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Refurbishment of Prospeed Ladder - In Pictures
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James W
 


Member Since: 27 Mar 2008
Location: Wirral, UK
Posts: 3056

United Kingdom 
Refurbishment of Prospeed Ladder - In Pictures

Despite only being a few years old, my Prospeed ladder was incredibly tatty on the flat step parts. Whereas the tubular sections are in really good condition, the powder coating used at manufacture doesn't seem to like the flat sections and has been peeling away slowly for over a year now. (I cannot say if this is common or just my ladder that is affected).

In an effort to buy a bit more time before I have to remove it and get it re-coated, I decided to clean up and cover the flaking sections with some grip tape.

I bought this tape off eBay, it was more than enough, seemed a good quality and promised good adhesive (which so far all seems true). For £1.95 I was impressed. I also got myself a new, decent craft knife.

First of all I used a thin flat scraper (not pictured) to pick off the remaining flakes back to where the paint remained 'good'. Like I said, this is intended as a stop gap solution so I didn't want to end up stripping all the paint off the ladder for now. Also the issue is only really affecting the upper surfaces of the steps at the moment. You can see how bad the surface rust is on the top and bottom steps.







I gave the edges a gentle rub with sandpaper and brushed off the surfaces with a dry paintbrush before cleaning with spirit.

I then painted rust inhibitor onto the exposed areas.

Whilst still wet:





And left it for a few hours to dry. The treated surface was actually quite impressive I thought once dry. It really seemed to seal it down.





The addition of the rust inhibitor had caused a couple more edges to flake up so I picked these off and made sure they were sanded flat again.

I started with the bottom step and cut the basic size shape with scissors, only removing the backing to stick it down once I was happy with the size.



I then started to carefully trim to the ladder cut-outs using the knife. I carved the bulk out and then trimmed carefully to allow enough overlap to fold around the edge. The backing of the grip tap is quite rubbery/tar-like (think shed roofing but a lot thinner) so molded very nicely around the edges of the cut-outs. I also found that with the blade retracted, the end of the knife made a perfect metal spatula for pushing and shaping the trimmed tape.



About thirty minutes later:



I then repeated the whole thing for the top, which was a lot more difficult due to the more irregular shape of the step, and having to work from a step ladder. The top step took nearly an hour.



Overall, I'm pretty impressed and for about £10 all in, including the tape, rush paint and the knife, I'll be happy to get another year or so out of it. Of course the extra grip will be handy too. It certainly looks neater.

Worth giving it a go if your Prospeed ladder is suffering from the same issue? One piece of advice if you have sensitive skin, you may want to wear gloves! The tape is obviously so abrasive that neither my iPhone or Pixel will recognise my fingerprints any longer Shocked I am having to use the PIN to unlock them!

Cheers

James
 D4 XS, gone, much loved, never forgotten
2018 FFRR SDV8 Autobiography - WTF does this button do 
 
Post #17892459th Mar 2017 6:18 pm
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Iguana
 


Member Since: 14 Oct 2013
Location: 'Sunny' Zomerset
Posts: 9402

Ukraine 

Excellent write-up James

Interesting to see how the tape deals with the rain etc, keep us posted Thumbs Up
 Iggy/Ieuan

Current LR =
2015 RR Sport Autobiography
&
1992 Land Rover Defender Camper

- Gone but not forgotten:
MY10 D4 GS
MY05 Disco 3 'S'
MY14 FL2 HSE manual in Blue
MY15 Disco 4 HSE Lux in Santorini Black
MY08 Disco 3 SE manual in Buck Blue
1960 Series 2 88" (No idea why I sold it!) 
 
Post #17892669th Mar 2017 6:55 pm
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tayaste
 


Member Since: 15 May 2013
Location: Chester
Posts: 7633

United Kingdom 2008 Discovery 3 TDV6 HSE Auto Stornoway GreyDiscovery 3

Top work. I should have done that to mine.
   
Post #17892799th Mar 2017 7:19 pm
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sean 471
 


Member Since: 26 Apr 2011
Location: Sheffield
Posts: 2990

United Kingdom 2007 Discovery 3 TDV6 Pursuit LE Auto Java BlackDiscovery 3

Looks good. Have you any pics of the full ladder.
  
Post #17892859th Mar 2017 7:27 pm
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Andy Foster
 


Member Since: 27 Dec 2009
Location: Liverpool
Posts: 6551

United Kingdom 2015 Discovery 4 3.0 SDV6 SE Tech Auto Santorini BlackDiscovery 4

Nice work Thumbs Up

I've had grip tape on my roof rack floor for ages and it's still looking good.

Andy
 D4 MY15 SE TECH
D3 gone but never forgotten. 
 
Post #17893039th Mar 2017 7:53 pm
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badgerade
 


Member Since: 31 Jul 2010
Location: Berkshire
Posts: 287

United Kingdom 2006 Discovery 3 TDV6 GS Manual Zambezi SilverDiscovery 3

Good job!

I'm wondering if there were some quality issues with the earlier stuff - my prospeed rack is not in a good way and it looks like the ladder is heading the same way Sad

I've had grip tape on mine for 5 years-ish and it's still fine, gets regular use in summer for our camping trips!
  
Post #17894069th Mar 2017 11:19 pm
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A.J.M
 


Member Since: 31 Oct 2009
Location: Carluke
Posts: 2813

Scotland 2005 Discovery 3 TDV6 HSE Auto Zambezi SilverDiscovery 3

That looks brand new compared to mine.
I've rust on every weld, lots of missing powder coating from the stop areas etc.

It's off the car and left a large rust stain on the tailgate metalwork behind the handle and rust on the top of the tailgate.

Getting sand blasted, welds cleaned up and checked and then redone in Raptor coat.
Have some other Prospeed stuff and they are all getting done the same.
  
Post #179203015th Mar 2017 11:04 pm
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professorpool
 


Member Since: 19 Mar 2012
Location: Woking
Posts: 3213

Wales 2007 Discovery 3 TDV6 SE Auto Java BlackDiscovery 3
Re: Refurbishment of Prospeed Ladder - In Pictures

James W wrote:
Despite only being a few years old, my Prospeed ladder was incredibly tatty on the flat step parts. Whereas the tubular sections are in really good condition, the powder coating used at manufacture doesn't seem to like the flat sections and has been peeling away slowly for over a year now. (I cannot say if this is common or just my ladder that is affected).

In an effort to buy a bit more time before I have to remove it and get it re-coated, I decided to clean up and cover the flaking sections with some grip tape.

I bought this tape off eBay, it was more than enough, seemed a good quality and promised good adhesive (which so far all seems true). For £1.95 I was impressed. I also got myself a new, decent craft knife.

First of all I used a thin flat scraper (not pictured) to pick off the remaining flakes back to where the paint remained 'good'. Like I said, this is intended as a stop gap solution so I didn't want to end up stripping all the paint off the ladder for now. Also the issue is only really affecting the upper surfaces of the steps at the moment. You can see how bad the surface rust is on the top and bottom steps.







I gave the edges a gentle rub with sandpaper and brushed off the surfaces with a dry paintbrush before cleaning with spirit.

I then painted rust inhibitor onto the exposed areas.

Whilst still wet:





And left it for a few hours to dry. The treated surface was actually quite impressive I thought once dry. It really seemed to seal it down.





The addition of the rust inhibitor had caused a couple more edges to flake up so I picked these off and made sure they were sanded flat again.

I started with the bottom step and cut the basic size shape with scissors, only removing the backing to stick it down once I was happy with the size.



I then started to carefully trim to the ladder cut-outs using the knife. I carved the bulk out and then trimmed carefully to allow enough overlap to fold around the edge. The backing of the grip tap is quite rubbery/tar-like (think shed roofing but a lot thinner) so molded very nicely around the edges of the cut-outs. I also found that with the blade retracted, the end of the knife made a perfect metal spatula for pushing and shaping the trimmed tape.



About thirty minutes later:



I then repeated the whole thing for the top, which was a lot more difficult due to the more irregular shape of the step, and having to work from a step ladder. The top step took nearly an hour.



Overall, I'm pretty impressed and for about £10 all in, including the tape, rush paint and the knife, I'll be happy to get another year or so out of it. Of course the extra grip will be handy too. It certainly looks neater.

Worth giving it a go if your Prospeed ladder is suffering from the same issue? One piece of advice if you have sensitive skin, you may want to wear gloves! The tape is obviously so abrasive that neither my iPhone or Pixel will recognise my fingerprints any longer Shocked I am having to use the PIN to unlock them!

Cheers

James


Hi James!

This was about a year ago now (OK - 10 months!)...


just wondered if you had any kind of follow up yet? Thumbs Up
 D3 07 SE - still going strong
D3 07 HSE - gone to car heaven
FL1 - gone to Romania
D3 05 HSE - gone to a divorce diet
D1 V8 manual - gone but not forgotten
RR Classic - gone to car heaven

Jeeps, Lexus, X-trails... Too many to name.. 
 
Post #190481422nd Jan 2018 11:48 am
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James W
 


Member Since: 27 Mar 2008
Location: Wirral, UK
Posts: 3056

United Kingdom 

It's exactly the same - no further rust, and the tape looks pretty much as it does in the pictures above. It hasn't peeled off at all. Glad I did it! I think the decent prep has helped it to stay stuck on to be fair.
 D4 XS, gone, much loved, never forgotten
2018 FFRR SDV8 Autobiography - WTF does this button do 
 
Post #190481822nd Jan 2018 11:58 am
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professorpool
 


Member Since: 19 Mar 2012
Location: Woking
Posts: 3213

Wales 2007 Discovery 3 TDV6 SE Auto Java BlackDiscovery 3

Ok decent!

Am on look 👀 for ladder and last one rusted. Maybe a bargain out there for me 👍
 D3 07 SE - still going strong
D3 07 HSE - gone to car heaven
FL1 - gone to Romania
D3 05 HSE - gone to a divorce diet
D1 V8 manual - gone but not forgotten
RR Classic - gone to car heaven

Jeeps, Lexus, X-trails... Too many to name.. 
 
Post #190483222nd Jan 2018 12:33 pm
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