Ram-Lin Carpet - Brilliant!

I spent a good amount of time underneath my trailer this week as I replaced the main brake line (due to a hole rusted and worn through it). Everybody knows what a completely ASININE design the carpeted steps are on this trailer. It still blows my mind every time I see the bubbles of rust forming on the 2000 trailer that they would use the carpeted steps or that anyone at Ram-Lin or CC would consider that a REMOTELY good idea. By my calculations, if I don't swap out the carpeted steps soon, I'll have to replace all of the metal supports for the steps on both sides of the trailer very soon. The rust is getting deep and thick in areas and it's driving me nuts. The wiring is also completely shoddy and will have to be replaced soon, but that doesn't scare me.

That said, I don't cut or weld metal. I also don't have, say, 600.00 laying around to have a shop re-create the steps in polished diamond plate or whatever others have done. What I'm thinking of is perhaps replacing the carpeted steps with Starboard or some other plastic wood replacement. Maybe I could fashion some planked "deck" looking steps out of the plastic decking material you find at home stores. Eventually, the trailer is going to need the metal supports of the steps recreated and the whole thing painted but I'm hoping to dodge that for a couple years. Putting big money into a trailer that's probably only worth 900.00 doesn't sound like a good investment to me. Ideas? How much would it cost to have a shop create the steps in metal and re-paint? 1000?

Well, the problem is that the carpet stays wet for nearly a week after dunking the trailer. This wetness is what causes the trailer to rust out so the carpet has gotta go. Ply with resin is not a bad idea, and a pretty cost effective solution.

You can substitue HDPE (high density polyethylene) for wood.

Teak or Ipe looks trick.

Maybe it is not a total loss yet. Perhaps you can remove the carpeted steps then use an electric powered wire brush to remove most of the rust. After that treat the metal with a rust converter. When finished, prime and paint again. Then laminate the area covered with the carpet using several coats of epoxy resin. That should form a pretty good barrier. You could even drill a few large holes, then place the round end of a ball peen hammer against the hole and pound it with a larger hammer to create a depression surrounding the hole. Then recarpet, use laminated decking or whatever.

When I work with steel I go to the scrap metal yard. The steel is sold by the pound.

I'm raising this thread back from the dead as I'm starting to contemplate winter projects. I've looked at a few shops that sell diamond plate and it would appear that it is not an inexpensive material. Anything over a couple hundred bucks is way over budget on this project. Could anyone suggest what thickness it should be to form the steps on the trailer? I was guessing 3/8". Would I order it separately or just get it from the machine shop that would be doing the cutting?

The other option I really like (which was suggested in this thread) was creating plywood steps and painting them with a non-skid bedliner-style paint in flat black. My concern here is that a few years down the road the ply will get that warped/weathered look and look like some half-assed repair. Could I seal it with resin, then paint it? If at all possible I'd like to disguise the wood grain completely on the plywood, so maybe a thin coat of bondo, then sand flat, coat with resin, then paint. I'm open to any suggestions here on this project. All the Ram-Lins that I've seen have come with these carpeted steps from the factory so an economical replacement would probably benefit many.

TRBenj wrote: Joel, if you go with diamond plate, I would think that 3/8" is waaay overkill.

Whoops, that's a result of typing posts in way too early in the morning. I meant 3/16 but they probably don't even make it in that thickness.

Yikes is right!

I still think the easiest/cheapest/best looking solution is to redo the steps out of plywood, coat them in resin, and recarpet.

Joel. McMaster Carr has smaller sheet sizes of diamond plate so that may be a route to go. When I did my trailer for my X55 I used the 3/16" and it is plenty. Keep in mind that the thickness is to the top of the diamond and not the thickness of the base sheet. I cut it with a carbide tipped blade in a hand "Skil" saw. The trailer was the delux version with the fiberglass pan but it had been jack knifed so the pan was totaled. I used the diamond plate for the steps and fenders. Lots of hot chips with the Skil saw but it cuts very nice. If you need some bends in it, I can help.

Edit: Joel, I just checked out Mcmaster and found that their selection of tread plate isn't what it used to be. They only have the unpolished, the smallest size is 48"x48" and it is twice as expensive as the price you got!!

Joel, MSC industrial supply has the tread plate in the smaller pieces.

Tread plate at MSC supply

Dave, I can do some bending for you as long as it is simple. When I did the trailer with the tread plated, I had access to more equipment at a previous job. Specifically a box and pan break.

Note, Disregard my earlier statement on the thickness being to the top of the diamond. After looking at several sources of smaller pieces, I found that they have changed the method of measuring thickness. The thickness is the sheet and not the diamond. Joel, I would say that because the frame spacing on the steps is close, that the .080 thickness would be good.

The guy I bought my boat from removed the wood & carpted steps and replaced with smoke black color plexi-glass. It's in storage now, but I would guess plexiglass is ~3/8" thick. He also added some "no slip" grip strips for added traction. Flimsy in some areas, but overall OK. Doesn't look great, but I can live with it.

The steps on my 94 CB nautique trailer had rotten wood for steps when I purhased it. I bought 3/4" 5x10 plywood, cut to shape with a jig-saw, radiused the edges with a router, stained black with ebony stain and sealed/waterproofed with linseed oil. Worked great! The black colour does not demand visual attention, the plywood gives grip naturally and it cost me about $100.00. Works for me.

My question is, where do you buy 9 foot long plywood? The step on there now is one piece and it is 9 feet long. I checked at HD and Lowes. No luck. Will a real lumber yard carry something like that?

No matter if you put coated ply, diamond plate or some kind of plastic back down don't forget the primary problem. You want to keep the water from getting trapped between the steps and the trailer frame and causing the steel to rust. Yes, a good zinc based primmer and a high tech top coat will help but there are a couple extra steps I used. Make sure the holes through the frame for bolting the steps on have plenty of clearance. You do not want the threads on the bolts to damage the paint coating on the steel. You can use flat washers on the bottom side. Put the flat washers on bur down so the bur doesn't dig into the paint. You may have noticed that most rust starts around holes and bolts. Next, caulk the whole surface between the steps and the trailer frame. I did this on the trailer I put the diamond plate on and after 28 years, I have no rust. The only rust I have is at the spring shackles. None on the springs because when I downsized the springs to improve it's ride, I used mono-leaf tapered springs. (1 spring)

Greg, The key to keeping the water out and the rust starting is caulking the whole surface between the steps and the trailer frame. It sounds like your trailer caulked at the edges only was to just make it look pretty. It probably did more harm than good by trapping the water in. I'm sure it would have seeped in someplace like around a screw hole when it went in the lake. I wouldn't try to get any rubber around the screws or under the steps because I don't think it would do much for sealing. I would just caulk them in as well.