quadra-step

finally had time to put mine on-today neighbor(young lad)& I took about 30 minutes dw loves it. yea :B

tartan camper wrote:
Traveler, I've located a welder and plan to get the stair unit to him so he can cut the rod down and weld a washer to hold it in position (I assume that's what you did also). Looks like the installation will be fairly easy. I also have a floor jack and can do the same installation steps as Old Duck. I think DW will be very pleased! Thanks, everyone.

My welder did an excellent job with the rod-cutting and welding the washers on. It looks like it came from the factory that way - down to the great paint job he did to make it look finished! I think removing the three-step unit and installing the new quad step will be fairly easy with the advice from this thread. I plan to take the old steps to be recycled. Thanks, everyone!

Mountain momma, take old steps to junk yard(recycle) if you have more stuff to recycle it might pay for your gas. Thanks everyone for replies, think i will use floor jack & 3' wood also, kids little red wagon long gone

Ours came in @ 4:30 & are now installed (by 6:30)!! I love them!!

DH had a little trouble getting old ones out as they were spot welded but got it undone with a grinder. And he had a little trouble getting new ones in but got it done. The rod is just a little long on one side & it hits a piece of trim but the trim can be easily cut a notch out of it...easier than cutting rod! The top step is about 8" from the third one but the others are 7" where the ones we took out were 9-10" deep. Plus the bottom step is closer to ground too. Big difference! Anyway, I'm excited!

(Now this brings up another problem. What are you going to do with the old ones?)

On our previous 5er, I changed from 3 short steps (they didn't fit thru the RV gate... ooops) to one that had 3 long steps and that worked out good. That took some serious surgery cuz they were welded on and I had to mod the replacement to get the rises equal. This 5er has a 16" frame and it came with 4 steps and it needs them. Each step is closer together (7-8" rise) but the bottom step is low enough for sloped ground. I don't know the brand but I'd sure go to 4 steps if I needed to change a 3 step unit again. Craig

In addition to the Elkhart 4 step we put an extended Stromberg-Carlson handle on our Cyclone. Screwed right in the other pop out handle and has screw clamps to hold in position much sturdier that the original. It's longer and goes lower but I put a bumper on the fender and it works great when stowed.

Quadra-step is next on my list……..so thankful for this post and the discussion! Very helpful with improvements! DW and I will appreciate the smoother transition, also the dogs need encouragement descending and entering as both sister bull terriers hesitate with fear of the stair steepness. I also bought a ramp to aid the dogs getting in and out of the truck and the trailer.

Traveler, I've located a welder and plan to get the stair unit to him so he can cut the rod down and weld a washer to hold it in position (I assume that's what you did also). Looks like the installation will be fairly easy. I also have a floor jack and can do the same installation steps as Old Duck. I think DW will be very pleased! Thanks, everyone.

I did this last summer with the Stromberg unit BigDon provided a link for. It was very simple as I used my floor jack and a 3' 2x6 I had laying around. The Stromberg was the exact measurements as my 3-step unit. First I raised the jack with the board on it so it was under the unit. Loosened all 4 bolts, removed 2 then the other two. Released the jack slowly to lower it, slid it back and lifted the old unit off. Install was the reverse of it. Without a helper the jack made it very easy and was done in less than 30 minutes. One of our best mods.

tartan camper wrote:
That rod is going to be a problem - it sticks out 3/4 inches on both sides of the unit. I can either have the rod cut and have a washer welded on to hold it or cut the support hanger so the rod doesn't contact it. The need for supports makes sense as it hangs out farther than the three step unit does. I'll follow your advice on that as well. Thanks Traveler!

As I said we did the change last summer and after we cut the rods down it wasn't to bad a job to install.

We did find that the bottom step had some give to it compared to the 3 step so we added some support. Attached is the system we used.

http://www.amazon.com/Camco-43671-Self-Stor-Step/dp/B0024ECHII