I bought these ladder bars 14 years ago. I would believe that they are stronger than the ones they sell today, everything is made as cheaply as possible these days. I wire wheeled them to bare metal and sanded them, then hand brushed the oil based primer with 2 thick coats of "rusty metal primer" by Rust-Oleum:
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Rust-Oleum...r-Paint-Actual-Net-Contents-128-fl-oz/3057701
Then I sprayed them with...
Used, repainted Lakewood Traction Bars
