Glow Step Revolution: Pros & Cons (See Update in 1st Post)

[profdant139]

(See update at end of this post. Bottom line -- don't loosen the scissor step bolts. See below for details.)

As you probably already know, Torklift contacted several folks and offered to send each of us a Glow Step Revolution (“GSR” – much shorter). They asked us to post our impressions of the product on rv.net, but (of course) they did not tell us what to say. Bottom line: this is a fairly “glowing” review (pun intended), but this product is not for everyone, as I will explain below. You can see more about the product here – I won’t repeat the stuff on the manufacturer’s website:

Glow Step site

The purpose of this posting is to help folks who are already interested in the GSR and who are trying to decide whether to order one. I posted a separate entry regarding installation on the Do It Yourself forum, assuming that you want to try to install it yourself (which I did). (I am going to try to cross-link the two discussions, but I am not sure that is possible.) Here is the link:

Installation tips and issues

So, here are the Pros: First, I think that the GSR is much safer than our original equipment steps were. There is no big gap to watch out for when going up or down. The stairs go all the way to the ground. We won’t need to tote along a step-stool, which is so often wobbly (especially when boondocking in rough terrain). The GSR steps are much steadier, since the legs rest right on the ground. (And the legs adjust to different heights, since the campsite always slopes up or down a little, and sometimes a lot.) Since the GSR provides you with three or four steps instead of two, each step is smaller, requiring less effort to balance safely (especially when carrying heavy loads in or out of the trailer).

Second, I think the GSR is a lot easier on the knees, ankles, and hips, which is a big deal for older campers (like me) – three smaller steps instead of two big ones. It would be easier for small children and small pets, too, but I do not have first-hand experience with that. I can also add that because my wife is vertically challenged (about 5 feet tall), she finds the GSR makes it easier to get in and out. That is especially true because our trailer is raised (due to an axle-flip) for boondocking and off-road travel, so there is a long way to climb.

Third, the GSR greatly reduces shaking inside the trailer when in use. There are two major benefits to this feature – it is less annoying to the folks inside the trailer. But more importantly, it cuts down on the progressive loosening of the stabilizers over time. Have you ever noticed that even if your trailer is pretty stable when you first set up, it gets less stable over a period of a couple of days? I think that’s because the stabilizers settle a little every time you go in and out of the trailer. The GSR really cuts down on that problem, in my opinion.

Fourth, the company did a great job with “fitment” -- they told me exactly what measurements to take, and the new steps slipped into place perfectly (with one exception – see the “cons,” below).

Fifth, the GSR is easier to deploy and retract than our original steps were. Those heavy steel steps were very balky and awkward. The GSR glides in and out – very slick. This is not a huge plus, but it is not trivial, either.

So now, the Cons: First, this unit costs a lot of money, even without paying for installation (discussed below). Is it worth it? The answer is “it depends.” If you have great knees and hips, and if your trailer is not raised, and if you don’t mind the shakes, and if you are on a budget, this product may not be worth it. But as you check off the various factors (aging legs, decent finances, a shaky trailer, a desire for greater safety, small pets), then the GSR becomes more of a necessity and less of a luxury item.

Second, the engineering of the steps is beautiful – a clever and intricate folding mechanism. Why is that a “con?” Because I am a little concerned that the sand and grit of boondocking will abrade the moving parts. Obviously, I will open up the steps and rinse them off after every trip, but still, it is a concern. It is too soon to tell if this will be an issue. Frankly, I have looked on the Internet for complaints about this, and I have found nothing, so this may be a non-issue. (I plan to add a mud flap behind my right tire, which is right in front of the door and the steps, to cut down on the mud and grit.)

Third, the installation was a lot of fun (I love working on my trailer!), but it was not effortless. I did it by myself – no helper – and I had to develop some work-arounds to lift it into place. (If you are interested in the details, see the Do It Yourself forum.) I had to drill through the metal step brackets on my trailer – that is a necessary part of the job. There was a lot of bending and kneeling and squatting, on less-than-wonderful legs (see above). I would say that unless you are both moderately fit and moderately handy, this is not a job that you want to do yourself. So that adds some cost, if you have it done at a dealership or by a mechanic.

Fourth, the design of the GSR makes the installation a little tougher than it should be. Without getting into too much detail, the heads of the rear pivot bolts protrude slightly from the sides of the step frame housing, so you have to make room for them by cutting into the metal brackets on your trailer. The instructions that come with the GSR say: “Side brackets vary by manufacturer, and may need to be trimmed to clear the hardware protruding through the sides of the GSR frame.” Measuring for that cut-out and drilling the hole in the bracket to accommodate the bolt heads was pretty tricky. (I searched for other people’s installation stories, and many of them mentioned this exact issue.)

The unit would be much easier to mount if the rear pivot pin were brazed, welded, or cast as part of the frame, rather than being secured by a bolt. Alternatively, the bolt head could be countersunk into the side of the frame, to avoid interfering with the brackets.

Until this minor issue is fixed, the installer has to be a moderately competent do-it-yourselfer or a professional. But if that obstacle were to be removed, almost anyone could install the GSR, thus expanding the market for the product. I say “almost anyone” because there are people who are not comfortable drilling through metal with a hand held drill motor, and holes must be drilled. Of course, the mounting holes on the GSR are not matched up with the existing holes on the mounting brackets on the trailer – there is no way that they can be matched up, since there are so many different bracket configurations. And the drilling has to be done with the brackets on the trailer – most brackets are welded on.

Given all the pros and cons, and knowing what I know now, would I have paid my own money to buy this unit? Yes, certainly. I might have had to persuade my wife that this was a good investment (she is very thrifty – thank goodness), but I think I could have done so. After all, if you take the cost of the GSR and amortize it over however many days of camping you expect to get out of your trailer, it comes out to pennies per day.

Anyway, that’s my review -- I hope you found it helpful, and I would be happy to answer any and all questions.

(Update -- during the course of the discussion below, someone suggested loosening the scissor bolts slightly, so that the whole assembly would deploy faster and easier. I thought that sounded like a good idea. There are 36 bolts secured by nylon-core locknuts. Almost all of the bolts and nuts are seven-sixteenths, with the exception of a couple of allen-wrench bolts. I carefully backed each one off by an eighth of a turn -- a tedious job, but not technically demanding. I then put the steps into the stored position and then tried to deploy them.

Well, they deployed real fast, but not easy -- the whole step assembly shot out of the frame, and the "landing gear" slammed onto the ground. No damage to the steps, my fingers, or my feet, but this is not good. I retightened the bolts, and the whole thing now glides sedately out of the frame into position, no drama, no damage.

Your mileage may vary -- maybe loosen them by a sixteenth of a turn? But I am going to leave well enough alone!)

[Bigbird65]

Sure glad the GSR worked well for you. We are crazy about ours. If you want to post photos try this. It was originally posted by BarneyS.

Go here to post your pictures.
It makes it very simple.
1. Upload picture from your computer or other source.
2. Copy resulting URL
3. Paste URL into your post with no modifications.
Your picture will appear and be properly sized for our forum.
Barney

Edit: I just realized that is what you did but something didn't work right. Let me try this.

[jpetrey]

jpetrey wrote:
Hello Everyone, we also are product testing Glowstep Revolution. So far I have only removed the OEM steps and replaced with GSR. The removal of the OEM steps took longer than the installation...lol.

The stability of the GSR and ease of deployment far exceeded my expectations. My wife is 4'9" and has back issues so not having bouncing steps and not needing the platform I built to close the gap between the ground and first step will make camping life much better.

We plan on taking a trip to a nearby state park the beginning of March for real life testing.

First trip out review, what a difference that made.
Before: https://www.dropbox.com/s/24jd9prl7z9jnqe/ERM_9336.jpg?dl=0

After:
They make accessing the trailer for wife much easier (she is 4'9")

[profdant139]

I have discovered one more small benefit due to the extra stability from these steps -- with my original steps, the slight wiggle of the trailer (as we would go in and out) tended to loosen my stabilizers a little bit every day, so that I would have to retighten the stabilizers. Now, with the GSR, they stay tight.

[Dog_Trainer]

I am in my 3rd month on the road with the Torklift Glow steps. We use our steps in and out everyday and I can tell your there iss a big diff. between the OEM steps and the glow steps. The stability is amazingly better. Throughout the snowbird park we are in there are many people that have built steps to get better entrance and exit to their units.I would bet a good number of them would not build the steps if they knew of the TGSR. Torklift sent me the updated steps with the new washers I made the change but we have been sitting for a few months and have not had the need to deploy and store the steps. I will be on the road again at the end of the month so we will be comparing the new design on the way towards home.

[Lantley]

I am a bit late to the party, but I was also chosen to be a tester.
I installed my GSR's a few days ago. I may have benefited from the recent improvements. Because I had no issues installing step. I was able to use existing holes and everything lined up fine.
Steps do require more effort to set up than traditional step. But in the end the difference is negligible. The GSR's are also slightly narrower than my OEM steps, but the smaller width does not seem to be an issue thus far.
The ability to adjust the steps to meet the ground more than makes up for the width and additional set up effort.
The GSR steps are very smooth and easy to adjust. The latching mechanism is easy to operate. The locking pin is attached with a cable
I had a slight discrepancy determining the correct size steps for my unit. However that issue was resolved and Torxlift will be changing there order forms to avoid future issues.
In the end the GSR's are a real game changer. The impact of walking down the steps is transferred to the ground. There is no shaking or wobble while walking up or down the steps. The GSR's are without a doubt provide more stability than traditional steps.
The stability creates an overall safer experience when using the steps. Torxlift appears to have a winner. I am impressed with the new steps so far.

[Bigbird65]

Before I got the Glow Step Revolution I always had to use this box for the bottom step. The GSR was a big improvement.

[bupster]

profdant139 wrote:
Clicky


Not sure how it works, though.

Thanks for posting they link correctly. Tried a couple of times and failed miserably!

They attach to the bottom step and fold out to the ground to support the steps. Similar to the GSR landing gear.

Best,
Bill

[profdant139]

Clicky


Not sure how it works, though.

[bupster]

I purchased a couple of these http://www.amazon.com/Camco-43671-Self-Stor-Step/dp/B0024ECHII/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1457112442&sr=8-2&keywords=rv+step+stabilizer for my OEM steps and they seem to work fine in providing a firm connection to the ground. Keeps the rocking inside to a minimum when someone is coming up the steps.

I am intrigued by the GSR though and appreciate all the reviews.

Best,

[jpetrey]

Hello Everyone, we also are product testing Glowstep Revolution. So far I have only removed the OEM steps and replaced with GSR. The removal of the OEM steps took longer than the installation...lol.

The stability of the GSR and ease of deployment far exceeded my expectations. My wife is 4'9" and has back issues so not having bouncing steps and not needing the platform I built to close the gap between the ground and first step will make camping life much better.

We plan on taking a trip to a nearby state park the beginning of March for real life testing.

[Bigbird65]

Dog Trainer wrote:
Thank you I don't anticipate a problem and am glad to know I can call on you if needed.

When you tighten the bolts on the landing gear you can use a 7/16" wrench to feel the tightness of the bolts on the X members and adjust the landing gear bolts about the same.

[Dog_Trainer]

Thank you I don't anticipate a problem and am glad to know I can call on you if needed.

[Bigbird65]

Dog Trainer wrote:
I received my replacement steps today. The phenolic washer looks the same as the washer on my original install as they are both a rust color. They also sent me a bag with the new pin and several of the washers. I am not sure wherre the loose washers are to be used as the directions are a bit vague. I will look at them again in the morning.

When you move the landing gear over to the new steps you will use the 8 loose phenolic washers to install the LG on the new steps. I received no instructions but had no trouble seeing what needed to be done. If you have any more questions I'll be glad to help.

[Dog_Trainer]

I received my replacement steps today. The phenolic washer looks the same as the washer on my original install as they are both a rust color. They also sent me a bag with the new pin and several of the washers. I am not sure wherre the loose washers are to be used as the directions are a bit vague. I will look at them again in the morning.

[Bigbird65]

Halmfamily wrote:
Our revised GSR are on the way, hopefully be here tomorrow. Do the new ones open easier? I had a heck of time retracting ours on our last trip, it was really cold outside, thought I was going to damage them getting them back in. They are a great product, can't wait to try the new ones.

Yes the new ones do open easier. My old ones were not bad because I had loosened the bolts just a little bit. A little goes a long way.

Of course you have to remove the original steps to move the parts to the new ones. One thing that I noticed when I reinstalled the new steps on the frame was that I had to adjust the tightness of the two mounting bolts the right amount to allow the steps to swing into the home position so the handle on the side would drop into place. Was that "wordy" enough. The big thing that you will notice is how smooth the steps operate.

The change over went really well but let me caution you that you need to work on them on the floor or ground. I was working on mine on a picnic table. You would be amazed how far one of those phenolic washers will roll if you drop it and have to hunt it. Been there, done that.