A rear step odyssey

[BlueSky]

Since I got my camper I've been working toward rear step nirvana. First I tried a little step ladder, too wobbly. Then I got a Brofy 2-step made of steel, heavy, bulky and poor ground clearance. Then I tried to make my own fold-up aluminum steps with diamond plate as the tread, and still too wobbly and cumbersome to deal with. I've got it now. An oak stair tread (coated with poly) attached to the hitch with a welded-up aluminum hitch bracket. I use a plastic fold-up step for the first step, it easily stows inside the camper...

Aluminum hitch bracket. Good ground clearance and light weight. You can see the pile of failed attempts in the left background. My shadow is huuuuge!

I love the looks of the wood step, and it is nice and wide and really sturdy. I cut 1/8" tread grooves in it for traction. I also have hitch stabilizers on there to eliminate hitch wobble.

 

[Vic Harder]

I like it. The alum would be nice. We use a drop hitch that I bolted a piece of 2x4 to. Not as elegant as yours, but it is our fave step system so far. I flip the step over for driving so as not to lose ground clearance.

 

[rubberlegs]

Did you weld or purchase the aluminum bracket?

I made one from aluminum that’s much more crude, but the aluminum has worn and it’s getting loose.

 

[BlueSky]

I machined the aluminum hitch bracket. I do confess that I own a company and that we have one of the best welders on the planet, so it was a collaboration. I would love to take credit for his welding skills One could bolt down either a wood stair tread like I did, or aluminum diamond plate. It is about a 9-10" drop from the camper floor to the wood step, and my plastic folding step stool is about 8-9" high. I can make a production run if there is interest.

 

[rubberlegs]

How much do you think it would cost?

 

[BlueSky]

I would guess around $150 for the hitch bracket alone. Annealed diamond plate aluminum drilled and bent flanges on each side probably adds at least another $75.