Review on 🚗 CAPHONT Car Door Step: Foldable Hook Step Pedal for Easy Roof Access - Universal Fit, Supports 400 lbs -Black by Wayne Burkett

I really like the general idea of this device. Structurally and functionally it is very well thought out. I've used it to clean the roofs of my cars and my wife and to reach things on the roof of her SUV. That's a great idea. I can easily get this on the entire roof of any vehicle I try it on. One thing to note is that although I've used this to wash the roof of my car, it's important that the water drains off the side you're standing on so water doesn't get into open doors. But still. this is of course not "ideal". I highly recommend it to those who want to access the roofs of their cars. it works very well. but the DESIGN is not optimized. I'm a mechanical engineer. I design structures for life. And this device more accurately represents what I would call a "proof of concept design" (all the important features are there) than I would say it represents a "production-ready design." Why? Because it really is "unoptimized". Optimization is a compromise between different functions and requirements. You try to make them all as "good" as possible, but some elements can be compromised by others. And here's the thing. This thing is just WAAAAAAA too heavy for the job. And that's because the aluminum used is essentially just thick sheets of material. You could achieve almost the same mechanical strength by removing material in different places and in different ways, while reducing the overall weight to just 1/4 of what it is today. That is much. Good. .WASTED aluminum and lots of extra weight. It is difficult. And it doesn't have to be that heavy to do the same job as it does now. Speaking of how buildings are built. You CAN construct the building frame from solid rectangular steel beams. But that's not the case. Instead, they use "I-Beam". These I-beams remove material that doesn't really add to the strength, so the beams are ALMOST as strong as if they were solid rectangles and not the "I-beam" shape, but they become much, much, much less heavy . which in turn means the building structure has to support less weight of the metal and therefore can be MORE. The same basic principle applies here. This is a GOOD design. for the first step in the design process. But the next step should be "design optimization" where they figure out where and how to remove the unwanted metal, resulting in a much, much lighter, consumer-ready product (and a much cheaper part to manufacture!). would while still delivering exactly the same functionality. This would be a win-win for everyone involved. So I can recommend it if needed. He does his job and he does it well. But I would recommend the manufacturer even more. or their competition, I suppose. Take this fundamental design concept and tweak it for a product that's lighter, less expensive, and just as strong.