Broken roof ladder rung - bike rack - Montana Owners Club

dcowie · 07-01-2006, 12:23 AM

I was carrying two adult bicycles on our roof-ladder-bike rack.
When I pulled into camp yesterday and took the bikes off, I noticed that the ladder rung supporting he bike rack was broken on the right side. The rung was slanted downward about an inch as it had torn through the top surface of the rung. The support screw was in tact protruding through the ladder post. Luckily I did not lose the bikes on the road.
Has anyone experienced this problem? Have you reinforced the ladder rung to carry bikes? Any suggestions? I have not attempted the repairs yet. I presume I will not have to take the ladder off the RV to make the repair? Is the ladder warranty beyond a year?
I tried calling Keystone Friday at 4 pm, they closed at noon and won’t re-open until Wednesday. Good thing I won’t be leaving camp for a few weeks.

richfaa · 07-01-2006, 02:15 AM

We are not real impressed with the quality of the ladder (3400) I am not a heavy weight @175/180 and I can feel it give when I am on it. We let Helen do the roof stuff. We also have the ladder bike rack and we have the quick release on the front wheels of both bikes. We remove the wheels that reduces the weight also secrure the rack and the bikes firmly to the ladder to reduce the up and down stress on the ladder that is multiplied several fold when bouncing down tne road....Actually that the ladder broke may be a good thing....replace it with a better one...

Glenn and Lorraine · 07-01-2006, 03:39 AM

I don't go up and down the ladder too often but when I do I experience no flex or give with my 300# frame.
I also carry my bike and Little Giant type ladder on the Monty's ladder BUT I am putting all the weight on the side rails and nothing on the rungs.

As far as "Is the ladder warranty beyond a year?" Whether it is or not I wouldn't be telling them you are using it as a bicycle carrier. I will guarantee you it won't be covered if they find you have been.

ols1932 · 07-01-2006, 04:55 AM

If it was me, I wouldn't call Keystone about it. The ladders were not designed for carrying anything. They are merely for allowing the owner to get up on the roof. The constant bouncing of anything hanging off the back of the ladder is not good for the ladder structure. I have the large "blue boy" on mine and I've carried it there for 4 years, but if something breaks because of it, I'll bite the bullet and get the repairs done myself.

Orv

sreigle · 07-01-2006, 09:52 AM

I could tell you a story about how strong those ladders really are, despite appearances. I've told it here before and it relates a really dumb "stunt" on my part.

Doug, I used to strap the bike carrier to both the rung and to the vertical part of the ladder. I also strapped the bikes to the vertical part of the ladder and another rung or two as well as to the carrier. I didn't think about it at the time but that probably better distributed the load than just strapping it all to the one rung. They were solidly strapped so they moved with the ladder and did not bounce up and down on it. Maybe that's why we had zero problems with two adult mountain bikes back there for about 35,000 to 40,000 miles.

Was yours strapped to just the one rung? If so, maybe this would help others avoid the same problem.

By the way, back in 2002 when I visited the factory I met with a rep and specifically asked about bikes on the ladder and was told no problem at all with two adult bikes on a ladder bike rack. If they say differently now when you talk with them, please let us know.

jrgwdenner · 07-01-2006, 10:21 AM

We chose to change to a bicycle rack from Camping World that goes into the receiver hitch of the truck, under the bedroom of the Montana. There is plenty of clearance for two adult size 'old folks' bikes. After changing our setup, Glen discovered that some of the ladder screws were pulled out. The bikes are easier to secure and load on the receiver hitch than the ladder. The one inconvenience is that the bikes need to be removed before we unload the bikes, but then they're ready for riding. Previously we often wouldn't get the bikes down so we're more likely to ride with the new setup.

richfaa · 07-01-2006, 10:57 AM

I wonder if the above setup will work with the new front cap.We have the Mor-ryde pin box which is a extended pin box and it still does not look like there is enough room there for a receiver hitch and bikes.We have seen way to many broken and damaged ladders from hanging bikes on them..however I will say that a lot of it is due to improperly stowing the bikes... The no bumber on the Montana was a very big negative for us but everything is a trade off.

dcowie · 07-02-2006, 01:51 AM

My wife, Linda, had a good temporary solution to the problem. Replace the broken rung from a lower rung, then use the step ladder for a first step until a more permanent solution is made.
Thanks for your suggestions. I will try fastening the bike ladder more securely and perhaps take the front wheels off the bikes and secure the bikes to the verticals as well. I may just get a new ladder, but don't really want to spend $100 only to have the same problem.

richfaa · 07-02-2006, 02:40 AM

Perhaps at the fall rally factory tour we can take a look at what the ladders are connected to on the Camper.We never thought of that on our tours..They go through the rear cap..so what are they attached to????? We note the the individual steps are removable therefore replaceable.

CountryGuy · 07-02-2006, 04:13 AM

Rich,

Not sure if those ladders are still built the same way.

At one point they had wooden bracing behind them, like hunks of 2X4, to fill the gap created by the end cap curves that did not match the square framing.

Not sure that makes sense, and have no photos.

When Al gets on the ladder we can see flex and he can feel it. Not much, just some, was the reason he felt uncomfortable using the ladder for bikes. Out of our personal comfort zone, so we found an alternative for the bikes, a front hidden hitch on Big Butt.

richfaa · 07-02-2006, 04:22 AM

We are with you on that..If we find that we can fit two bikes on the TV hitch we will go that route..Don't know aboput the new front cap and the Mor-Ryde pin box..We will look around at the FCRV Campvention with maybe 6 or 700 campers we shpuld be able to see a lot of setups..

CountryGuy · 07-02-2006, 04:33 AM

Rich, is that all that go now, years ago when it was NCHA, we had like 5000 in Gulph Canada one summer. Now THAT was a campvention!

richfaa · 07-02-2006, 05:52 AM

It is not like it once was 25years ago we had 100 campers in our local camping club and a waiting list.Now 40 would be a high number. Of course in those days the campers were smaller and a lot less expensive.Because of the high energy cost there may be less than that this year.. Times and things are a changing...

sreigle · 07-02-2006, 07:57 AM

I guess I should go ahead and relate my dumb mistake and how the ladder held up.

A few years ago, when we had the 2001 Montana 2880RL and still had a stick home we flew two granddaughters to St. Louis and took them to the Branson area. We lived about 300 miles from Branson and Vicki followed me with the car to make picking up the girls in St. Louis more palatable and less expensive (fuel cost).

When we left I stopped at a corner gas station and filled up. I went in one entrance and out another. Two bikes hanging on the ladder rack had the front wheels hanging below the bottom of the ladder. The exit had a serious grade and as I pulled out I caught those bike wheels on the pavement. I didn't know it but Vicki said it pushed everything straight up several inches to a foot. The bikes were secured to the verticals as well as the steps and the bike rack. When we got home I discovered I had cracked one vertical tube and seriously bent a couple of the long screws that go into the mount on the Montana itself. But there was zero damage to the Montana and the ladder mounts on the Montana. The damage was limited to the cracked vertical and some bent screws.

This is what convinced me the ladder is plenty strong enough to handle the bikes (two adult mountain bikes). We used the same bike rack on our current Montana. The bikes rode back there for two years of fulltiming, covering 35k to 40k miles, without a hiccup. The biggest "problem" was having to remove the bikes to get up on the roof.

The lesson I learned was to make sure the bikes were mounted high enough that they would not drag on the ground in a similar situation. We no longer carry bikes back there. We only used them twice in two years so gave them to our kids. I'm convinced that, properly mounted, a ladder mounted bike rack is an acceptable way to carry bikes. Inconvenient for mounting and dismounting and accessing the roof but the ladder is capable of handling it. No doubt in my mind.

Just my opinion, as always.

Wrenchtraveller · 07-03-2006, 03:00 AM

I agree with Steve on this one. I go up my ladder every time I retract the slides to check the slide roofs for debris. That ladder is as solid as any RV ladder I have ever been on and most of the movement I feel is the Montana's suspension. I weigh 185 pounds.

The main reason a bicycle bracket would fail is if it were not secure. The movement of a bracket over the miles is like a hammer effect and will cause any ladder to fail. If you eliminate that movement by strapping it securely, then a ladder that will hold a 300 pound man will hold 60 pounds of bicycles quite well.

captbanjo · 07-03-2006, 03:14 AM

We opted to put a Thule bike carrier on the top of our truck. It is definitely a two-person operation but it isn't difficult. I'm sure you've seen a bunch of these car-top bike carriers going down the highway. I stand in the back of the truck and my wife passes the bike up to me. I then bring it up on top of the cab while my wife guides the wheel in and we lock them in. Not very hard to do now. A few years down the road...who knows. It does amaze me that two bikes stay straight and locked after some of the bumpy roads we've encountered.

Wayne

Illini Trekker · 07-03-2006, 03:28 AM

Judy, which bike rack did you get from CW? The new one we just got is a Yakima and it's tooo tallll to carry the bikes. Like to find a better way than the back of the Monty or bed of truck.

Wrenchtraveller · 07-03-2006, 02:36 PM

When my kids were small we had the Yakimas with 4 bikes on the roof of the truck. Yakima and Thule both make great racks.

rickfox · 07-04-2006, 05:27 AM

Happy 4th,

Last month, I replaced 2 of the rungs on my 2006 3400. For some time I also carried 2 bikes on the ladder. Interestingly, the rung onwhich the bike rack was attached was not broken. I have been on the roof numerous times, and believe my doing so was what caused the rungs to fail.

On the two broken rungs, the screws that attach the rung to the ladder vertical rail, had pulled through the top of the plastic end cap of the the rung. I took pictures of the damage, sent them to our dealer, who forwarded them to Keystone for warranty approval. I then went by and picked up the two rungs and installed them at home - took about 10 minutes - a lot easier than hauling the rig down to the dealer.

Hint: I was told that if these screws are turned too tighly in during mounting of the rungs, they tend to cause the plastic endcaps to crack - causing eventual failure when weight is applied to them. Take a little time and inspect these endcaps. If they are not already cracked, they should not cause problems (per our dealer). If they are cracked (probably when the ladder was manufactured), get them replaced under warranty, because sooner or later they will fail.

patodonn · 07-04-2006, 08:23 AM

First incidence of that I've seen in 3 yrs on the Forum. I did find a rung with a screw loose about a year ago...tightened it, and checked the rest..no other problems...I do that every 6 months or so now. We did carry 2 adult bikes there for about a year...no problems, but switched to a receiver mount.

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