Stairs broke, less than a year old

[vportelli1]

The foldout stairs of my 29RBK broke. When extended, the metal brace that gets tucked under a short post on either side of the stairs fatigued and snapped. We're not heavy people and the trailer is just 8 months old. This just happened last weekend, so haven't called anyone yet. Should this be covered under warranty? Anyone else experience this?

[JRTJH]

Contact your dealer for repair. As long as you didn't hit something or back into something to cause the damage, they should replace the folding stairs without any hassles.

[Bigg-limo]

Mine broke just from pulling the steps out.

[kphutch]

The stairs mentioned below as replaced have cracked again at the aft attach bracket. The weld to the frame is now cracking also. I weigh 205 and my wife is 110 pounds in case you are wondering, I know I would be if I read this. I'll contact Keystone, but I'm not going to get my hopes up. I have a redesign of the attach point that I will have made at a weld shop once I get to Colorado and have some down time. What is installed is just too thin.

I have a 2009 Keystone Freedom Elite (39'). The stair attach bracket cracked the first year we had it. It was replaced through the warranty. The attachment design seems to be a weak one and should be monitored for cracks to ensure someone is not injured.
Other issues that were a direct result of a poor quality assurance, surveillance program at the factory were as follows;
--Several electrical outlets were wired incorrectly resulting in reverse polarity.
--The refrigerator wiring in the ceiling was not terminated properly at a J box resulting in a dead short, smoke and the resultant loss of electrical power to the fridge.
--Several large sheet metal screws securing the grey and black water storage tanks were not driven in completely or had never been installed.
--The sheet metal screws that attach the L angle brackets on the under belly corrode and break. I have been replacing them with stainless steel bolts, nuts with lock washers.
--Electrical wires/bundles are routed with no regard to chaffing on hard structure. If not corrected using clamps, ties and nylon wire wrap this could cause electrical issues as wire insulation is worn off.
Regards, Hutch

[theeyres]

The stairs are a very cheap item and the warranty should cover them with no problem.

[ktmracer]

yes, they should be replaced under warranty. An if the stairs are attached like mine and many others, the attachment method has IMHO a design flaw. The stairs are attached with two bolts near the top, one at the front and one at the rear. The issue is that when you step on the stairs, the force is highest at the front and wants to pull the stairs down. This causes fatique cracks in the front attachment, which is an outrigger from the frame. It should have been a "triangulated" attachment, with an additional bolt further down on the back as well. That's what I did on mine and what was done on several repairs I've seen. if you add an additional mounting bolt at the rear, inline vertically or nearly so with the rear bolt as far down as you can it will help greatly. With this mod done, the rear now takes almost all the force and is much more secure and takes a great deal of load off the front bolt.

[chris199]

Had the same thing happen on our 2012 Cougar 29 REV. Was out of warranty but Keystone replaced free of charge! Well done Keystone!

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[mazboy123]

our montana rv have 28 inch wide steps. both of the arms that pivot have broken at least once.....welded back.

has anyone replaced there steps with a 'better' step?

[Campy]

There is a company now that has steps that fold out and rest on the ground for support. I'm looking into them for my 5th wheel because of the leverage placed on the steps and being so long, cant be good on the steps or the frame brackets. Plus anybody going in or out shakes the whole camper.

[randy69]

Mine was a 3 stepper bottom step rivet broke easy fix 2 washers 1 bolt and a nylock nut. Better than the rivet. Thinking about drilling out all the rivets.

[cjm]

Campy - do you remember the name of the company or a link to them?

[cant_remember_ID]

I don't have these, but I have heard some good reviews. They are expensive. Available from several places.

http://www.torklift.com/index.php/products/steps-handrails/glowstep