Power Steps - Lippert - Grinding at Retract?

Correct, the gear does not come individually. It comes with the 3 cushions.

Gear

Richard

RLS7201 wrote:
Correct, the gear does not come individually. It comes with the 3 cushions.

Gear

Richard

Thanks. That is a alternate source. Not Kwikee(LCI). Was not available a few years ago. For $16, safe bet to try. Doug

On the steps i have repaired, To visually inspect the gears, you have to remove the motor assembly & swing arm drive box assembly, and open the swing arm box assembly, or at least stick a screwdriver into the slot of the assembly input shaft, and turn it back and forth to each end of travel movement and feel for the stopping or gear rattle as it keeps spinning, is that what you did ?
Looking at the swing arm on the exterior of assembly will not tell you the condition of the gears, the motor assembly has gears, and the swing arm box has gears, and all are hidden from sight, when the motor assembly is removed from the swing arm gear box , the output shaft will spin continuously when power is applied to the motor ,
The swing arm gear box has limited motion, the output shaft of the motor assembly is a slotted fit into swing arm box assembly, a small gear in the assembly meshes with the larger shaped 90° gear which rotates the shaft the swing arm is attached too, this where the break occurs, missing teeth on the 90° partial gear at the full retract position, and you get the rattle and motor spin at the top of retract, if teeth on the little full circle input gear, wear or break, you will also hear a skip bump while the step is retracting,
The fix, is a New swing arm assembly box,
The plastic gears break when under an impact stress, this can mean less damage to the step assembly and a less costly repair,
If the step operates normally when being extended, its a near 100% probability of damaged gears in the swing arm box,
The large limited motion gear is actually a bit more than 90° but a lot less than a half circle 180° gear that one would expect to find inside, calling it 90° is just easier

I do believe i let my old age catch up with me, and confused two different gear Assemblies, i talked about a 90+ degree shaped gear when i
When i should have been talking about a circular gear, but other wise correct , broken teeth cause the non stop motor run on, and the noise , replacing the swing arm gear box assembly, gives the best results, all new parts and bushings with no wear that give it back the like New smoothness of action

dougrainer wrote:

RLS7201 wrote:
Correct, the gear does not come individually. It comes with the 3 cushions.

Gear

Richard

Thanks. That is a alternate source. Not Kwikee(LCI). Was not available a few years ago. For $16, safe bet to try. Doug

Yes. When I repaired my 1999 Series 32 steps that had similar issues (with an upgrade kit) in 2015, that gear was not available, and, believe me, I looked. It wouldn't have helped me anyway because the large die cast metal reduction gear inside the main gearbox is what exploded on mine. I do mean exploded. It was in five pieces inside the gearbox and the steps swung freely in the air. They would not extend or retract fully.

IMO, if your broken Kwikee stairs are +15 years old, replacing one gear in the drive train makes as much sense as replacing 1 broken link in an old worn out bike chain.

Chum lee

Chum lee wrote:

dougrainer wrote:

RLS7201 wrote:
Correct, the gear does not come individually. It comes with the 3 cushions.

Gear

Richard

Thanks. That is a alternate source. Not Kwikee(LCI). Was not available a few years ago. For $16, safe bet to try. Doug

Yes. When I repaired my 1999 Series 32 steps that had similar issues (with an upgrade kit) in 2015, that gear was not available, and, believe me, I looked. It wouldn't have helped me anyway because the large die cast metal reduction gear inside the main gearbox is what exploded on mine. I do mean exploded. It was in five pieces inside the gearbox and the steps swung freely in the air. They would not extend or retract fully.

IMO, if your broken Kwikee stairs are +15 years old, replacing one gear in the drive train makes as much sense as replacing 1 broken link in an old worn out bike chain.

Chum lee

As a Professional RV tech, these forums help me find obscure parts that are not easily found on RV part supply systems. Finding these type parts help me save customers money. Doug