Rear Ladder Unstable

chilidog

Member
Hey campers, first of all I have to say I love this community! So many of you willing to help and spread your knowledge right away, thanks to all!

Now, I've got another question for you :) We just purchased a 2011 Big Country 3500rl and while attempting to climb the rear ladder I noticed it was very unstable and I'm afraid it may pull away from the fiberglass rear end cap. Is this normal? Is anyone facing a similar situation? Thanks again...
 

jayc

Texas-South Chapter Leaders
I found that some of the bolts that hold the ladder on were loose and the bottom two were sheared off. Apparently my ladder became loose at some point, breaking the bolts. I replaced them with a better grade bolt and all is well now.
 

GOTTOYS

Well-known member
I would never climb on it. If you look when you go around an RV service center they use a real ladder to climb on the roof not that flimsy thing hanging on the back of the trailer. It is a good place to mount your HOC plaque though....Don
 

TandT

Founding Utah Chapter Leaders-Retired
No , I would say it is not normal. On my former SOB, The screws on the vertical rails would loosen up and had to be tightened periodically. With my Bighorn the ladder is very stable. No problems what so ever. I would put it on a list for your dealer. On all rv's these days, it seems there are always "start up" corrections that need to be made. Once those are resolved, hopefully most things will function normally.
 

branson4020

Icantre Member
Mine is strong and stable. I have no reservations about using it as my primary ladder for getting onto the roof, and have been doing so since the rig was new. Its supposed to be a ladder, not a decoration.
 

Ray LeTourneau

Senior Member - Past Moderator
Our has been used by normal sized folks frequently for cleaning the roof. I have removed the arms between the ladder and the mount plates and figured out how to tighten up everything and it is now pretty stable but I'm close to it's capacity so I don't chance it.

Once you start to remove a few screws, it's pretty easy to see how it's put together.
 

SJH

Past Washington Chapter Leaders
We carry a 6' step ladder in the basement which I use more often than the stock ladder. I did find many of the ladder screws loose when we first took delivery of the rig...a simple task to tighten and it did seem to make it a little more rigid.

Congratulations on the new rig, by the way!
 

JohnDar

Prolifically Gabby Member
I use mine with no problems or hesitation. Haven't noticed anything being loose or unstable.
 

hoefler

Well-known member
You might check the little plastic ends on the rungs, I had all were showing cracks and starting to fail. I had 2 that would give way if any weight was placed on them. I ordered the new ends and have them on hand, but never installed them. You have to disassemble the whole ladder to replace them. When I took the ladder down to replace the ends, I decided that the folding ladder would be more useful and never re-installed the OEM ladder.
 

lwmcguir

Well-known member
Mine mounts into the top of the roof and has the two sets of stand offs on the back. Seems pretty stable and I use it as the only ladder to get to the roof.
 

rvn4fun

Well-known member
Ours is very shaky too, I fiqure it will fail one of these days. Our dealer told us that we shouldn't even hang a ladder on it while traveling because of it's flimsiness. We also had one of those plastic ends break but it was replaced under warranty. I use my foldup ladder whenever possible to get on the roof.
 

danemayer

Well-known member
4 of the plastic inserts cracked on my ladder. 1 screw goes thru the plastic and into the vertical member of the ladder. When the plastic cracks, that screw no longer provides necessary support for the rung. Heartland sent me 4 inserts and I added a small hose clamp underneath each rung (on each side). Inside the hose clamp, I placed a strip of "cut your own gasket" material to ensure the clamp gripped tightly. Now the rung is supported by the hose clamps as well as the mounting screw on the plastic end piece and everything is rock solid.

Btw, I weight 250. The ladder has a sticker on it that says it's rated up to 300 pounds.
 

Bob&Patty

Founders of SoCal Chapter
Our BH is 4 years old now...ladder is nice and solid. I weigh in at 210# and use it get on the roof. I have a foldup ladder to do things on the side. Sounds like you need to have your dealer look at it. BTW, I sent you a PM about our rally in April....dont know if you got it.
 

rvn4fun

Well-known member
Just went out and looked at our ladder again and sure enough one of the plastic rung ends is cracked out. Last person on our roof was a washing crew from Yuma, I don't think anyone on the crew was over 150 pounds. Sure wish Heartland would realize they have a problem there and get replacements made of metal instead of plastic for the rung ends. Someday someone will get hurt over those cheap plastic ends. Ladder shows it is for 300 pounds, I weigh about 210.
 

buckeyebob

Well-known member
when i tried to climb ladder first time horizontal rung broke!!i removed all the rungs and found 6 broken screws altogether.they use self tapping screwstorun through the vertical tube.evidently they used a power driver and the screws were snapped off just inside tube instead of going all the way through!!i replaced all of the screws with green deck screws,after calling ladder company they sent me end caps and the wrong bolts after a very lengthy and unproductive conversation with 2 different people.i weigh 275 lbs and when i climb i never put all my weight on same rung at once.if i brought my own little ngiant ladder where would i put it?someone is gonna get real hurt someday for sure,if dw is along she goes up to sweep slides she weighs a lot less than me!!!!
 

jbeletti

Well-known member
rvn4fun,

Atwood supplies that particular ladder to Heartland. I understand they've acknowledge and addressed an issue "with a few ladders produced in late 2009/early 2010 that exhibited cracks". If you or anyone reading this, need a few replacement end caps or wish to further discuss your matter with Atwood directly, please phone them at 866-869-3118.

Jim
 

JohnDar

Prolifically Gabby Member
Not trying to be a wisenhiemer, but for those of you who may be on the large size, use this scale when considering ladders.

The ladder type is the designation that identifies the “maximum intended load” (working load) of the ladder. Ladder types are as follows:
  • Extra Heavy Duty IAA Maximum intended load 375lbs
  • Extra Heavy Duty IA Maximum intended load 300lbs
  • Heavy Duty I Maximum intended load 250lbs
  • Medium Duty II Maximum intended load 225lbs
  • light Duty III Maximum intended load 200lbs
Two additional points:
  • Make sure NOT to overload your ladder.
  • Don’t exceed either the “maximum intended load” or the manufacturer’s rated capacity.
Somehow, when looking at the ladder on the rig, I just don't get the impression that it's truly an Extra Heavy Duty Type 1A.
 
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