Westcott designs ladders and false cross traffic alert when backing up

[jbol74]

As the title says. Anyone else have this problem?

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[Archer]

Build quality of WCD products is great but I think they should drop the design part of their name because there are so many design flaws with some their products the name seems unwarranted.

Roof Rack:
* Lo Pro is 1/4" too low to clear the antenna making the last 1/4 of the roof rack unusable
* no notch in T-Slots that allow attachments without removing the entire bar.
* Too many bottle openers.

Ladder:
* Blocks backup camera setting off alarm
* Steps are too narrow and are way too close to the rear hatch to fit your feet on without hitting the rear hatch or slipping off (grip tape helps)
* Top of ladder is so close it also prevents stuff being mounted on the rear of the roof rack because the top of the ladder will hit it.
*Too many bottle openers.

With the WCD sliders, roof rack and ladder I now have (6) bottle openers on my 4R, crazy....

IMHO, drop the bottle openers and concentrate on thoughtful design layout.




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[3rdRunner]

Build quality of WCD products is great but I think they should drop the design part of their name because there are so many design flaws with some their products the name seems unwarranted.

Roof Rack:
* Lo Pro is 1/4" too low to clear the antenna making the last 1/4 of the roof rack unusable
* no notch in T-Slots that allow attachments without removing the entire bar.
* Too many bottle openers.

Ladder:
* Blocks backup camera setting off alarm
* Steps are too narrow and are way too close to the rear hatch to fit your feet on without hitting the rear hatch or slipping off (grip tape helps)
* Top of ladder is so close it also prevents stuff being mounted on the rear of the roof rack because the top of the ladder will hit it.
*Too many bottle openers.

With the WCD sliders, roof rack and ladder I now have (6) bottle openers on my 4R, crazy....

IMHO, drop the bottle openers and concentrate on thoughtful design layout.




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lol…I have to agree with you on the bottle opener thing. I look like I have a drinking issue and I’m afraid to get more than an arm’s length away from the nearest way to crack open a cold one. As for the ladder, I get the spurious warning from time to time. I’ll have to pay more attention to it and see if it’s when turned a certain way, or what. There is a lot I like about the WD products (welding for one), but there are certainly issues. I’m fighting with the rack right now to get it aligned with the roof and the front gap sealed.

 

[ROBERT18452]

I have the Westcott ladder and roof rack and I have not experienced any of the anomalies you describe.

The roof rack must not be installed correctly because the rear bar is intended to be mounted up and down behind the antenna. Also Westcotts roof rack is adjustable up and down to allow it to fit as loose or as tight as you want to be.

 

[3rdRunner]

I have the Westcott ladder and roof rack and I have not experienced any of the anomalies you describe.

The roof rack must not be installed correctly because the rear bar is intended to be mounted up and down behind the antenna. Also Westcotts roof rack is adjustable up and down to allow it to fit as loose or as tight as you want to be.
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I’m not worried about it. I had sone folks install for me . They put the inserts on top and mounted a perfectly level rack. Unfortunately as you know the roof is convex. I just have to loosen everything, drop the inserts and crossbars and re-tighten sequentially from the front. It’s just time. The ladder does give me periodic spurious warnings. Not worried about that either., it’s infrequent. The bottle openers …let me know if you need any…lol.

 

[Archer]

I believe I installed the roof rack properly and have it mounted at it's highest point. You know how to raise it more, I'm all ears.

And the antennae is still above the roof rack line which in turn negates having anything mounted flat against the rails.

 

[Archer]

Not sure about your shoe size but mine doesn't fit on there, especially if it's wet. They could have spaced the steps to fall on either side of that bumpout, the first step is worthless anyhow.

You can see where my traction boards end, if I had it on the last rail it would be hitting the ladder (you can see the nick on the top of the ladder when I tried...lol) when the hatch came up, anything mounted on the last rail in that corner will hit.

Not saying they don't have great products, just maybe a little more forethought into their designs.

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[mfoga]

If you didn't want below the antenna why did you buy a low profile one? Sure they don't clearly state it will be below the antenna they do list how tall it will be and that was less than the height of the antenna. I knew it was a faction lower but I also wanted the lowest I could get to allow most room for a rtt to fit while in the garage.

I know because is spend countless hours looking at the numbers of all these aftermarket racks and the height of the vehicle (actually going and measuring it at the dealership) and how tall rtt mounts are and ....

 

[Archer]

Yeah, probably my fault they didn't state that the entire half of the back rail is useless, or they could have thought, gee, I wonder if we should make a roof rack to clear the antennae.

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[ROBERT18452]

I know westcott has taller roof rack brackets if you want your roof rack to sit higher for those that don't mind it not fitting as tight to the roof. I know the owner of the company Jeff Westcott would be more than happy to send you out a set if you wanted them. He always goes above and beyond for his customers and I just call him on his cell phone when I have had questions and he has always just handled it. I know he tries to be super involved with the community helping in any way he can. Here is his cell number and just tell him I gave it to you. He does not mind calls or text. Jeff Westcott Cell 480-703-2440

 

[mfoga]

Yeah, probably my fault they didn't state that the entire half of the back rail is useless, or they could have thought, gee, I wonder if we should make a roof rack to clear the antennae.

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I mean if they only had something like this available that clears the antenna. https://westcottdesigns.net/product/2025-toyota-4runner-6th-gen-full-length-modular-roof-rack/ Its even less expensive.

Westcott has one that was 1.75" and 3.5" tall
Sherpa has one that is 2.5" tall
Prinsu Pro 2.35" tall and I think the original was the same.
This is just a few of them.

There were lots of options out there. Not everyone has the same needs.

 

[Archer]

I'm well aware of what's available, I wanted a lo pro, but if your telling me that they could not have made that less than 1/4" higher to clear the antennae I believe that would either be an oversight or a design flaw.

You guys seem to be taking this personal, like I said, their quality is top notch, some of their designs, not so much.

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[mfoga]

Well I for one wanted it as low as possible and happy that it’s below the antenna. I guess my problem is the number of people on the site who think if it’s not exactly what they anted somehow it’s wrong Whe in reality it’s just means that is not the product for you.

 

[jbol74]

I love how my thread got hijacked about roof racks

 

[3rdRunner]

lol…oops you’re right. We did kinda’ get off track there. So I tried it out and if I’m backing and turning hard I’ll get the spurious cross traffic alert. Seems to coincide with the yellow line (projected trajectory) getting close to or touching the ladder image. Adjusting the turn helps but honestly, I tend to take a quick glance outside and then ignore it. There are so many systems on the vehicle that ding, or beep, or brake, or pull the wheel that it becomes a bit annoying at times.

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