Racor - LDL-1B, Ceiling Ladder Storage Lift

Let's just say that a ladder is an invaluable tool and sound investment for a homeowner. Unfortunately, they're seldom used and often get in the way. I have a 28 foot Fiberglass Type IA Werner extension ladder that I had laying on top of a project car for months.I finally needed to find a permanent home for the ladder since I had some extensive engine work to perform on my wife's Mini Cooper and the Jeep had to be moved from the garage and the Mini to take it's spot. I had eyes this for months but put it off because I thought I could weld up a bracket and make my own ceiling hangers. Needless to say, time is worth money and I didn't want to spend any unnecessary time building something that already existed and was reasonably priced.Once received, I opened the box and had it installed and ladder mounted in 20 minutes. I could easily do this install again in less than half the time if needed. The hardware was perfect and the instructions were straight forward. The pulley system is nice and the rope is long enough for tall ceilings. My garage ceiling is 9 feet tall and the rope was too long so I cut it to avoid having excess. The locking pulley system is simple but functional. I don't foresee having any problems with this.On closing, I would recommend this to anyone who wants to mount their extension ladders from the ceiling. All you need is a drill, basics drill bits, basic socket set for securing the lag bolts, philips head bit or screwdriver and some knowledge on where your ceiling joists are.

Awesome product, great customer service.Instructions came only for french and spanish; I emailed Racor's (not Amazon's) customer service requesting English in pdf format and they provided it the very next day. Great service.Like the product a lot. It has gotten my 20' extension ladder up off the garage floor, or garage wall, or off of the top of my 27-gal or 50-gal storage bins or shelves or wherever else my ladder has resided all these years. That big ole ladder is probably one of the most underused pieces of important homeowner equipment that was the bane of my storage yet I could not get rid off. This product keeps it nicely out of the way above the vehicles in what was previously unused ceiling space.I like it so much that I did not subtract one star (I was going to give it only four, but its pluses outweigh its negatives) for the follwoing cons:I think the bracket could have been more robust. It is quite robust as-is, true, but my relatively small (as far as extension ladders go) 20-footer caused visible sag in the J-bracket. I personally do not feel like the J-bracket would fail anytime soon, but I would have more loved it if there was no detectable sag in the J-bracket from the weight of the ladder at all.The product touts a "locking" ability. The instructions state that if you pull the rope toward some off-angle that some kind of friction lock will engage. I found that to work only sporadically. Minor problem, but if someone relies upon that while they turn around for a moment to do something else...Those are the only two gripes. Otherwise an excellent product and fine service.The lowest point of the ladder is less than 1' below the ceiling, I didn't measure it precisely but I eyeball-estimate it hangs 8-10 inches. So plenty of room for the wrangler to fit under it. Here's a frame of reference: The J-hook is long enough that my Ryobi impact driver/drill had room to fit inside the "J" to attach the lag bolts to the joist.Oh, that's another good thing about this product - the lag bolts for the J-hook are substantial enough.Makes sure you screw into joists. All bets are off if you try to anchor into drywall.

Much easier to install than anticipated... Then again, I opted to scrap the provided directions & compile feedback from the reviewers (i.e., replace the lag bolts & sheet metal screws) + watch some very helpful vids on YouTube (fave tagged "GoPro How to Install a Ladder Lift"), which happens to be specifically for the Racor LDL-1B.Tools needed:- Stud Finder (center finding) + Pencil- Power Drill + bits/ScrewdriverThat simple... A bulk of the install was assuring that my stud markings were accurate considering this was being mounted near an elliptical & hovering above the tail-end of my M5. As soon as I drilled the pilot holes & struck wood/resistance (& showered with burnt smelling sawdust), I knew I'd struck gold...J-Hook was mounted securely with my Home Depot, Galvanized Lag Bolts & though the sheet metal was a bit wobbly, it wasn't going anywhere... I laid the ladder flat & measured from the bottom step (step I planned to reverse mount to the J-Hook), to the top of the A-Frame ladder, then attached the tape measure to the hook (atop a step stool) to gauge how far back I had to mount the Pulley Assembly. Per the instructions; if the closest ceiling joist doesn't extend BEYOND the ladder, then assure that you position it so that it does. You DO NOT want the ladder to overlap the assembly for safety reasons. The amount of rope they provide for the doubled-up pulley system should be more than sufficient (with plenty of slack left for my 10ft A-Frame).Once the pulley assembly was mounted/secured, attaching/lifting the ladder was an absolute breeze... With the pulley assembly just beyond the top of the ladder, each pull has a safety latch that locks/secures the rope. A dozen or so pulls later, then ladder was practically level with the legs/J-Hook. I attached the rope cleat to the wall, just above reach for most hands (young children in the house) & wound the slack for what felt like an eternity. It may seem as if the rope slack is excess (tempting you to cut), but I can assure you, you'll need every bit of it...Job itself (for my paranoid, OCD self) took about 30 minutes, but I don't see this thing going anywhere. As I stated prior, it's hovering from the ceiling just above the trunk of my M5 & parallel to my Wife's elliptical (science behind the design minimized/silenced my trust issues). Though it does feel stable, the wobbly J-Hook is a bit "questionable," so I've secured the lower 1/2 of my ladder to the hook with carefully placed rubber bungee cords. The rubber wrapped around the metal J-Hook completely eliminates any movement (I can't even shift the ladder from side to side), without removing/maneuvering the cords. Peace of mind, particularly in earthquake prone California...In summary; a very simple/safe system (assuming you're bolting into ceiling joists, following the best practice guidance & replacing the provided hardware with some high-quality bolts/screws). I've included a bunch of pics as well, including the bungee cord wrap... Best part of the job? I no longer have a 10 ft bulky ladder on my floor, taking up an entire section of the wall!All-in-All, I felt quite accomplished considering I’m not much of a handyman/don't work much with my hands (outside of typing on a computer all day) & if "I" can do it, ANYONE can... Hope this helps!*** Update 12/2/2018 ***I still consider this a 4 star product, though (as reviewers have mentioned), am disappointed with some of the cheap/necessary components (when it comes to safety). DO purchase your own lag screws (set provided are far from sufficient). In addition, the rope cleat provided is laughable & fracture under the weight of the rope without any resistance. You would hope that the pulley system/lock would prevent the ladder from falling, but in the event of some fluke failure, the ladder could've fallen on my car (or worse). Though the $ is reasonable, you'll still need to invest in better screws/bolts & a better cleat (I had to get an 8" marine cleat to account for the slack). This isn't just for peace of mind either, this should be an absolute requirement from a safety perspective.