To climb or not to climb — your RV ladder, that is
- January 21, 2019
- RV Products
- Posted by newworldrv
- Leave your thoughts
- By John Gaver
Certified RV inspector
When buying a new or used RV, one of the most important things to do, is inspect the roof. After all, the roof is where most leaks begin and that’s where to look for signs of moisture intrusion, which you will follow up by looking inside the coach.
You’ll also want to look at the air conditioners, antennas, and other equipment on the roof. But getting on the roof requires that you use a ladder.
Most RVs have ladders attached and this would seem like the obvious method to use, to get onto the roof. In many cases, this would be true.
As a certified inspector with the National RV Inspectors Association, I’ve seen more than a few mounted RV ladders that I would feel quite comfortable using. But, sadly, RV manufacturers don’t seem to follow any kind of standard for roof ladder construction and mounting. That’s why I and every other certified RV inspector I know carry our own ladders.
I don’t want to discourage you from inspecting the roof of the RV you’re about to purchase. You need to inspect the roof. Just give the ladder a thorough examination, before you try to use it. Better yet, bring your own ladder and some sliced pool noodles. I’ll explain the pool noodles in a moment.
Before I go into using your own ladder, let’s look at some of the issues I’ve found, regarding attached roof ladders.
Common roof ladder issues
In the photo above, you’ll notice that not only has the ladder been bent downward, from weight, but also it is bent inward, near the middle. Compare the straight yellow line, with the bend in the aluminum.
The photo below is of a small area of the same ladder (outlined in a green dotted box, in the first photo). As you can see, not only has it been bent down somewhat, but also one of the shaped spacers is missing and the screw at that point has been tightened too far, bending the metal tube out of shape. This is clearly a roof ladder to be avoided.
The photo at the top of the story is of a different coach. You will notice that the ladder supports, extending from the rear cap, are bent to the side at different angles. All of those yellow lines should be parallel. It’s unclear what damaged this ladder. But it’s another roof ladder that should be avoided.
Furthermore, just because you’re buying an expensive coach, don’t assume that the roof ladder will be as substantial as the rest of the coach. Certainly, as you progress up the price scale, you would expect that the ladders would become increasingly better and in some cases that’s true, just not always.
Photos above and below are of a high-end Class A motorhome. I used this example, because I’ve seen better ladders on different year models of this same coach. The point is that you can’t make assumptions about roof ladder quality, even on the same model of coach, from one year to the next.
In this case, it appears that too much weight was put on the ladder, at some time in the past. You can see how far the ladder was bent down by looking at how far the horizontal supports are from actual horizontal. Once a ladder starts bending, its structure is weakened.
As with the previous two examples, this is another roof ladder to be avoided.
Before using a roof ladder, you should examine it for bent arms, bent mounting brackets, and loose screws or bolts. If you pull on the ladder and the wall moves with the ladder, then the ladder is…
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