Roof Ladder

[DoddsCP]

During my last outing I damaged my roof ladder, almost breaking it off below the last step. I happened when I pulled into a parking lot off the main road. Apparently the dip between the road and the parking lot was too steep, and because the ladder on the Redwood hangs so low it scraped the pavement. It bent and cracked the 1 inch tubing on both sides of the ladder just below the first step on the ladder. I am trying to determine how I am going to fix the ladder as well as prevent it from occurring in the future. I have noticed that the ladders on the Redwoods hang much lower than other 5th wheels, and on some 5th wheels the lower portion of the roof ladder swings upward while it is fixed on the Redwoods. I also noticed that placing roller wheels on the back hitch receiver wouldn't necessarly prevent the ladder from scraping due to the length of the ladder and the angle between the roller wheels and the bottom of the ladder. I think I my just shorten the bottom portion of the ladder. Has anyone else run into this issue, if you have what have you done?

Charlie

[5th_Time]

Charlie



Yikes... Consider yourself lucky that you didn't damage the rear cap during the mishap!



I wonder if the bottom of the ladders can be cut off, sleevedand remounted withpull pins when you need roof access. Of course, this would have to be fabricated to look good - as I think the ladder is black anodized aluminum.



But your experience is something we all need to really think about as it is so easy to turn into the wrong driveway or parking lot and find yourself in that position.

[hoosierguy]

Originally Posted by DoddsCP

During my last outing I damaged my roof ladder, almost breaking it off below the last step. I happened when I pulled into a parking lot off the main road. Apparently the dip between the road and the parking lot was too steep, and because the ladder on the Redwood hangs so low it scraped the pavement. It bent and cracked the 1 inch tubing on both sides of the ladder just below the first step on the ladder. I am trying to determine how I am going to fix the ladder as well as prevent it from occurring in the future. I have noticed that the ladders on the Redwoods hang much lower than other 5th wheels, and on some 5th wheels the lower portion of the roof ladder swings upward while it is fixed on the Redwoods. I also noticed that placing roller wheels on the back hitch receiver wouldn't necessarly prevent the ladder from scraping due to the length of the ladder and the angle between the roller wheels and the bottom of the ladder. I think I my just shorten the bottom portion of the ladder. Has anyone else run into this issue, if you have what have you done?



Charlie

Charlie,



I had the same thing happen to the ladder on my 36RL within a month after I brought the rig home from the dealer. I had not even realized how low the ladder's first step was located. I damaged the step in my own driveway where I have a gradual rise from gravel driveway to a concrete portion between my garage and pole barn.



I asked my dealer about repairing it back in May and the service manager said they would only replace the entire ladder because they would not take on the possible liability of a repair.



I plan to do the repair myself by finding some aluminum tubing to snuggly fit inside the ladder tubing. The ladder tubing is 1 inch O.D. and 7/8 inch I.D. But, I also plan to raise that bottom step a few inches so it doesn't hang down so low and have the issue happen again.



Guy

[DoddsCP]

I ended up cutting 6 inches off the roof ladder. 3 inches above and 3 inches below where the bottom of the ladder screws into the mouting joint at the bottom. After cutting off the bottom of the ladder I found that the tubing used in the ladder is double walled, so I had to find a piece of tubing that would fit inside the remaining tubing and then drilled holes above and below the new joints and installed the new tubing inside using 1 1/2 bolts washers and lock nuts. Then drill holes to remount the existing bolts that attached the ladder to the bottom mounting brackets. It works great, it is now 6 inches shorter so it won't drag anymore when entering or exiting those steep driveways or dips in the roadway, and you can hardly tell it was cut and pieced together.

[Enroute]

SUGGESTION TO REDWOOD: Make a removable ladder an option or standard feature. (Just like the ladders used on the Tiffin Allegro Bus and Zephyr motor homes where top 1/4 of the ladder is permanent mounted and the bottom 3/4 removes and fits into the basement storage compartment).