2004/2005 Monaco/HR Roof Ladder

[FLynes]

Hello all,

     In an continuous attempt to rectify the wrongs of some P.O.s, one thing I found was that our roof ladder is an aftermarket unit made by Stromberg Carlson. While the mounting pads are in the same location as the original ladder, their footprint is a bit smaller and the top leaves much to be desired, primarily that the top mounting points fall exactly 9 inches short of the original Christianson mounting location, which puts the Stromberg Carlson mounting location on our fiberglass cap, vice the actual roof itself.

     After several conversations with Christianson rep Mike Rospopo, as well as forum members Martin and Rikki, and finally with REV Group itself, I found that the correct part number for the 2005 Monaco LaPalma 37PST and the 2004 HR Vacationer 37PCT is P/N 10117779. This ladder may fit other models, but I can't say for sure.

     I then called Christianson again and Mike Rospopo is now going to speak with the manufacturing division tomorrow and see if they can pull up the pattern, as they still have nearly all of the patterns from the older models, and get this ladder made for us. REV Group wants $464.75 + $360 freight; Christianson quoted me $250 + about $300 freight.

     When I asked Mike Rospopo about something I had read on the forum about Christianson not willing to work with individual customers but, rather, direct them to distributors, Mike told me that that had been the case under the old ownership; the new owner is more willing to work with us DIYers, so if you need a ladder, this is now a viable solution.

BTW, Christianson also now owns Atwood.

[Martinvz]

Hi Frederic, Thanks for all the info and all the research you did.

I hope the admins will update the resource and parts lists.

[FLynes]

1 hour ago, Martinvz said:

Hi Frederic, Thanks for all the info and all the research you did.

I hope the admins will update the resource and parts lists.

You and Rikki helped a great deal, Martin, so thank you. 

[dl_racing427]

16 hours ago, FLynes said:

Hello all,

     In an continuous attempt to rectify the wrongs of some P.O.s, one thing I found was that our roof ladder is an aftermarket unit made by Stromberg Carlson. While the mounting pads are in the same location as the original ladder, their footprint is a bit smaller and the top leaves much to be desired, primarily that the top mounting points fall exactly 9 inches short of the original Christianson mounting location, which puts the Stromberg Carlson mounting location on our fiberglass cap, vice the actual roof itself.

     After several conversations with Christianson rep Mike Rospopo, as well as forum members Martin and Rikki, and finally with REV Group itself, I found that the correct part number for the 2005 Monaco LaPalma 37PST and the 2004 HR Vacationer 37PCT is P/N 10117779. This ladder may fit other models, but I can't say for sure.

     I then called Christianson again and Mike Rospopo is now going to speak with the manufacturing division tomorrow and see if they can pull up the pattern, as they still have nearly all of the patterns from the older models, and get this ladder made for us. REV Group wants $464.75 + $360 freight; Christianson quoted me $250 + about $300 freight.

     When I asked Mike Rospopo about something I had read on the forum about Christianson not willing to work with individual customers but, rather, direct them to distributors, Mike told me that that had been the case under the old ownership; the new owner is more willing to work with us DIYers, so if you need a ladder, this is now a viable solution.

BTW, Christianson also now owns Atwood.

Thanks for the research and info.  That'll be helpful I'm sure.
Have you considered adding aluminum or stainless strips to connect the top ladder mounts to the original mounting location?
The strips would be under tension, so that should provide plenty of support, and would be an inexpensive and easy mod.

Edited July 13, 2023 by dl_racing427

[FLynes]

9 minutes ago, dl_racing427 said:

Thanks for the research and info.  That'll be helpful I'm sure.
Have you considered adding aluminum or stainless strips to connect the top ladder mounts to the original mounting location?
The strips would be under tension, so that should provide plenty of support, and would be an inexpensive and easy mod.

It’s a great idea, Dave, but I’m beyond OCD and, unless it looks like it’s supposed to or I can’t see the work-around, it bothers me to no end.

[dl_racing427]

44 minutes ago, FLynes said:

It’s a great idea, Dave, but I’m beyond OCD and, unless it looks like it’s supposed to or I can’t see the work-around, it bothers me to no end.

I figured it'd be up high enough to be unnoticeable, but I get it. LOL

[FLynes]

I just received a text from Mike Rospopo this morning....Christianson does NOT have the pattern for the LaPalma, so now I have to draw the ladder and hope my dimensions are correct. I'm a linguist, not a mechanical engineer, and my drawing sucks.

[cbr046]

1 hour ago, FLynes said:

I just received a text from Mike Rospopo this morning....Christianson does NOT have the pattern for the LaPalma, so now I have to draw the ladder and hope my dimensions are correct. I'm a linguist, not a mechanical engineer, and my drawing sucks.

Take photos with a tape measure for reference?

- bob

[FLynes]

18 minutes ago, cbr046 said:

Take photos with a tape measure for reference?

- bob

That would be ideal, but the rep wants a drawing.

[cbr046]

1 hour ago, FLynes said:

That would be ideal, but the rep wants a drawing.

The rep is just CHA in case you get back something different than you envisioned. 

In a case like that I'll grab an architectural ruler and use a convenient scale.  If there's 20 divisions / foot you can draw a 10 foot ladder in 6 inches.  Hopefully he'll radius the bends . . . . or you may need to define them with a radius (3" radius?).  The architectural ruler I have has 3 sides with 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 divisions in a foot. 

There's engineering paper that has squares - makes right angles a cinch.  You could even scale to the squares . . . . maybe 6 squares to a foot?  Whatever works. 

You can do this! 

Good luck,

- bob

[Steve Merritt]

I just checked on the website and VisoneRV.com has a 2004 LaPalma parting out that the front is burned but in the pictures the ladder and all brackets are still on it

[FLynes]

58 minutes ago, Steve Merritt said:

I just checked on the website and VisoneRV.com has a 2004 LaPalma parting out that the front is burned but in the pictures the ladder and all brackets are still on it

Steve, I saw that too and called them last week...ladder is gone, sadly. Thank you for keeping an eye out for me.

As it stands, thanks to Martin van Zyl, I have a drawing of the ladder and am forwarding it to Christianson.

6 hours ago, cbr046 said:

The rep is just CHA in case you get back something different than you envisioned. 

In a case like that I'll grab an architectural ruler and use a convenient scale.  If there's 20 divisions / foot you can draw a 10 foot ladder in 6 inches.  Hopefully he'll radius the bends . . . . or you may need to define them with a radius (3" radius?).  The architectural ruler I have has 3 sides with 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 divisions in a foot. 

There's engineering paper that has squares - makes right angles a cinch.  You could even scale to the squares . . . . maybe 6 squares to a foot?  Whatever works. 

You can do this! 

Good luck,

- bob

Bob, you've got greater faith in me than I do, LOL! I had to re-read what you wrote several times, and I still feel like a monkey doing math in Greek. Ask me to say, "The situation in Ukraine is untenable" in Russian and that's a piece of cake....I wanted to be an architect, until I took physics, trigonometry and analytic geometry....I knew linguistics was my path forward in life. I do understand what you wrote, but I now understand how dyslexic people feel.