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03-30-2014, 10:14 PM
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#1
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Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 270
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How do you climb to the Penhouse
Ok so we are not that young anymore and love to sleep upstairs.
Is there some steps or ladder that could work with SMB upstairs bed setup?
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03-31-2014, 07:28 AM
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#2
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Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: boise idaho
Posts: 2,625
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Re: How do you climb to the Penhouse
nice timing for this thread! we are right in the middle of building our bedframe and once its done, we will need a way up to it. most the ladders ive seen are super skinny...and i am not. im hoping to find a wider version at our local rv junkyard. preferably, one thats easy on the unshoed feets. what would be perfect in my little world is a step ladder that we could use to get in the van, and then doubled as one for the upper bedroom
ive seen a few of the members setups where they can stratigically step in one spot, then on another and not use a ladder at all, but until we finish our build, a ladder will be a must. if people are posting up, id love to see pix of your ladder steups, even if no ladder is involved. if you bought it, please list up where it was purchased and a roundabout price if you dont mind
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"understeer is when you hit the wall with the front of your car, oversteer is when you hit the wall with the rear of your car, horsepower is how hard your car hits the wall, and torque is how far your car moves the wall."
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03-31-2014, 07:53 AM
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#3
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: TN
Posts: 10,254
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Re: How do you climb to the Penhouse
Here is my do it all ladder solution. It worked great in my last van, but due to the cabinets in my current van, as Shenrie noted, we don't use it inside anymore. Anyway, these are great little ladders, but maybe not the best for anyone much over 200. I am near that and it works fine if the ladder is not fully extended, like indoors as a bunk ladder, but when I use it outside to access the roof I have to place the bottom further away from the van so the rungs don't rest on the side of the van, and this causes it to bend a good bit. It is made to do this and hasn't hurt the ladder, just FYI.
http://www.amazon.com/Xtend-Climb-750P- ... imb+ladder
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03-31-2014, 08:26 AM
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#4
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Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 58
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Re: How do you climb to the Penhouse
I used a Rubbermaid "Step Stool" about 18" high for a while that doubled as an extra seat or a way for older folks to get into the van. It wasn't quite tall enough to make for an easy way to get up to the penthouse (I'm 5'5") so I broke down and bought a 3-step step-ladder. It takes up more room and is not as multi-functional, but makes the up and down, especially in the middle of the night, much easier.
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03-31-2014, 08:29 AM
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#5
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 1,220
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Re: How do you climb to the Penhouse
I would recommend installing the penthouse bed before getting a ladder. I was looking and looking for the right ladder only to discover after the bed was installed that we did not need one. There was a storage cabinet in the right location in our layout that provided the step needed to get onto the penthouse bed. No ladder to stow.
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Len & Joanne
The Green TARDIS
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03-31-2014, 09:46 AM
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#6
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Newark, CA
Posts: 795
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Re: How do you climb to the Penhouse
We have an 50 floor plan. We pull out the Porta Potty at night anyway and it makes it easy to step on it and then step on top of the refrigerator to get up and down from the penthouse.
When we have the original Thetford Porta Potty, we finally cracked lid by stepping too close to the center of it...stepping near the outside works. So, after replacing the lid, I put a strip of non-slip tape (like you might put on wood stairs) so that we would step on the right spot on the lid. However, while that made it last a lot longer, it finally cracked too.
We've since replaced the Thetford unit with one from Dometic (Camping World) which is designed to be stepped on. It is about a inch shorter than the Thetford one but works fine...and we won't need to continually worry about cracking the lid with it.
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Jack
'01 Ford EB50p Quigley 4WD
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03-31-2014, 10:44 AM
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#7
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Site Team
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Turlock Ca
Posts: 10,409
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Re: How do you climb to the Penhouse
If I were to do it over I would try to have cabinets configured so a step isn't needed. I use a folding step on my 50 to make it to the 4cf fridge and up to the PH. Having to store and pull out a step is a slight hassle to do each night. Each floor layout can change how you get up there though. In the 50 model I have to sleep with my head pointing toward the rear. I would rather be positioned the other way but it just doesn't work out that way for me so the refrigerator countertop is the only way up unless I hauled some kind of huge ladder that would be in the way. Wish I would have had SMB install a rear window but that's another thread. I store the step behind the bench seat. The step needs to be about 17" to make it comfortable to reach the tall refrigerator top.
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2006 Ford 6.0PSD EB-50/E-PH SMB 4X4 Rock Crawler Trailer
Sportsmobile 4X4 Adventures.......... On and off road adventures
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03-31-2014, 04:21 PM
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#8
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Senior Member
Join Date: May 2007
Location: East Bay CA
Posts: 1,078
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Re: How do you climb to the Penhouse
Yeah, I can use either counter or gaucho or both. I've also used one of the little step stools, which is handy for all sorts of other stuff.
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2001 Ford E250 Sportsmobile with Salem-Kroger 4x4 conversion
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03-31-2014, 05:41 PM
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#9
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Member
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Northern California
Posts: 76
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Re: How do you climb to the Penhouse
Call Kenny at Aluminess and they wil build you an aluminum ladder just for your sporty. I have one and can take pictures if needed. The Mrs. Loves it in the middle of the night.
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03-31-2014, 08:07 PM
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#10
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Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 270
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Re: How do you climb to the Penhouse
Thanks everyone,
Goprocowboy, can I please get a picture of your Alumines solution. Sounds, from the number of replies, that many SMB's might be interested!
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