RV Entry Ramp

[Shorty Cox]

You know how it is, to go into an RV, one must climb the steps twice. Once to reach the latch, then back down the steps to allow the door to swing open, then back up the steps to enter the RV. This reality has always been a pain in the a$$. I have always thought, “there has to be a better way.”

Kitty having knee replacement surgery a few weeks ago along with a pre-planned camping trip prompted me to finally make it a reality. My requirement was safety and ease of installation.

I purchased a 10-foot folding portable wheelchair ramp online. Utilizing 1” angle iron, I fabricated the landing/porch frame then floored it with decking board. My thinking was I wanted the landing to be supported by the unfolded steps as no matter where the RV is parked, that measurements would be constant. The landing/porch hooks to the upper step then secured by a cleat that drops in front of the step. The outer end is supported with legs standing on the lower step. The ramp is then attached with a pen to the landing/porch. The landing/porch is designed to allow the ramp the be installed parallel to the RV either to the front or rear as well as straight out from the RV. Because the landing/porch was higher than what was intended for the ramp, the ramps support legs had to be lengthened.

Now my thought turned to max weight capacity for the steps. The landing/porch weighs 30lbs. Once attached, the portion of the ramp that is not self-supported from the ground is 20lbs for a total of 50 additional pounds the steps must support. My understanding is the RV steps have a 300lb capacity thus unless a large person utilizes the ramp, it will be under the max. It is very easily attached to the steps only requiring two bolts to attach the outer support legs to the landing/porch. (The bolts could be replaced with a pen and keeper which would make it even easier)

Once we arrived to the camping location, leveled the RV, it only took approximately 10 minutes to unload and attach it to the rv steps.
The photos were taken prior to a camping trip. Kitty and I just returned from a camping trip where we utilized the ramp. It worked great. So much easier to enter the RV.
What changes would I make to it? Like most things, modifications could be made, handrails, etc.

(I'm sorry, I don't know how to make the pic appear upright)

[Shokyle1]

Ingenuity at it's best. Good work.

[JFlightRisk]

Nice job!