S-S/Ford
Grapeview, WA
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I am looking for some ideas for outside steps. I have an 8 1/2 S&S camper on a F350 (2001) The bottom of my TC door is approx. 4 feet high. I use a cargo carrier that slides into my hitch. The camper came with a folding 3 step. I was thinking of fab. something on my cargo carrier. Does any one have ideas?
Thanks
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Dewclaw
Oregon
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Joined: 10/16/2007
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My NL has very nice steps that appear to be a set of folding steps, such as are used on camp trailers, mounted on an assembly that is fastened to the camper bumper. You might be able to fab something to mount folding camp trailer steps to your cargo carrier.
2008 Northern Lite 9-6 Q Classic SE
2007 GMC 2500HD
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sstan
Martinez California
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S-S/Ford wrote:I am looking for some ideas for outside steps. I have an 8 1/2 S&S camper on a F350 (2001) The bottom of my TC door is approx. 4 feet high. I use a cargo carrier that slides into my hitch. The camper came with a folding 3 step. I was thinking of fab. something on my cargo carrier. Does any one have ideas?
Thanks
That's exactly what I did with my Outfitter. The cargo carrier acts as one more step and is a good place to clean you boots off. I really like always having the steps ready too and not having to carry them inside the door.
Here's a couple of pics.
Steve
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Murgatroid
Nevada City, CA
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Very cool, Steve! I like it. I've gotta check out your uber Outfitter sometime!
-steve
2009 Sundance 2800RLS
2009 Outfitter Apex 9.5
2006 Dodge Ram 2500 QC LB CTD
B&W turnover ball hitch with companion
2009 Polaris Ranger 700XP
2009 Polaris Ranger RZR
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TCBob
Junction City, OR
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I have a very simular rig. '04 S&S 8.5 on a 1999 F350 DRW. I use the sissor steps with 6 steps. Have often thought of doing something with a cargo carrier....however about 1/2 the time I am camping I have a trailer of some sort. (either cargo or boat) So far I have stuck with the sissors stairs. I just carry them on the TC floor just inside the door. They don't seem to go anywhere.
2004 S&S 8.5 SC Ponderosa
1999 Ford F-350 4X4 7.3-PSD DRW
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Blind Bob
N.W. Indiana
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'nother good idea gleaned from these pages. Thanks for those pics Steve.
2006 F-150
1972 Amerigo
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RickW
Sacramento CA
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I use a storage box/step on the rear carrier and a two step stool. I can get in the TC using the box step only if necessary. The box holds dog leash, bug spray, flashlight, bottle opener, water shoes, etc.
Rick
04 GMC 1500 4X4X4
04 Sunlite SB
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Wheelholder
jacksonville, fl
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If you want to tow and have a hitch carrier, you could get one of the double receivers. Bought one and can pull boat and install hitch carrier also. In the process of designing steps to work in conjunction with hitch carrier.
Thare are a couple of pictures in the t/c sticky pages. Got a couple of useful ideas from the pics there.
2008 Silverado crew cab Duramax/Allison
2008 Lance 805
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RickW
Sacramento CA
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Wheelholder wrote:If you want to tow and have a hitch carrier, you could get one of the double receivers. Bought one and can pull boat and install hitch carrier also. In the process of designing steps to work in conjunction with hitch carrier.
There are a couple of pictures in the t/c sticky pages. Got a couple of useful ideas from the pics there.
Note that my rear carrier above is mounted on a 16 inch hitch extension. For example, I can attach a hitch mount bike rack to the back of the carrier or tow a light trailer.
If I just had a bigger truck and heavy duty hitch, I could tow even more. 
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MTBob
Montana
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My used camper came with a set of neck-breaking floppy damn scissor steps - a device invented by orthopedic surgeons for their full employment. I eventually found a set of side bars to permanently fix the steps in the extended position, firming up the floppiness. To store these permanently extended steps I put them in the basement storage compartment. Also, the steps never seem to be level, partly due to the height of my camper and uneven ground. So, I built a step leveling support that offers some amount of adjustment when needed. At that time I also added stick-on skid-grit paper to the steps to minimize slippage. This arrangement works OK, the steps are solid and level. But they sure take up valuable storage space in the camper basement.
This is the current step design with the support.
I'm in the process of designing an alternate step arrangement that will connect to my hitch extension. If I can figure out the details, the step assembly will pivot on a vertical hinge and swing out of the way, back under the camper. That's a project sitting on my shop floor waiting to be completed later this winter.
Bob
* This post was
edited 11/10/09 07:55am by MTBob *
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