Bugger. Time to find a local CNC or metal 3D print shop?

 

Been following this thread with interest.

I'm scared of my ladder now and want to replace it proactively b4 I end up a paraplegic.

DOes anyone know a friendly machine shop that could make the part? We can get a group together and buy a bunch of the machined hinges at a discount. This has worked well for me on other car forums.

 

Just an aside on your concerns -- until you get a group buy on replacement hinges, a backup safety leash connecting the top section to the bottom might bring you some peace of mind. A couple of thin braided steel cables attaching to each, with as little slack as will allow for folding, might keep you from crashing to the ground if the hinge failed. What made me think of it is overhead speakers and light bars in auditoriums always have their primary mounting system, and then a redundant safety leash that would catch them if the primary failed.

 

I might be convinced. However at the moment I am tending towards replacing the ladder with the Lucky8 rear one. Since mine also has the stiff spring/bearings. The only thing stopping me is the drilled side piece, since I have the Trophy wrap. The dealer said they won't sell individual pieces of the wrap, I didn't dare ask the cost of a complete wrap...

 

I may be naive but you obviously do not know anything about product liability and fitness of purpose, and I do know how the legal system works very well.

 

look, if every single ladder they made, or even every other failed ,then that would be a much more straight forward thing to waste the courts time with. in the case that one or two ,or some small amount of them fail its hardly an oversight of a major car company to be held to, and even less of a reason to waste the courts time . judges can smell a bad faith case.

 

I am with you about bad faith cases, but this is not a bad faith case at all and has to do with consumer advocacy. These ladders are supposed to be though and to be used as intended. The user whose ladder broke could have suffered a serious injury, and luckily he did not. LR ignoring his issue and not willing to help him is not the proper response in my humble opinion. These ladders have been out since 2020, and we simply do not know how many failed for their intended purpose. I am not and have never been trigger happy to sue and I am not recommending a lawsuit here, but this is serious enough in my opinion and LR should be all over this for their own sake, and perhaps issue a recall on these just to protect themselves from any future claims. If I were in LR's shoes, I would send a field tech to inspect the broken ladder and comp the customer with a new one. It is a lot cheaper than facing a case in the court. It frustrates me that they ignored this issue, hence my suggestion for a letter from an attorney to which I am sure they will pay a lot more attention. I hope LR is monitoring these forums.

 

Folks, not really bashing lawyers, just the way the system works. In my case the Attorney, Carl was well known to me, my wife ran his office. I got the family rate. Don't want to think about what it would have cost if I had not. It is the three years of time and the time I spent on the case. I do work as an expert witness in aircraft cases when called upon. Not too terribly often, but my billing usually exceeds $40-50,000. Things add up quickly, money can be replaced, time is the big irreplaceble thing. My grandfather was a top appeals judge and he frequently wrote about the futility of much of the system. The point is you can try to intimidate them, but it rarely works, unless they see a public relations disaster. Their insurer will fight any lawsuit because it makes good economic sense and the expense is deductible for them. Besides it sets a good example, kind of like a minefield. I was supposed to be an attorney, my family has been attorneys, like forever. Fate dictated I take a different path, fate being the draft.

JLR has changed a lot in its customer response. My wife got T boned in her Disco 1. It was the period when BMW (boo hiss) sold to Ford. No parts where available and the rear axel was on intergalactic back order due to BMW not making any parts for about a year. Land Rover North America gave us a brand new car, every month, for over a year. When we finally got it back they gave us a raft of presents and a $500 gift certificate. It is just not the same company anymore. I almost pine for the period when there was no Land Rover presence in North America, simpler times and simpler car. The ladder I had on the Series III was welded steel.

You may try corresponding with the "Home Office" sometimes it works out well. Did for me. I suspect they felt that being super nice was better than me going to OPC and The Mining Expo and bashing the company. Lots of us drove them back then, not so much anymore. Kind of feel like the last holdout.

 

I'd probably start out with a $100million demand and after a protracted and tense negotiation, settle for a used hinge and a new zip-tie.

That beefy and bendable little gem has been a valued member of my garage bric-a-brac for quite a while.


Joking aside, a few other ladder owners have got in touch with me. One bloke is on his third ladder. All broke in the same manner as mine. It does appear that this failure/defect (whatever you'd like to call it) is not uncommon in these OEM ladders; those that actually get used.

When I spoke with parts they mentioned having a number of in house meetings about this part's durability or lack thereof. They might have been BSing me of course. I don't hold much stock in what the folks at my dealership tell me.

For all the dick-waving in Defender adverts about how tough and rugged their product is, this type of failure is a reality check. In my mind, a metal ladder is a product that typically outlasts the consumer. A complete failure of its ladder structure is not really something I had on my radar. It should be near impossible to break one under normal use. Were it my job to address such things, I think I'd seriously consider making some modifications in hinge material and customer response. But as I said, I clearly am biased (and probably too fat, hence the ladder issue).

 

No they are not nearly as tough as the adverts like to make out. None of the modern cars are. They are very reliable compared to the past, but not so rugged. My Series III, what a diesel and would happily run underwater as long as the intake was above. It would do it all day long. The back sill of my 90 looks like it is the floor of a loading dock. Being soft plastic it shows wear very quickly and gets a worried look quite quickly. Since like yesterday, I unloaded and loaded 4 large pelican like cases. Kind of miss the aluminum floor of the 97 Defender or the fully carpeted Range Rover, the 2008 had a real tailgate, which I dearly miss. I think pretty much most of the aftermarket parts are better than what JLR was pushing, provided you could get them in the first place. Both the ladder and the boxes on the side where two items I specifically ensured I did not get. I went al-la-carte on that part of the order to exclude them. I had both a Front Runner rack and it came with the OEM. After a year I settled on the OEM, only because it goes on and off quicker, defiantly not because it is more durable.

I knew when Land Rovers went full on computer, it would not end well. My first hint was on the 97 Defender. I had an extreme long stretch of lonely washboard in Northern Nevada. It actually vibrated one of the plugs out of the computer module in the engine bay. Took me a while peering into the engine bay to figure that one out. Had the time, it was a long walk to US-50. I would try writing letters or perhaps a call to the headquarters, they seem to be more attentive than the dealers. You may be surprised. They may even meet you halfway and let you have a replacement at cost. No harm in trying, if you have the time. BTW, you're not fat, you are "Prosperous." What the women in Egypt used to tell me. I liked that, they felt a well fed man was successful. Skinny guys where losers, prone to selling carved crap on street corners.