Our 2005 Raptor had the same cheap painful ladder. Some folks made their own, others picked up the ones that were mounted for the 2006+ lines. I think somebody cut wood rungs and mounted them on top of the aluminum ones too.
Our ladder was okay for the kids, as you noted with shoes on, but flimsy with me or my wife on it. We ended up inserting wood dowels into the frame to stiffen it up.
The archives can be accessed if you click the Advance Search button, upper left corner. I ran a search on 'aluminum ladder' which will pull some posts but some about the rear mounted ladder too and another on 'loft ladder', a least you can scan through and see one some others have said about these.
aluminum ladderloft ladder
Two Wire Fox Terriers; Sarge & Sully
2007 Winnebago Sightseer 35J
2020 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon