Back ladder

I had a similar looking ladder as yours. My daughter backed me into the driveway when I first got the MH and did not look up and I hit the gutter on the garage and put a V in both tubes up above. I also backed into a big rock that I did not see and caved in the section below. I fix it by cutting out the crushed sections with a tube cutter so the ladder started half way up like on newer MH's that have the fold down lower portion. I inserted a 5 in long 7/8 in dia steel pipe that fit snugly inside the each of the ladder tubes and joined the two sections together. I used a boat type ladder to reach the RV ladder. Later a friend gave me a brand new fold up lower section that did not fit his new MH. I guess the half way up ladders were for safety reasons so small kids could not climb up on the roof and fall off.

When away from home and your ladder there, if you don't have a way to get on the RV roof, how can you clean the bird poop off your solar panels? No seagulls where you are? Some other bird will get you instead :(

We tend to be in the "better to be prepared group". Lots of ideas here.

thanks,
Shari

old saying.

better to have it, and not need it.

than to not have it, and need it.

.

Our ladder looks like the pic I linked above. The "goose-neck" fastens to the roof, the bottom, below the lowest step, fastens to the back wall, then there are two more supports on each side between roof and bottom. I suspect the roof and the bottom of the wall support most of the load.

I checked and our ladder rails are made of 1.0" anodized aluminum tubing. The bow rail and both Bimini tops on our boat are made of 7/8" tubing, so you'd want to see if a boat shop can also form 1-inch tubing. They probably have some kind of bender or jig, so you'd need to know if it works with the larger size. Replacement Rungs are no doubt meant to work with 1" rails, so they'd wobble on 7/8" rails.

Each of our mounting pads is oblong, about the size of a business card with rounded ends. Those pads have one hole on each end, and it's secured with phillips head screws.

You should try to see if a replacement ladder can mount to your existing holes, or you can change the mounting pads, or you know there's material behind that outer skin that'll actually hold screws or other fasteners to handle the load.

Those "nut certs" are petty sweet. I use them a lot and they seem much more secure than sheet metal screws, plus removing and reinstalling sheet metal screws can cause you to re-tap the hole and weaken or strip it.

applik wrote:
I’ll be taking lots of pics of the brackets and measurements of the hole spacing etc before getting a replacement. I really don’t want to drill new holes. Found that out with thinking about replacing the bath skylight. It’s original. Bought a new one and found out the holes are like one eighth to three sixteenth’s off. Too far off to fit and too close to drill new holes to match in roof. So just nixed it.
What do you do when the holes are so close but not workable?

I appreciate all the input.
Thanks,
Shari

I have replaced and built full size reefer doors for semi's back in the days and learned a lot about fasteners. Looking briefly at my rig it appears they used aluminum pop rivets, four each, for each mounting bracket. If I were to replace those fasteners i would upgrade to a "hucklok" fastener, available from Grainger or some similar strong device. We often used stainless steel rivets as well.
If a hole were oversized and required a larger diameter then a threaded insert, called a "nut sert" could be used for strength.
I am the average 5'10 220lb man and once i used the ladder to access the roof using the extension attachment they provide and is stored in the closet. I said once because it did not feel secure to me and isn't wide enough to maneuver properly. I lean my 12 footer right next to it wrapped in towels for roof access.
I leave it on the rig "just in case" and hopefully won't need it but structurally they are safe, just use the correct hardware.
If you are not sure contact a mobile RV mechanic in your area. I'm a mechanic all my life and still seek outside help when appropriate.

MDKMDK wrote:

klutchdust wrote:

MDKMDK wrote:
That's the gray area between,"needing it and not having it, and having it and not needing it". :B

If I brought everything i thought I should have "just in case" the rig would not have a walkway open. Myself and others have used mobile RV mechanics while on the road with fair pricing and good results.If the "piece of mind" bug bit you i can't help.

It was a facetious comment, intended tongue in cheek, not an edict. As indicated (or so I thought) by the big green grin.
Lighten up a little, will 'ya?


It's "peace of mind" in context, btw.:B

My comment was directed out to the audience as a way of saying that I agree with you and here is my take on that. it wasn't meant in anyway to demean or degrade your comment. If you met me in person you would realize that I am a easy going fun guy that laughs a lot,if I offended you that was not my intention.
My hope is that what I offer in suggestions helps another traveler as they have helped me.
Peace of mind exactly, I have it and enjoy it.

j-d wrote:
I can affirm we have a lot of "just in case" items. Evidenced by a very basic no-slide coach on E450 scaling at 13800 with just two POB. Really should pare down. It was nice to have Jack, Stand, Board, Impact Wrench and all Tools to fix a rear brake 300 miles from home. But still... Probably four different lug wrench tools...

That matches our Boy Scout style too ... except we scale at only around 12,000 lbs. with our slideless E450 Class C ... so we can carry around an additional 2050 lbs. of repair equipment (and rocks).

Back to RV ladders: We have an overhead cab with a forward facing window. Several years ago - a long way from home on a trip - a rock from an oncoming truck shattered this cabover window. We had a new window installed back near where it was shattered, but it was never leakproof on the long trip home through numerous rain storms ... so I had to climb up on the roof when camping at several campgrounds on the way home and reach down from the roof to periodically apply Eternabond tape around this cabover window's edges in an effort to curtail the leaks. The built-in ladder on the back of our Class C was priceless!

P.S. Eternabond tape doesn't stick to glass very long and/or very well.

I’ll be taking lots of pics of the brackets and measurements of the hole spacing etc before getting a replacement. I really don’t want to drill new holes. Found that out with thinking about replacing the bath skylight. It’s original. Bought a new one and found out the holes are like one eighth to three sixteenth’s off. Too far off to fit and too close to drill new holes to match in roof. So just nixed it.
What do you do when the holes are so close but not workable?

I appreciate all the input.
Thanks,
Shari