Darn scissors stairs!

If anyone is interested, we have a step/storage unit that we can't use because we haul a trailer. We would love to give it to someone that would appreciate it, it came on our used Northstar and is well made. Since I am a new poster it doesn't appear that I can post pics yet, pm me and I can send pics.

Sue Bee wrote:
Having a basement and rear entry makes for a tall staircase. The ever graceful husband slipped on his way out of the camper on Saturday (in our driveway, he was just doing basic cleanup) and luckily is OK, just twisted and swollen ankle. Could have been worse, much worse. I can't tell you how many times I've wobbled down those stairs myself.

Just a rant as much as anything.

Well, if ya decide to dispose/donate them, I'm down at the Kankakee River State Park, just south of you ;).

We resolved the step issue by breaking it up with a porch...
Reddog1 and I, mostly him, designed and fabricated this:


As we get older we have to be more careful that's for sure!


Here is the thread for the build of the porch:

Another porch/deck build

Jim

I have a fairly thick rope with spaced knots that is attached to the top of TC and I just hold that in and out. Works to keep me steady and just tie it to the ladder while traveling.

Mine is over 37" and then the camper has a 14" basement to boot. So with the 2 of them together that is 51" from the ground to the floor of the camper.

raggmann wrote:
I'd like to find something that'll work with my set up,IF I ever get my leak stopped so I can use the darn thing.
The floor of my box is 40"+ off the ground

Mine is higher than that, but the side door makes all the difference. Plenty of options though - you can make it work.

I'd like to find something that'll work with my set up,IF I ever get my leak stopped so I can use the darn thing.
The floor of my box is 40"+ off the ground

Butch50 wrote:
Here was my solution for steps that also work when towing. My wife did not like the idea of a patio so this is what I came up with instead.



I added the Arctic Fox, Fox Landing steps to the my Northern Lite. I have not had the camper back on the truck since I installed them but they are very soild on the rear bumper of camper. The are not quite centered because of the door location of the NL but they are close enough to work well.

Butch50
Your Fox Landing looks great. It looks a little funny to see that "fox emblem" staring off the back of a Northern Lite TC.LOL
I really like the Fox Landing but I refuse to have to buy a new heavier bumper from Northwood. Its just seems to me they could of tried a little harder to accomodate current AF owners without making them tear off their existing bumper and have to buy a new one. Maybe extra bracing,etc.

mkirsch,

I use pressure treatded plywood or 5/4 treated deck wood cut to fit inside an angle iron welded frame for all the steps. The wood is covered with ouside runner black carpet stainles steel stapled on the bottom side of the tread and then wrapped around the wood tread ans stapled on the bottom side before dropping into and bolting in the step's frame. Hence, all the treated wood is covered and the finished step looks very professional. Welding where ever possible and grinding smooth is much stronger than bolting and there's no rusting of (unless SS or galv bolting is used) or tripping on the heads or nut ends of the exposed bolts. I like structural strength to be a big part of the finish project especially when safety of use/strength is in play. I refuse to cheap out or save a couple bucks on items/projects I do.

Maybe, I just think different but I demand to do it right the first time which means it basically won't require a second time and has a long lasting life. One of my porches, the rear step one (made 10-1/2 years ago) has well over 140,000 miles on it including trips to Alaska and most were with a 2000 lb plus trailer behind. The other, the side step one (made 6 years ago) now has over 90,000 miles of use and again, most with a trailer behind. The rear step porch is for our Lance campers that had a very close to center door and the side one is for the Lance's that have an off center door. Both work great for what they were made for and will as long as we use them or whoever after were done and gone as we're plenty old now but far from quitting!