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Replacement ladder for a 2000 Pat Thunder

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Bill Borden:
Thanks all, I will look into a metal shop for repairs.  Thanks for all the input, it pays to listen to the ones that had been down this road before.

Larger wall thickness is a great idea.

We just completed installing a new skylight for the shower, new Koni shocks all the around (by the way best price for the Koni's was from Henderson Line Up, no tax and they paid for the freight, what a difference in the ride!) and this year we are planning on new tires for the back.

So this was unexpected and a new custom ladder is expensive.  It wasn't on my wish list at all.

I will update our progress in repairs.

The Forum comes to the rescue!  Again. Thank you!

Bill

Bill Borden:
I spoke with my local welding/metal shop, and told him what I wanted to do and he told me no problem!

So next week I will take the ladder down and have the vertical poles and support matched and bent.  He also can 'up' the wall thickness to 0.125.

So it looks like my problem is solved and I am on my way to a repaired and improved ladder.

Thanks again for the advise.

Bill

Joel Ashley:
The tricky part may be getting the mounting stanchions/standoffs precisely fitted on new verticals.  They are going to have to align perfectly with existing holes in the motor home or you're going to have trouble with the screws upon mounting the new setup.  As a precaution, after removal, you might want to take exact measurements between at least one screw hole center on one standoff site on the rear cap to other standoff screw hole centers, and pass them on to the fabricator.  If the old ones are bent much, he may appreciate the measurements.  ;)

Joel

Bill Sprague:
FWIW, the screws that hold our ladder together were loose when the motohome was delivered and have worked loose a couple times since then.  When loose, the stress on all the parts change and would lead to failure.    

Joel Ashley:
On our old coach, I added a 4X4" piece of 3/4" marine plywood behind the cap fiberglass for the screws to get a bite into, wherever the screws were constantly backing out or not grabbing.  Before then, spider-cracking in the fiberglass was evident around screw sites, caused by stress over time in a material that isn't really designed as a good screw substrate on its own.  

Access from inside to mounting spots up high may be difficult or impossible, but if it can be done, a wood piece glued in position can help.

Joel

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