Fixing a Childhood Toy with 3D Printing: Fire Truck Ladder Repair

A few weeks ago, a friend I’ve known since middle school/high school reached out with a question that immediately made me smile:

“Could 3D printing fix this?”

The project was a small toy fire truck with a broken ladder. The truck had plenty of life left in it—but one missing part made it unusable. Instead of tossing it, he wondered if modern tools could bring it back to life.

Short answer: yes, absolutely.

The Problem

The ladder assembly had snapped, and replacement parts didn’t exist anymore. The manufacturer doesn’t sell spares, and the toy itself isn’t something you can just buy new easily.

What did exist was:

• One remaining section of the ladder

• A rough idea of how it should function

That’s enough.

The Process

My friend dropped off the intact ladder section, and from there the workflow was straightforward:

1. Measure everything
   Using calipers, I captured all the critical dimensions—lengths, widths, hole spacing, and wall thickness.

2. Rebuild the part in CAD
   I modeled the replacement ladder section using Onshape, a web-based CAD tool I use regularly. It’s perfect for this kind of reverse-engineering work.

3. Test for fit and function
   The ladder needed to behave like the original.

4. 3D print the replacement
   Once the model was dialed in, I printed the part, cleaned it up, and assembled it back onto the truck.

The Result

The fire truck is back in service.

The ladder works, the toy is usable again, and something that could’ve ended up in the trash got a second life instead.

Why This Matters

This is one of my favorite uses of 3D printing—not just making new things, but fixing existing ones:

• Replacing broken plastic parts

• Extending the life of toys, tools, and household items

• Solving problems that don’t have off-the-shelf solutions

If you’ve ever thought, “It’s a shame this broke—everything else works fine,” there’s a good chance digital fabrication can help.