[jiminfh]

I am thinking of buying a Gobi ladder for my 4Runner. My truck is 10 years old and I have some concern that installing a ladder might cause the tailgate to sag. My tailgate is working perfectly fine right now.

I will have no additional weight on the tailgate besides the ladder. Does anyone have any experience with this? I've watched a couple YouTube videos and there seems to be mixed opinions as to whether or not you'd have to upgrade the struts. Any advice will be appreciated.

[JoshDub]

It took longer to make this thread than it would be to swap out for new hatch struts. Just get new heavy duty struts

[Metal Head]

You will definitely need new struts. I had a Gobi ladder on my 2017 for a while when it was only a year or so old. I swapped out for higher rated struts because it would fail to fully open on its own. I didn't have anything else on the hatch either. You can get them off Amazon, it's not a hard or expensive swap.

[Runnin on E]

Originally Posted by jiminfh

I am thinking of buying a Gobi ladder for my 4Runner. My truck is 10 years old and I have some concern that installing a ladder might cause the tailgate to sag. My tailgate is working perfectly fine right now.

I will have no additional weight on the tailgate besides the ladder. Does anyone have any experience with this? I've watched a couple YouTube videos and there seems to be mixed opinions as to whether or not you'd have to upgrade the struts. Any advice will be appreciated.

Why do you need a ladder? Got any pictures of whats on top? I open a passenger door and then climb over to the top of the rear tire.....

[Mgyver1]

I’m not a fan of Gobi after finding out they were patent trolls and sued Whitson Metalworks out of business. There’s plenty of other companies out there like Bajarack, C4, Prinsu, and many many more.

[EJD99]

Like some are suggesting, if you can justify the ladder, either for aesthetics or for actual use (we just always hop on the tire for roof access) just grab higher pressure struts and make sure they are the same length as your current ones. I'v made that mistake before replacing struts...

[branconway]

bad idea I think, but that’s just boring old me

[toyo]

Originally Posted by Mgyver1

I’m not a fan of Gobi after finding out they were patent trolls and sued Whitson Metalworks out of business. There’s plenty of other companies out there like Bajarack, C4, Prinsu, and many many more.

I forgot all about that situation. Wasn't that several years ago or am I thinking of another company they did that to?

[Mgyver1]

Originally Posted by toyo

I forgot all about that situation. Wasn't that several years ago or am I thinking of another company they did that to?

From what I remember, they did that to several companies, and not just with roof racks, as they held patents on other trivial stuff through their parent company.