Cruisers Forum
Main Forum => General Discussion => Topic started by: TomHanlon on September 04, 2014, 11:07:51 am
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Driving down I76 in northern Colorado toward Estes Park the road is so bad that it bounced the crap out of us and broke the step. Stay away from this part of I76 if you can.
On the bottom of the step's motor, under the step, is a disk with an arm on it that turns to move the step in and out. The arm is connected to the step at a "U" with a pin that goes through the U and the arm. The pin has a head on one end and a cotter pin on the other end. When we stopped for lunch we noticed the step moving. So I crawed under to look see. I had my wife close the door and I was able to see that the cotter pin was missing and the pin itself was bent and half way out. The arm was no longer conneted to the "U". The pin was Bent in the middle, so it became trash. Either the cotter pin was never installed or was not spread open enough to keep it in.
I tied the step up and drove on to my next campground. All the while wondering where and how I was going to get a new pin. Fortunately the campground had the name and phone number of a mobile repairman. I called "Gary's RV Service" and explained to Gary what my problem was. He said he had an arm and a pin on his truck and would be there in an hour. He showed up 45 minutes later. He had a used arm with the pins. In less than 15 minutes he had it fixed. His service call was $75 plus time and parts. He only charged me $100 for everything. If you are in Estes Park, Colorado and need repairs, call him. This problem must happen more often than I hear about because he carried the part with him.
You might want to craw under your motorhome, have some one open and close the door. You will see what I mean about the arm and the pin. Check to see that the cotter pin is there and it is bent far enough so it can NOT come out.
I must say that in all the years I have had a motorhome with Kwikee steps, this is the first problem I have had with them.
I am a happy camper now that it is fixed.
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Tom,
Thanks for the tip, I will check mine today.
Bob
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Good tip....
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We go to Estes almost yearly. We love the Dunraven Inn and the Twin Owls for dinner. Both have a good menu and a lot of history.
Paul
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Funny thing happened on the way home from from New Hampshire last year. My step did the same exact thing. I went to Kwik Steps web site
and researched the parts. I ordered by telephone and the very helpful customer service person explained that I must keep the "U" bracket greased. Kwik Steps do need to be greased quite often. It's easy to do with the step in the out position. Not easy to repair. Taking it apart was a breeze.
Reassemble was not fun, but I got it done. They do have a video on you tube that was a big help.
Keep it greased Tom
Bill G
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Bill the next morning I was back under the step to check the cotter pin and grease it. I had greased the step before leaving home but that didn't help. One thing the repairman told me is to lossen the four bolts just enough to wiggle the disk. He said the bolts are carrage bolts and can be hard to put back in. Based on your statement, I guess he was right. Good point.
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Tom, that was very reasonable for the service.
Bill G 2o2 2o2
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For anyone interested in the repair of the Kwikee Step here is a link to the YouTube video that helped me repair my step. You will see the linkage that Tom Hanlon had repaired.
http://youtu.be/xkdBVmsi_vY
:-D Bill G
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Here is another Good maintenance video for the Kwikee Step
http://youtu.be/OYM7MDO730Q
Keep It Greased :-D
Bill Golden
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Bill,
Thanks, that was a very informative and helpful video.
Bob