to thorn punctures.

I can see myself leaving existing tracks in the sand dunes of Namibia or in the Sahara, or the sand dunes of the Middle East. But I don't see many circumstances where I would actually need bridging ladders.

When my Land Rover is fully loaded in an expeditionary configuration, I will spend most of the time on well-defined tracks unless leaving the track for a couple of miles to find a secluded camping spot.

Wheeling here in the USA is very different from what I experienced in Arabia. In the American south west there is much more off camber driving, and dissected terrain and rock crawling are routine experiences. I never saw a rock slider on a truck until I returned to America and purchased my H1 Hummer which has a massive rock slider going from wheel well to wheel well and a web like network of underbody protection. When I first looked under my H1 Hummer and I saw all that damage control gear underneath, I wondered what people were doing with their trucks that merited all that protection. Then I came to the American southwest, and I discovered that they do things differently here. They eat dissected terrain for breakfast and devour rocks with their trucks for lunch. The rules of engagement are entirely different in this part of the world.

If I was going to do dissected terrain and rock crawling, I would get myself some bridging ladders that were big enough to stand up to my H1 Hummer, and I would air down to 12 psi, and I would be working out my rock sliders and underbody protection as the H1 went where no one has gone before.

My Land Rover 110 is for driving on tracks around the world and enjoying sand wherever it is found. I will never drive on dissected terrain on purpose or do rock crawling with my truck loaded in expeditionary configuration. I will let the tracks of the world get me through the rock and the hard place as I drive around the world.

That's a very long answer to why I chose sand ladders over bridging ladders. Time will tell whether I have chosen well or poorly.

Thanks for your comment.
 
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