When my wife and son came out on the road with me, we put hook and eye latches on the screen door of our travel trailer to keep our son from getting out. Well, he managed to squeeze through the bottom and fell out the door. I built a 3'x3' "porch" with steps so he could't fall again. They were nice. They had a railing, and deep steps. They barely fit in the bed of my Ram with nothing else in it though, and they took 15 minutes to level up and screw together (not to mention the screw holes were getting stripped out more and more every time we took them down and put them back up). Since we were upgrading from our old bumper pull to our new Montana 5th wheel, I gave a friend at work the old porch and decided to build something new. I needed deep steps, a landing at the top in case our son made his way out the door, and the ability to break the steps down so that I could stow them in my 5th wheel basement (since my 5th wheel hitch tool box, and 100 gallon gas tank now occupied the bed of my truck). I found a few ideas, but nothing as large, or as sturdy (since the Earth, in it's wisdom, decides to tax me heavily with it's gravitational pull). So I did what I always do. I just bought a bunch of wood, and figured it out as I went along. What I came up with, I'm proud of. Maybe later, when I have more time, and access to a welding machine, I'll make a set that bolts together out of square tubing that will take even less space in my 5th wheel basement. They have wide steps, a decent landing at the top, they all break down and fit inside each other to save space, and they are held together by simply dropping a bar down through them. All told they cost about $80, but the peace of mind in keeping our son safe is worth a lot more.
This is the old porch I had built for our Gulf Stream.
These are the new steps I've built for our 3750FL.
The rear of the steps.
This one shows how the bars drop down through all 4 steps to lock them together.
This one shows the 4 steps pulled apart, by simply yanking the 2 bars out. The 1st step fits in the 3rd, and the 2nd fits in the bottom, and they all fit nicely under the bed of our 5er through the outside door.
This is the old porch I had built for our Gulf Stream.
These are the new steps I've built for our 3750FL.
The rear of the steps.
This one shows how the bars drop down through all 4 steps to lock them together.
This one shows the 4 steps pulled apart, by simply yanking the 2 bars out. The 1st step fits in the 3rd, and the 2nd fits in the bottom, and they all fit nicely under the bed of our 5er through the outside door.
Moderator edit to re-size pictures to forum limit of 640px maximum width.
Just wanted to post an update. I'd measured to make these steps fit in the basement under the bed when taken apart. I just go the chance to stow them today, and they fit perfectly. I'm pleased with how they turned out.
