Steps won't close urgent

Sure is nice to see how so many help out with someone in need!

VinCee wrote:
Were the steps made by Lippert, or label on the front of them "Coach Steps"? If so they are pretty well known to have a lot of failure issues especially with the main gear bolt and the double joint bolt supporting all of the weight on the steps when deployed. NHTSA has an investigation on going on them with many RV owners that have them on their rigs looking forward to a potential recall. Some manufacturers have been swapping them out for the much, much better Kwikee Steps for free or at whole sale pricing.

Yep and as far as I know, our K's are original and 17 years old now.

Update on steps. Motor was shot and Camping World Hamburg NY got the new motor, installed and adjusted awning while it was in..all under warranty. So far happy with service just not with steps breaking on a new RV.

On our way home, steps rigged..motor shot and new one on order. All covered by warranty. Hopefully new motor will last longer than 3 months, 2 of which it was in storage in Florida.

two other common issues with steps:
1) Linkages need to be lubricated regularly with a good penetrating grease spray
2) Good, clean ground connections.. on my steps there are 2 grounds... and they are out under the bus, exposed to every bit of road spray to corrode.......

One thing that never has happened is stepping on them too soon..can guarantee that.bat our age we have to wait and be careful :))

Pat

dcbrewer wrote:
One thing that can cause problems like that, always make sure the steps are all the way out and stopped before stepping on them. weight while moving puts a lot of pressure on motor and gears..

You beat me to it.

mygsds wrote:
Thanks hubby underneath now working on that....hope CW service can look at it when we drive in..bought it there and not happy to have problem on first trip.

Pat

Lots of moving parts in a motorhome and stuff like this happens. The steps are actually one of the more rugged parts on the motorhome, but they do break.

One thing you have to be really careful about is not to step on them when they are going in or out (usually out). People tend to open the door and then jump up on the step before it is fully out. If you do that all of your weight is going straight to the gears versus onto the stops that the stairs rest on when fully out. Kids are really bad for this and they seem to love to stomp down on the stairs too. You can strip the gears doing this which sounds like what has happened with yours. Not saying it happened this way, but based on what you describe sounds like one of the gears may have lost some teeth.

Been having a issue with ours during the winter. I charge the batteries every two weeks via the generator. When the batteries are even slightly low they would do exactly as you mentioned. They need full voltage going to them. Once the batteries received a charge the steps would operate.

Had it checked last week. Nothing else is wrong with them.

Never never never step on the stairs until they are fully extended. You will ruin your step motor in a heartbeat ( don't ask me how I know).

Also be prepared to get grief on a warranty claim for this issue.