Snapped bolt on ladder

Has anyone had a bolt snap on their ladder? All I can think of is I'll need to get a new support and a bolt because there is a small piece of the bolt in the extension. Any ideas?

If it's like mine, there is a plastic end cap held in place by three screws on each step. If the end cap cracked, you can buy a new one and make it good as new.

Half of my end caps cracked and broke. I did not want to replace them my new end caps only to have them break again so I made new end caps out of aluminum and have have worked great for the past three years.

I too had the plastic end caps on the Atwood ladder crack. A call to Heartland refered me to R.V. factory warehouse. they had the parts but you get it stuck to you on the shipping. I think they have te ladder stand-offs too

My standoff bolts bent and several of the plastic end caps cracked. I purchased new bolts at Lowes, and called Atwood. They sent me a complete set of the end caps free after some pretty serious complaining about their flimsy ladder. I also bought an additional set of the ladder stand off assemblies (4 pcs) to add proper ladder support. The added standoffs are mounted three inches from the originals. That now gives me a pretty solid ladder.

I guess I misstated which bolt snapped. It is the standoff bolt that goes through the ladder into the standoff. I called it an extension, but I guess it is called a standoff. I guess I need to contact Atwood?

Are you referring to the flag pole and plaque holder on the back of our coaches? I've yet to see a ladder mounted on the back of any rig I would try to climb. Just wondering how many people actually use them as ladders. I can see my 220lb 66 year old self ripping the rear cap off of my rig trying to get on the roof with that thing.lol
If all you need is to remove the broken bolt, you might try using an easy out.

brianlajoie said:

I guess I misstated which bolt snapped. It is the standoff bolt that goes through the ladder into the standoff. I called it an extension, but I guess it is called a standoff. I guess I need to contact Atwood?

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That is the bolt I assumed you were talking about. Ours too bent, and I found the identical bolt at Lowes, only I got stainless steel. Also added the extra standoffs and have a sturdy ladder.

I also suggest you contact Atwood to see about having them send out a replacement bolt. Unless getting a replacement item locally is easier. You can take the adjacent bolt out and down to the store to comparison.

As an aside and not that it should affect anything - one year ago, Dometic acquired Atwood Mobile Products.

jbeletti said:

I also suggest you contact Atwood to see about having them send out a replacement bolt. Unless getting a replacement item locally is easier. You can take the adjacent bolt out and down to the store to comparison.

As an aside and not that it should affect anything - one year ago, Dometic acquired Atwood Mobile Products.

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Thanks Jim. The problem is that I have half a bolt in my hand and the other half in the standoff. At the moment, I'm more concerned about how to remove a half buried bolt in the standoff. We just got a foot of snow so I haven't tried to remove the standoff yet. Once I figure out my solution to the standoff I'll work on which bolt I want to use.

brianlajoie said:

Thanks Jim. The problem is that I have half a bolt in my hand and the other half in the standoff. At the moment, I'm more concerned about how to remove a half buried bolt in the standoff. We just got a foot of snow so I haven't tried to remove the standoff yet. Once I figure out my solution to the standoff I'll work on which bolt I want to use.

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Brian - take a couple pictures of the affected section and post to this thread.

I recently replaced all the bolts, end caps and screws on my ladder. I had to remove it to have my rear cap painted and figured it was just time to replace all the plastic and bolts and screws. The bolts for the standoff are just plain 1/4"x20 stove bolts. You can get them at any hardware store in whatever length you need. They screw into an expansion type of nut that wedges itself into the inside of the standoff tube as they are tightened. If you remove the 2 or 4 screws that attach your standoff to the trailer you can look inside and see the nut. The plastic cap that fits against the ladder at the end of the standoff is just a press fit and will easily come off. Once you remove the cap you may be able to extract the broken part of the bolt with a pliers. If it broke off flush with the nut it might be possible to just turn it out from the other side. I ordered all my parts from Atwood and received them in short order. I hope this will help you...Don

Brian, I had the same problem on my last Big Country. As I recall, I think that I loosened some of the other bolts enough to pull the ladder out enough to get pliers or vise grips on the broken bolt. I turned it out far enough that I could get on it from the front and remove it. It's been a couple of years and I'm not even sure what I had for breakfast this morning.

Thanks Don and Mike. Sounds like no big problem for me to fix. As soon as it gets above freezing and a little snow melts, I'll go to the storage lot and dig in.