Telescopic Van Ladder

August 21, 2020 by Ben Leave a Comment

Telescopic Van Ladder. If you have roof-mounted accessories on your van you are going to want a way to safely access them.

A permanent side or rear-mounted ladder is great, but depending on the location, it may not work. Consider a Telescopic Ladder for use with your RV or camper van.

Telescopic Van Ladder

If you read our Van Cargo Carrier Mounting Tips post you would have been thinking “this is great, but how’s he going to get at it?”

Originally I had envisioned having a permanent ladder mounted on the side. Unfortunately, our Thule Roof Cargo Box only opens from one side, meaning it has to be mounted over the sliding door and a permanent ladder will not work in this location.

Enter the Telescopic Van Ladder

After doing some research, we decided using a Telescopic Ladder would be the best way for us to access the roof of our van. And, with a lower cost, relatively small packed size, as well as a non-permanent attachment, the benefits far outweigh the cons.

Some Things To Consider When Selecting A Telescopic Van Ladder.

Before you decide which is the right telescopic ladder for use with your van, you should consider some of the following features.

Height Requirements

The top few rings of a ladder (regardless of design) should not be used to stand on. Take this into account when choosing the height of the ladder you need.

Pivoting Feet

Try to get a ladder with pivoting feet to keep your ladder stable on a sloped surface.

Adjustable Height

You may want to use your ladder to access some lower locations. Having the ability to select the height by the foot can be very useful.

One-Touch Release

Last but not least, make sure the ladder you buy has a one-touch release system. The last thing you want is to have to unlock each rung each time you pack down your ladder.

Using The Telesteps Telescopic Ladder With Our Van

Using our Telescopic Ladder makes it so easy to get at our Thule box. To stop the ladder from scratching or denting the side panel, I temporarily taped off the top three rungs. Adding some cloth as padding under the tape.

Going to work on something better for the future but it works for now.

Storage

The ladder is small, but it is still another thing you need to find a place to store when you aren’t using it. We have it strapped to a cabinet just inside the rear door. It’s out of the way, and in a previously vacant area. It seems to work 👌.

To Sum This Up

You can’t beat the convenience of a permanently mounted roof access ladder, but, for the cost and functionality, using a Telescopic Ladder is the best option for our van.