Land Rover Defender Blog

DIY Sand Ladder / Waffle Board Mount

This is our DIY guide that shows you how to mount your Waffle boards, sand or bridging ladders to your roof rack.

Ben Gribbin

Ben Gribbin

July 16, 2014

Hello, I'm the editor of FunRover. I'm a massive Land Rover fan. Currently own a TD5 90. 2015 MR Blogger of the Year

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Here's a strong, simple & cheap (around £20 or $40) way of securing your waffle boards / sand ladders. You'll need a roof rack, though you could adjust this to mount directly to the roof or side panels of a Defender. All you need is the above parts and around 30 minutes.

ICON

Parts Needed

  • 3 x M12 Bolts
  • 9 x M12 Flat or Penny Washers
  • 3 x M12 Small washer
  • 3 x M12 Nuts
  • 3 x M12 Wing Nuts
  • 1 x 12mm Drill Bit

When a genuine style roof rack is fitted, or a brown church rack, you may need to purchase U bolts instead of the above

Here's the set-up we're using:

IMG_3271

Assembly is easy. Add a washer to your bolt, then an M12 nut, then 2 washers and the wing nut. 3 of these supports are extremely strong, together holding 2 of our boards without any movement or wobble what so ever.

1

Step 1: Measure the board

waffleboard

First up, you'll need to measure your board / ladder for convenient places to mount it. You might just hold it up to your rood rack and eyeball it, but you'll need for the bolts to be:

  • Level
  • In-line with holes in the board
  • Through solid surface on the roof rack

As every roof rack and bridging ladder set-up is different, we'll leave you to figure out the best place to position your ladders. Our Trek Overland aluminium rack has 3 solid leg supports, which just so happened to line up with equal & symmetrical holes in the GRP grating we use.

2

Step 2: Centre punch and drill holes

IMG_3296
Next, measure, mark, centre punch and drill your holes.
Keep test fitting your bolts, you may need to enlarge the holes very slightly. Also, with some racks, it may be best to remove them before drilling, due to the snug fit to the body.
3

Step 3: Insert bolts

IMG_3289
Slide the bolt and first washer through, repeat in all 3 holes.
4

Step 4: Add the washers and nuts

IMG_3293
Add a large flat washer and a nut to hold it in place. Afterwards, add another washer.
5

Step 5: Mount your waffle boards

IMG_3299
Carefully place your boards on the bolts, pushing the board flat to the last washer you slipped over the bolt. Then the last washer.
6

Step 6: Add your wing nut & tighten

IMG_3301
Cinch down the wing nut on each bolt, and the boards are secured to the rack. For extra security, you could drill a small hole in the bolt to accept a padlock or chain the boards to the roof rack with a bike lock. We chose to use a solid D lock.
IMG_3307

Your bridging ladders are now quickly accessible, secure and ready to use!

Liked this post, let us know! How have you fitted your bridging ladders?

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