Rusty
Senior Member
For the longest time I used one of those little ladders to get in the camper....after all, Grandma used one...my sister used one....I'll do the same. So it went on....for years....precariously getting out of the camper onto that little ladder...first a wood one...then a nicer, more stable aluminum.
Well....those days are gone forever....
I looked at all the available ladders and the accordion types....I played the accordion as a kid...no thank you
So, after carefully measuring and re-measuring....and figuring what I needed I came up with one you might find interesting.
I need to step into the camper, I need to tow a boat and I need extra space...lets see
I didn't want to have the unit extend beyond the rear of the lowered tailgate...so that set the width...and I wanted it as wide as possible but not wider than the truck...width determined.
then to the steps....started with a standard three step extendable step set the height of the top step cleared the tailgate so I'm home...almost
built a stinger to extend the towing ball just to the other side of the unit....here is the results
folded up with tailgate up, that's the greywater tank there on the left
tailgate down...clearance good
first step fold down, cleared the bed
last step down and clear...if you notice, the steps are different depths....I "adjusted" them so they'd work with the 2" receiver that I built to extend the trailer ball
with the camper...note the depth of the first step...and the second...and the third....all very close to the same....code you know...LOL....the last step always floats and there are blocks to shim up the last step..in the drawer
side clearance is good...had to cut down the support frame and the step set to make that one happen
stinger location and the bolting to the frame....the steps are different widths so they will clear the stinger when the steps fold in
stinger bolting to the frame and the brake light...plugs into the 4 prong when the boats not on, that's a 2"strip of teflon that serves as a rub for the stairs when they fold in...it was that close
With the hitch....calced to accept 350-400 pounds....310 tongue weight on the boat...that's a rubber bungee that straps across the steps to keep them from accidentally activating.....on the road
so there it is....all folds up nice and neat....out of the way...holds the greywater tank and now I've added a rubbermaid "action packer" to the other side to hold all sorts of external things....smoker chips, cord divider, rollup hose, filter, pressure reducer and shutoff valve for the water hookup when in respectable areas Hope you all find it interesting and thought provoking
Well....those days are gone forever....
I looked at all the available ladders and the accordion types....I played the accordion as a kid...no thank you
So, after carefully measuring and re-measuring....and figuring what I needed I came up with one you might find interesting.
I need to step into the camper, I need to tow a boat and I need extra space...lets see
I didn't want to have the unit extend beyond the rear of the lowered tailgate...so that set the width...and I wanted it as wide as possible but not wider than the truck...width determined.
then to the steps....started with a standard three step extendable step set the height of the top step cleared the tailgate so I'm home...almost
built a stinger to extend the towing ball just to the other side of the unit....here is the results
folded up with tailgate up, that's the greywater tank there on the left
tailgate down...clearance good
first step fold down, cleared the bed
last step down and clear...if you notice, the steps are different depths....I "adjusted" them so they'd work with the 2" receiver that I built to extend the trailer ball
with the camper...note the depth of the first step...and the second...and the third....all very close to the same....code you know...LOL....the last step always floats and there are blocks to shim up the last step..in the drawer
side clearance is good...had to cut down the support frame and the step set to make that one happen
stinger location and the bolting to the frame....the steps are different widths so they will clear the stinger when the steps fold in
stinger bolting to the frame and the brake light...plugs into the 4 prong when the boats not on, that's a 2"strip of teflon that serves as a rub for the stairs when they fold in...it was that close
With the hitch....calced to accept 350-400 pounds....310 tongue weight on the boat...that's a rubber bungee that straps across the steps to keep them from accidentally activating.....on the road
so there it is....all folds up nice and neat....out of the way...holds the greywater tank and now I've added a rubbermaid "action packer" to the other side to hold all sorts of external things....smoker chips, cord divider, rollup hose, filter, pressure reducer and shutoff valve for the water hookup when in respectable areas
Hope you all find it interesting and thought provoking
