Roof Ladder Fail

[16ACE27]

Originally Posted by Bob Denman

A common theme among these; is the inability to set the ladder at a "leaning angle", that is going to provide a stable platform.
(Too many of them had their legs too far away from the building or wall, and they just kicked-out! )

Cuz most of those people failed physics in school.

[Bob Denman]

Yup!

[halfprice]

Just found a broken screw on the bottom right bracket on my ladder. Ladder looks a little bent, downward, must be from my fat stomach

I'll be looking for a telescopic, collapsible ladder when I get home

Jerry

[saerdna]

Well I for one really appreciate this post and the responses. Every time I go up the ladder I feel like I'm stepping on tin foil. I'm glad Pops is OK, but seeing the details of the failure is helpful - now I have a better idea of what to look for before climbing up there. I'll also keep an eye out for a higher quality replacement ladder.


Andy
2015 Axis 24.1

[Nursx2]

Used my ladder once - was so flimsy I never went up it again.

[oakglen26]

Looks to me that tha screw from the bracket to the ladder support should have a wide and flat head and should include a washer to distribute the stress associated with a loaded ladder. A countersunk screw with no washer would almost guarantee the the screw would pull through the center of the ladder/rv mounting bracket at some point, corrosion or no.

[Paulred]

Not being a small guy, I had little faith in the RV ladder from the get go.
I am not alone in this, Running down the road the most common sight of things attached to the RV ladder is another ladder.

I now have one of those ladders that is both a step ladder and fold out to a long ladder. I can climb onto the roof from any point around my van. Its tied to the back bumper when on the road.

later, I took the RV ladder off the van as it was not needed.

[cavie]

A smart person stays off an RV ladder. It's good for tying a close line to and that is it.

50 years in the construction industry made me a very smart person.

[Macsplorer]

I weigh 200 lbs and have been concerned about the ladder on our Thor Gemini. It looks very poorly made. I’ll be looking to replace mine soon! From your picture it appears the head of the bolt came through the metal plate that held the ladder in place! Yikes!

[cinderella]

Hey we really appreciate the heads up issue on this. We have a 2016 challenger and will check on the screws and such that u suggested.

We have a growing list of “things to regularly on” with our challenger.

Two examples:

Several times driving down the road and one of us notices “the sky is falling “😂 (I.e. the drop down bed crappy too short pins have come dislodged and the bed is lowering and usually in a very unlevel way). This requires us to find somewhere safe to pull over, start the generator, raise and lower the bed all the way each way multiple times until the bed levels and retracts to the ceiling all the way. We read up on it and found that lowering about an inch into the pins so they cannot dislodge usually works like a charm.

#2 most recent: moving out the living room slide and I hear a ”CRUNCH”!!!in my mind I think “NOW WHAT!!?” The sound bar under the tv, which we have on a shelf liner so it doesn’t slide off, shifted on the last trip and I never even thought to look at it. So when the slide tried to open, the sound bar was jammed and in the way. My husband had to muscle it out of the way. Slight damage to the sound bar in how it looks but otherwise no harm seems to have been done to the slide.

Sigh. It’s always something. 😉.

[vt800c]

Originally Posted by Macsplorer

I weigh 200 lbs and have been concerned about the ladder on our Thor Gemini. It looks very poorly made. I’ll be looking to replace mine soon! From your picture it appears the head of the bolt came through the metal plate that held the ladder in place! Yikes!

I'm a bit more than that, and have a fear of heights as well..( What happened to that skinny young brave kid??). I went up once to see I had a roof, but after that...I guess I will pay someone who is going and foolish.

[super stock racer]

My ladder was loose when i bought it used--8000 miles--I disassembled it, tightened all the screws-they were all loose-- and used loctite on them , and then installed an angle bracket that attached to the rear bumper and the bottom rung of the ladder, now i feel safe to use it as i didn't before. This is my 4th rv, on the first 4 the ladder was nice and tight from the factory

[Cooch]

Originally Posted by Pops R

Thanks for all the input guys but some seem to have to bag and be negative and why is the question for that.
In any case for all to just check their ladder supports as it could happen to you and maybe you might fall from the top of your roof.
At 70 I am not looking for that. This is supposed to be a community of owners sharing things not a place for negative feed backs, who needs that!



In any case I got my feed back so thanks and leaving you all with these last 3 pics


One you can see the supports behind the rear of the MH shell the screws are suppose to go into and two on the right side missed it completely so not a solid support.
The other two pics shows where the screw head just ripped out from the MH. I am not seeing any corrosion. In any case getting the replacement parts ordered so end of story here. Safe travels to all

I too would like to thank PopsR for posting this, especially the inside shot with the mounting blocks...and other veterans for their additional insight.
We are 1st time RV'rs, just bought 2015 Axis...felt the ladder was a little loose and now i know how to troubleshoot it.
Wanted you all to know this forum is a godsend to a newbie!

[Cabinetmkr]

Originally Posted by knucklehead

I didn't see until now it was a 2015 unit, so your on your own I guess. I'd still call Thor, you don't get if you don't ask! Right?

If we were talking injuries here.. with a screw pulling out/mount breaking ... forget the manufacturer warranty, this falls under product liability.

I remember a case of a customer grabbing a 12 yr old ceiling mounted light fixture and trying to unscrew the glass globe, instead of removing 3 screws ... it shattered and cut the person. This was settled as a product liability issue... instead of thrown out as common sense dumbass moment.

As a new owner of a Thor.. I’m amazed how many safety issues are still issues on this forum

[Geordie]

When I brought my Miramar home I found that the screws were loose, I replaced them with the next size ,when I checked behind the ladder I found that the pads t o hold the screws were not lined up ,two screws would not contact the support pads,Frank

[AndyT1183]

Originally Posted by Pops R

Doing some spring maintenance on the roof today when I stepped off the roof the bottom ladder support mounts broke loose under my weight of 190 lbs.


This seems like a safety issue fail to me so have contacted Thor about under Customer Care. will see what feedback I get. we bought our 2015 Challenger new so sure did not expect this to happen.


Anyone else ever have this happen?

We have an 2016 ACE 29.4. We did not have an injury from using the ladder, but noticed that the screws had rusted and broke at the mounts. Reported this to the dealer and they replaced the known broken screws. Now we see that others are rusted and broke. We will not use the ladder at all.

[saddlesore]

It's not just a Thor issue.
Found the same on our SOB after several years of use, so had it removed when having a body shop repair the damage Camping World did to our pristine fiberglass roof..

[AndyT1183]

I read somewhere that the roof ladder was being eliminated for safety reasons.

[Cabinetmkr]

[QUOTE=AndyT1183;191657]I read somewhere that the roof ladder was being eliminated for safety reasons.[/QUOTE

I would have to ask “safety for who” ...
having worked around residential homes for years, 90% of homeowner won’t climb a ladder and clean their own gutters out... so I would say a huge majority of RV owners will never climb on their ladder. Only reason I did was to install a booster on my antenna ... no real reason for me to ever use mine. Climbing 12-13 ft is no easy task for a novice... I’m sure their are several that has fallen off , trying to get off the roof... 😉

[saddlesore]

Just an observation with those RV's that do not have an attached ladder.
From what I've been told, If your RV does not come with an attached ladder the roof will not support a person walking on the roof.