I’ve always used my pickup that has a Leonard bed cap that uses integrated ladder racks for my business. I was thinking about going to a used minivan, like a Honda Odyssey or Dodge Caravan, next year so I can use it a family vehicle for trips. Question is does anyone use a minivan for their business? I carry a 24, 16 and a 12 foot ladder on top. I was wondering if there is a reliable ladder rack for such vehicles. I don’t want them blowing off!
There are many rack options for minivans. Google minivan ladder racks, and you’ll see what I mean. I’m partial to the “quick release” style, like what they sell here: Weatherguard Mini Van, HHR, and Transit Ladder Racks
I had a vantech M3000 and it was awesome. The angled rack was handy for loading and unloading, but you can easily go with a straight bar.
For these, you’ll have to bolt it through the roof, but if this is your work vehicle, then it’s not a big deal. At the time it also came with a couple of velcro straps that were awesome!
I carried up to a 40’ ladder, but you could definitely feel it inside the caravan. Carrying those 3 ladders wouldn’t be a problem.
My standard setup was 24’ sectionals inside the van, 17’ little giant inside the van and then 24’ extension (when I needed it) on top. The minivans are awesome. Just pull out the rear seat, build a platform so you can slide an LG underneath your gear and you can carry a ton of stuff inside.
I had to sell that van when I moved, but I’m going to start shopping for a Caravan next spring and slap another one of those on there.
Thanks, Jared. By the way, I have one of your screen washers. It’s fantastic. Screen washing is such a pain in the butt. This makes life much easier. And the customer loves seeing it in action!
I have a Ram C/V Tradesman (commercial Caravan) and I have a Adrian Steel double lock down. Love it and read door doesn’t hit the ladder.
Thanks, John. Any chance you can post a picture of your van/rack? Or, please consider e-mailing me one at [email protected] I’ve got my eye on a 2007 commercial Caravan and going to look at it this weekend.
Oh, man, those new C/V’s are pretty sick. Makes it tempting to go back to a Dodge product. 3,500 lb towing package? Aluminum floor? 285 bhp? Umm, yeah…
I just bought a 2007 Dodge Caravan passenger van. I’m having a hard time trying to find a ladder rack for it. The Adrian Steel racks say for a 2008 and up. I clicked on a couple of the links in the comments above and there were some cool looking racks. Does anyone know if it really needs to be vehicle specific? I have the headliner in still but might consider dropping by an upholstery shop to see how much they’d charge to uninstall and then re-install the headliner as I’m hoping to use the van for work and family.
I don’t know how specific you have to be. I installed mine by just pulling the headliner down enough to get the bolts through. The egg carton stuff they have under the liner will scratch you all up, but it wasn’t bad.
Thanks for the feedback. I guess the other question is where to install it. I mean do you pull the liner down and find cross members to bolt into? I don’t want a sharp turn with my 32 on top to torque and pop bolts out of the sheet metal roof. Any thoughts?
Humm, I just bolted it through the roof. I didn’t have any problems and carried a 40’ ladder at one point.
Cool! Thank you for the feedback. Do you have any old pictures of it just to help my brain out? My email, in case you do and have time, is [email protected]
Thanks again for the feedback.
