Skip to main content ↑ ↓
Topic: Squeaky entry step (Read 1503 times) previous topic - next topic
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Squeaky entry step

Yahoo Message Number: 68543
We have a very squeaky step that no amount of lube will cure. Another Country Coach owner in the park where we are at the moment tells me it is easy to fix. I need to replace the two rubber bushings under the step which are apparently worn out. Anyone know a source for them??

Janie

2002 Intrigue 11342

Re: Squeaky entry step

Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 68546
Janie

You may not have to replace the little rubber bumpers at all. Just crawl under and find the Little rubber bumpers and see how they are mounted. They bump against a narrow angle iron. Look close and you will see another mounting hole (I don't remember weather the other mounting position is above or below. the present mounting position. ) but just unscrew the rubber bumper and remount it in the other mounting position and all will be ok. no more squeak. Why the factory did not chose the alternate mounting position is a question I can't figure out.

Bo Lee

2000 Magna # 5896

Re: Squeaky entry step

Reply #2 –
Yahoo Message Number: 68552
It's easy, but a little more complicated. You can't remove the rubber stops with the steps extended since they're pressed up against the metal frame. On mine, I have to pull the power supply while the step is being retracted about 1/2 way to gain access to the stops.
The stops have a rubber bumper that eventually wear away (shear off) and then you have metal to metal and that is what causes the squeaks. In the old days, CC would give these away at the rallies, but those days are long gone.
Kevin Waite suggested rubber stops used in automotive hoods, but I haven't been able to find the right style. Dealing with Kwikee is a joke, try talking to them. It took me many phone calls and e-mails to find the parts and only PPL had them. Still haven't ordered, in case there is an easier source. My part number is 1221500 for my series step.
It is also a good idea to adjust the steps to assure they are completely extended when new stops are changed out, the procedure is on Kwikee's website.

Tom

Trans-Specialists/Lifeline Batteries
01 Magna 5999

www.trans-specialists.net

Re: Squeaky entry step

Reply #3 –
Yahoo Message Number: 68555
The squeak occurs when the rubber bumper rubs against the metal frame under a weight load.
I eliminate the squeak by extending the step part way. I do this by pressing my leg against the step, preventing the step from fully extending. If the rubber bumpers are in good shape I wipe them off with rubbing alcohol to remove the dirt and grime, also works on windshield wiper blades, and the readjust the bumpers outward, so they press hard against the metal frame. I know I have it adjusted correctly when I step on the step and they don't squeak.

John Beach

06 Allure 31309

Re: Squeaky entry step

Reply #4 –
Yahoo Message Number: 68556
There used to be a hard Teflon sticky backed tape that would be perfect for this purpose. I will see if I can find it somewhere, either a farm tractor supply store, Ace hardware, or probably Grainger - they have everything.
I will report back if I can find it. Seems to me that no matter where the rubber stops are located, eventually they will wear through and start squeaking again. The tape is very thin, so readjustment should not be needed. It will take years to wear through it. (I tend to over think things).
Jack Nichols, 2003 Intrigue with squeaky step (Teflon grease helped for a few months) 11527

Re: Squeaky entry step

Reply #5 –
Yahoo Message Number: 68558
On our '06 Allure theses can be adjusted (just some regular nuts on the bolts holding the rubber bumpers). Our noise went away when I brought them forward as far as possible and then used LocTite to keep it from loosening from vibration. Was able to do the adjustment with the steps extended.

Re: Squeaky entry step

Reply #6 –
Yahoo Message Number: 68561
Hey Jack,

Good Idea! I am not sure that it is the same as what you are describing but, I have some of that Teflon tape. It was given to me a long time ago by a friend who worked in the aircraft industry. I do not know the source. It is light gray and is about 1/32" thick x 1 1/8 " wide. He called it Teflon tape but, the markings on the inside of the roll show, "Electrical Tape" Mfg. is Permacel, New Bruswick, NJ No, you are not over thinking this. You are right. it is very slick and it seems to last forever. I am going to get it out and see if is still sticky.
OK...I found it in a dusty old box in my shop.....and yes,...It is still sticky even after storing it about 15 years.... Amazing!.
Thanks for reminding me about this great stuff. As I write this note, I am now thinking of more applications in the coach for high friction surfaces.
Let me know if this is the tape that you are thinking of.
Also, what other applications come to you imaginative mind? Daron Hairabedian, 98 Allure, 30226

Re: Squeaky entry step

Reply #7 –
Yahoo Message Number: 68562
How about the electric floor slide over the entry steps? In my coach it is wood sliding on aluminum.

--

Lee Zaborowski

07 Intrigue 12153, Cat C-13
---------

Re: Squeaky entry step

Reply #8 –
Yahoo Message Number: 68565
Yes, the rubber stop relocation and adjustment helps and to really tighten loose steps, I ended up "liquid nailing" a strip of wood accross the inside of the steps to make contact with the rubber stops. This pretty much eliminated any type of step movement during egress/entry. The steps are really solid now when using them. I think the wood acts as a spacer, therebye shortening the length of the adjustment-bolt which,(IMO)reduces the tendency for the longer bolt to move when there is weight on the steps. Previously without the wood, the bolt had to be adjusted almost to its maximum length. Just my theory but the fact is, it's been working for over a year now.

Larry, 03 Allure, 3085

Re: Squeaky entry step

Reply #9 –
Yahoo Message Number: 68574
Well, since you asked ;*).

In my search today for that tape, I ran across several alternatives, none as good as the tape. I found some hard plastic chair leg skids (?) that help prevent marking a floor. I also remembered and found some spray liquid graphite at a John Deere dealer - stuff is slick, and dries so dust does not stick to it. It is black though, so be careful with it, it is the devil to remove once squirted. I think I will carefully mask off a stripe under my slides to lube them - should last forever. If not, bare spots will show up well.
Since the tape is Teflon, how the heck do they get the stickum on the back of the tape to hold on?
My step will not cooperate (stay half way open) when I configure the chassis battery switch and the step switch every which way, so I just squirted some liquid silicone in the little hole over the offending bumpers. Quiet for now, and I may squirt some graphite spray in there at some point.
I will see if Grainger has that tape. I remembered where I saw the last roll - I was on a "Man In The Sea" project in the Virgin Islands in the early 1970s, and NASA was one of the support entities. Official reason for the project was psychology study for the Sky Lab environmental engineers, but I really think it was for security and safety - there was someone watching every corner of the habitat on the ocean floor all the time. The Cousteau group had a fatality on their last Conshelf (?) habitat, due to someone going nuts, and NASA really wanted to avoid that. Nothing kills a project like killing off engineers - hard to get any more funding.
I still have a half tube of original GE silicone grease made for the space program, and use it sparingly - never saw anything like it. I wish I had swiped some more of that tape.

Jack Nichols, 2003 Intrigue 11527, no squeak steps
 

Re: Squeaky entry step

Reply #10 –
Yahoo Message Number: 68586
Hi Janie, I have uploaded a letter I wrote to Kwikee a few years ago to the"Files" section that you might find interesting. The file is titled "Ltr to Kwikee". It has some pictures and some diagrams that show why the steps squeak and how to cure it.

Earl Densten

03 Intrigue 11554