A little PM - holes in the ladder

[sreigle]

As I remember things I did to our traded Montana I'm writing it on the list to do to this one. Here's one I just now remembered. I haven't seen it mentioned in awhile so thought I'd bring it up.

Drill three small holes in the underside of the bottom of the ladder. Water gets in the ladder tubes and eventually corrodes through the ladder. Sometimes it builds up enough to corrode the screws holding the ladder together. Three small holes lets the water drain.

See another Montana or Mountaineer on the road? Flash lights twice, it might be one of us!
Steve Reigle (pronounced Regal)
Fulltiming since 3/21/03
'07 3400RL
'05 Ford F250 SD Lariat CC SB 6.0L PSD/TS FX4 4x4

Our RV Travels (now Firefox-compatible)

[jrgwdenner]

Great hint, Steve.

Judy
http://spaces.msn.com/bamatravelers/
http://bamatravelers.blogspot.com
Traveling with Glen and Greta in our 2004 Dodge dually and Montana 3380 RL

[EagleRunner]

Thanks for that hint Steve. Makes sense! Got to do that this weekend.



Tom & Nancy
TV: 2005 Silverado HD-2500 Crew-cab Duramax/Allison

5er: 2005 2955rl

[harleyrider]

Great tip Steve-i would have never thought about that.

2004.5 Dodge Ram 3500 SLT Quad Cab 4x4-auto-48re
2001(bought new in March of 2004) montana 3280RL triple slide
Prodigy brake controller
color back up camera(from rvcams.com)
reese 16K slider
tire pressure monitoring system
line-x spray in bed liner
roll&lock bed cover
Yamaha generator with boost control

[RonS]

Went out to drill mine, and found that it already had the drain holes. I did not drill them and purchased new, its an 03 3280RL Big Sky.

[campbud]

Thanks for the hint!

2005 2955RL Montana
2002 Chevy 2500HD 8.1 Ext Cab 4x4
Bob and Kathy

[The Oldguard]

Steve, all of the new rigs have the drain holes already in the ladder from the factory. did the same thing to my old unit, and got ready to lay under the new ladder to drill and to my suprise they were already there.

Vernon & C.J. Young
05 3400RL
2006 Ford F350 Crewcab DRW 6.0 Power Stroke/TorqShift 4X4

[Bill and Ann]

Thanks Steve: drilled mine out and water came out of the first hole.

Good friends are like stars.....You can't always see them, but you know they are there.

Bill and Ann
Napanee, Ontario, Canada
2004 3670RL Big Sky
2003 GMC 2500HD Crew Cab 4x4 Short Bed
20K.Reece Hitch
Duramax/Allison
Prodigy Controller

[Native Tex]

Steve just checked our 2005 and it already has holes....bet your 07 does as well. Thanks for the great tip.

Native Tex

O.V. & Kathy Bonner
Miss Ko-Ko (Chocolate Lab)
Huntsville, Al
'05, 3400RL
'05 F250 Ford King Ranch, CC, FX4/4x4, 6.0L PSD

[img]http://banners.wunderground.com/weathersticker/gizmotimetempbig/language/www/US/AL/Huntsville.gif" border=0
alt="Click for Huntsville, Alabama Forecast" height=40 width=467[/img]
[IMG]

[richfaa]

"Hole" in the bottom of my ladder. Late 06 3400. Wonder where they got that idea..

Rich& Helen N.Ridgeville,Ohio.

F-350SD, Lariat, V-10,4:30 Diff, tow command Long bed, Crew Cab Dually, 06 3400RL
Mor-Ryde Pin Box

[Fordzilla]

checked mine yesterday and it has one hole in the center. Either it was there from the factory or the previous owners had it drilled out. I stuck a small nail up in there to make sure there was no blockages holding dirt and water back and it was all clear. Thanks for the tip.

Ron & Melinda Rosewall
Marcus, Iowa
'06 F350 DRW King Ranch 4x4, diesel pulling machine.
'04 3685FL, Fireplace, Cent Vac, Fantastic Fan, Safety Glass, 2nd A/C, Slide out awnings.

http://www.picturetrail.com/fordzilla

[bsmeaton]

Great hint Steve,

I was just replacing the rubber gasket stuff around my cargo doors which is hollow, and got soaked from the water collected in the gasket (not that it hurts anything - just amazing where the water collects).


Brad & Dory


[img]http://banners.wunderground.com/weathersticker/bigtemp/language/www/US/CO/Littleton.gif"border=0
alt="Click for Littleton, Colorado Forecast" height=94 width=185[/img]

Visit Our Photo Site

2003 2955RL - 5.5KW LP Gen - great for the lake!
2006 F350 Stroker Lariat towmoter - love the trans shift and integrated brake controller.
'95 SeaRay 200BR named Dam-It - occassional tow buddy

I ain't as good as I once was - but I'm as good once as I always was - Toby Keith

[sreigle]

Well, I was pleasantly surprised to see ours had one hole already in the ladder. I almost let it go at that but decided, what the heck, I'll put a second and third hole in there, one each side of the original hole. I drilled and immediately water started running out of the new holes. We had a really good rain last week. So maybe the original hole was somehow plugged up. In any case, I'm glad I drilled the two additional holes.

Some of you mentioned already having three holes. Mine had just one.

RonS, our 2003 3295RK had none until I drilled it. Maybe your dealer did this for you? Who knows.

[BillyRay]

Ok, now I'll have to check ours. Thanks for the heads up.

[richfaa]

Just a note.. I went out and looked at our new 3400 and it did have the one hole in the bottom of the ladder..to make sure it was all the way through I ran a nail up there and it was plugged up.The material was metal shavings deposited from drilling the hole.I would suggest that we all take a look..

[boat391]

great tip Steve I'll go out right now and giver a look

[bob n pam]

What a handy dandy tip. Thanks!!

[ols1932]

Just had a new ladder installed on our rig. It doesn't have holes. Will drill. Thanks Steve, for the hint. Replaced the ladder because of the very reason we need drain holes. All the screws were rusted out and the ladder didn't appear sound. I didn't trust it.

Orv