Refrigerator doors and bed ladder

[jackcoul]

We just got a new 2019 245BHS and I have two questions 1.) When you close the refrigerator and freezer doors they do not click and lock closed. I am concerned that when traveling they may swing open and dump the contents on the floor. 2.) As you probably know it has bunk beds but did not come with a ladder to get into to top bunk. I asked the sales guy and he told me the company stopped providing them for liability reasons. I know I can get a standard rv bed ladder but it looks like it will be kind of a pain because the person in the bottom bunk would have a hard time getting out of the bunk and it would be in the way of the bathroom door.
Does anyone have any good suggestions????

Jack

[wirides]

I have the same camper and searched a while for a solution. I ended up with a removable ladder like the one in the pic. Not the one with the hook. I cut about 6 inches off the bottom so it has just enough angle to make it easy for the kids to climb but doesn't stick out too far. Granted, it does make it a bit harder to get into the bottom but I can still fit with ease. I mounted it as far to the left as I could to avoid problems near the bathroom. No issues with the fridge. It works perfect and should be like that from the factory.

[clarkbre]

I took some measurements and built our own out of 1x3 cedar decking material. I looked at some but didn't like the round rungs....they were brutal on the feet.

The one I built has a 10 degree slant and is about 14" wide overall. It still allows plenty of room for the bathroom door to open and access to the lower bunk. During the day, we prop it totally vertical as we don't need bed access during that time.

To secure it, I used furniture retainer straps with metal brackets attached to the top of the ladder and under the upper mattress. It hasn't, and won't, slip out while anyone is on the ladder.

[Boomerweps]

I bought the Stromberg Carlson one shown in the first reply. Mine did not have the snap in mounts, just a couple clips the hooks mount into. I don't use the clips. There is a bunk lip the hooks work fine on. I trimmed 6" or so off the bottom to get the optimum angle and maximize being able to get around the ladder at night to get in the BR. I considered making my own ladder out of wood but decided the time, effort, weight, and storage space was not worth it to me. For travel or during the day, the ladder easily stows in the upper bunk out of the way.

I've seen add on small latches that attach to the frig doors outside edge. There are also retaining rods, singles and pairs attached together, adjustable & spring loaded, for your refrigerator and cabinets. Same as spring loaded drapery rods, which can be used for the same function in your RV. I use these rods while traveling because stuff can fall forward in the fridge to the point of falling out when the door opens.

[nomad297]

It’s unreal Forest River doesn’t provide a ladder for liability reasons. Sounds like a cop-out to me. Next, they’ll be shipping travel trailers without tires for liability reasons. That would make more sense, though.

Bruce

[clarkbre]

Originally Posted by nomad297

It’s unreal Forest River doesn’t provide a ladder for liability reasons. Sounds like a cop-out to me. Next, they’ll be shipping travel trailers without tires for liability reasons. That would make more sense, though.

Bruce

If FR actually worried about liability issues, they'd hold Lippert to fix their lousy welds on the frame. Suspension falling out from under the trailers is a higher liablity than an interior ladder.

And, if they were concerned about liability, why would they put a ladder on the outside of the trailer?

Liability and ladders........BS.........FR is too cheap to provide access to the upper bunk....God forbid they put a useful accessory that is actually needed in their design.

[dnicoll]

Originally Posted by jackcoul

We just got a new 2019 245BHS and I have two questions 1.) When you close the refrigerator and freezer doors they do not click and lock closed. I am concerned that when traveling they may swing open and dump the contents on the floor
Does anyone have any good suggestions????

Jack

Did you / do you have anything ‘heavy’ in the shelves on the doors? I was putting cans (Beer & pop) on the door shelves. The weight was enough to throw off the alignment of the door to the secure catch. Once the weight was reduced, things worked OK.
And we bought some of the expansion / spring compression rods to go across above each of the shelves.

[mrbudman24]

We just picked up our 2019 Surveyor 287BHSS and it has a metal ladder attached to the bunk and the floor. Very sturdy ladder as I had adults climb it to lay on the top bunk.

[jackcoul]

We just got back from a short trip with our new Surveyor 245BHS, I installed a Fastway e2 hitch and it made a big improvement in the towing.
I want to thank every one for there comments about the questions I had, they are very helpful... thanks
Jack

[SailorSam20500]

Our kitchen layout looks to be similar to yours - refer is to the right of the range. During travel, my DW uses a bungie looped thru the refer door handles hooked onto the lip on the range hood. Bungie is long enough to reach with minimal stretch. It kept the doors closed on our last 4000+ mile trip.