Powered RV entry steps with 25-1/2" mounting plate automatically open and close with your RV door. Motor and control unit extend and retract steps. Switch kit lets you override step extension. Amber light illuminates when steps extend.
Features:
Specs:
Kwikee electric RV entry steps provide an effortless, convenient way to enter and exit your RV. The steps are wired to your RV's door and feature an automatic extension, unfolding when the door opens and retracting when it closes. This differentiates the steps from the alternate manual pull-out steps.
The updated Kwikee steps manufactured since 1999 require the integrated motor, gearbox, and linkage (IMGL) setup to power the steps. The motor provides the power, the gearbox turns the linkage arm, and the linkage pushes the steps out and pulls them back in when rotated by the gearbox.
As the motor provides power to the control unit and linkage arm, the control unit that is wired to your RV power senses when the RV door opens and closes, and extends and retracts the steps in tandem. When you activate the rocker switch from the switch kit, the control unit will override the automatic retraction when the door closes. This will lock the steps in the extended position.
The switch kit consists of three pieces. The two magnetic sensor tabs mount in the doorframe and on the door. When the third piece, the rocker switch, is activated, and the two door pieces come in contact with each other, the steps will not automatically retract when the door is closed. This allows you to keep your steps extended when parked at the campsite.
The included 4-way plug fits into the existing wiring harness on your RV. Most vehicles should having this wiring already set up. In the event that your RV is missing the wiring, a 4-way pigtail is included to help you hardwire the unit to your RV.
The Kwikee steps include several safety features in an effort to prevent injury to you or your passengers and damage to the RV steps. If an obstruction is detected while extending, the steps will halt and retract back into the stowed position. The steps will also retract when you turn on the vehicles ignition, even if the automatic retraction override has been activated, in case you forget to stow them before driving away.
A built-in safety light is located underneath the mounting bracket for low-light conditions. The amber light automatically illuminates the steps when they extend. It will not illuminate, however, if you have the automatic extension turned off, which cuts power to the steps.
For added safety, the steps have a non-skid, textured coating. This textured surface provides traction and ensures that you have secure footing even when the steps are wet.
Installing the steps on your RV is simple. Pre-drilled holes in the step's mounting plate match up to holes in your RV's frame for an easy, bolt-on installation. You will need (4) 3/8" x 1" carriage bolts and 4 flange nuts, available in Lippert's mounting hardware kit (LC118155-72 - sold separately) to bolt the steps into place. Use 2 carriage bolts and 2 locknuts on each side to attach the mounting brackets to your RV's frame. If additional brackets are needed to mount the steps to the RV frame, and none are already installed, outriggers (LC301704 - sold separately) may be needed for installation depending on the model of your original stairs.
Videos are provided as a guide only. Refer to manufacturer installation instructions and specs for complete information.
Speaker 1: Today, on our 2012 Forest River Georgetown XL Motorhome, we're gonna be taking a look at, and showing you, how to install the Lippert Components Kwikee 25 Series Triple Electric Step, that's gonna be Part Number LC3658373.Having electric steps on your RV is a really nice thing, whenever we need to get in, we can open the door and our steps should come out, but then at the same time, when we close the door, they should retract. Now, as you can see, ours are having a little bit of an issue, they keep binding up on us and it's a really intermittent operation.Our new Kwikee 25 Series Steps are gonna make it a lot easier for us to get in and out of our motorhome, because they're gonna operate whenever we open the door, our steps will extend down, and then whenever we close the door, they'll retract back in. And you see, they're gonna have that nice, smooth operation.And the way they're gonna work, is they're gonna have a two-part switch, one is gonna be on the outside of the door, right here, which is gonna have a magnet, that'll signal the inside switch. And the inside switch is gonna be mounted onto the inside of the door jamb, and it'll find that signal and let the steps know whether to retract or extend out.Now, our steps are also gonna have a manual switch, so we can turn the steps off if we like to keep em' out all the time, so we don't have to worry about them going back in when we close the door. Now, our motorhome already had a switch built in, so we didn't wire it up, but if we turn the switch off, it will cut the power off to our steps, and then when we close the door, the steps will stay extended out.Our steps are gonna have a lot of built in safety features, so in case we forget to turn that switch back on, and when we close the door to drive away in our motorhome, the steps are gonna automatically retract as soon as we put the key into the ON position. Now also, as another added safety feature, our steps are gonna extend the first time that we open the door after the key is in the ON position, that way we don't have to worry about falling out of the door.And sometimes, whenever we're parked close to a curb, and we go to open our door, our steps may come in contact with that curb, luckily though, there's gonna be a control unit on the motor which is gonna prevent any kind of overheating and too much amperage draw, and it'll actually cut power.
So, once there's enough pressure on the steps, it's gonna stop extending them or retracting them. But keep in mind, if you do open the door and you're really close to the steps, hitting your leg is not gonna be enough pressure, so you still want to be mindful whenever they're retracting or extending.Our steps are even gonna have a built in light, it's gonna be an amber light underneath, so even in those low light situations it is gonna illuminate that first step, so we're gonna have confidence whether we're entering, or exiting, our motorhome. Our steps themselves are gonna have this textured material, so we're gonna have lots of traction, make sure we're not gonna slip even when the steps are wet. On top of that, they're gonna have this reflective coating on each step, so again, in low light situations, or anything like that, it's gonna be very visible so you know exactly where we're stepping.Now, our steps are gonna be made out of steel, and they'll have a black powder coat finish on them, so they are gonna resist rust and corrosion, and they're gonna old up to all the elements, including all the road debris that's gonna be coming up from underneath.Now, the steps themselves are gonna be 24 inches wide by 11 inches deep, so we'll have plenty of room to make sure we have a secure footing. In between each step is gonna be a 7 inch drop, or rise, that way it's gonna be a natural step whenever we're getting in.
Now, as far as the mounting dimensions, our step height is gonna be 19 and a half inches, and that's gonna be from the very top of our mounting bracket, to the very bottom of our lowest step. Now, our mounting bracket dimensions, meaning whenever the steps are fully collapsed and what needs to fit into the hole here, is gonna be 25 and a half inches wide, all the way from one side to the other, and it's gonna be 9 and 5/8 inches tall, and it's gonna be 11 and 3/8 inches deep. So, keep those measurements in mind, whenever you're looking for steps to fit the height, as well as the width and depth, to fit your RV.Our steps are gonna have a 300 lbs weight capacity, so we know they're gonna be really strong and durable.Our Kwikee 25 Series Steps are gonna come in a few different configurations. They're all gonna give you that three-step platform and have the same dimensions, but they're gonna have some that are only gonna be the step itself, with no motor, no switches, or no control units, but also full, complete assemblies, so whatever you need, we have something that's gonna work with your RV.Now, installing our steps is gonna be a pretty straightforward process. We're gonna have pre-drilled holes all the way on the bottom that we can use to match up to the frame on our RV, just keep in mind that the hardware is not included and you will need to pick up some bolts to get everything bolted in.
And the solid steel drive rods on our motor are gonna make sure that this can be extra strong and durable, and last for many years to come.And as far as the wiring goes, we are gonna have a simple four pull connector here, that's gonna plug directly into our motorhome. Now, if you're replacing them, you might already have this style connector on there, but if not, our kit is gonna come with the other end, so we can just use a few butt connectors and wire it in place. Then, we'll just have a simple ground wire that we'll have to connect, and wire up our door switch.So now, we've seen our steps and gone over some of the benefits and features, let's show you how to get them installed.To begin our installation, you're gonna want to open up the door so that the steps can come out, and we'll have a little bit of easier access when we go to remove em'. Now, if you have a manual override switch, you wanna make sure that the power's turned OFF, so that the steps won't retract when we close the door. If you don't have a manual override switch, or you can't get them to stay out, you will just wanna make sure that the door stays open, so that we can get underneath and disconnect everything.To begin our installation, you're gonna want to come underneath your steps to where your motor, and all the wires, are.
Now currently, all of our wires are still connected and we have a lot of zip ties holding everything in place, so I'm just taking a pair of cutters and we're gonna go through and cut all the zip ties, so we can sort out all the wires and disconnect everything needed.Now, our steps are gonna have a couple connectors on there, so we'll go ahead and loosen them up, pull on the tab, and disconnect it. You wanna make sure you follow all the wires up, coming off the step, and disconnect them everywhere where there's a plug. And then, we'll just have one more connection, as far as electrical, and we're gonna have this ground wire, that's gonna have a bolt going into the frame right here.So, we can grab a 10 mm socket, and we'll pull the bolt out. And you wanna make sure you hold onto the bolt, or the self-tapping screw, 'cause we're gonna be reusing this for our new ground wire.Now, the steps themselves are gonna be held in by four bolts and nuts, we're gonna have one on each corner. Now, our new steps are not gonna come with the hardware to bolt it in, so you either wanna hold onto this hardware, or get new hardware to replace it.Before you fully remove your steps, or even start to take those bolts out, you wanna make sure that you have some kind of support holding the steps up, because they are gonna be rather heavy and we don't want them falling down.So, I'm gonna grab a 9/16 inch socket and an extension, so that I reach the bolt, and then we're gonna take a 9/16 inch wrench and come on top of the steps, and I'm gonna loosen up each nut. Again, you just want to be extremely careful, and you might want to leave one or two in there, just loose, so that we can grab an extra set of hands if needed.All right, now that all the bolts are removed we'll lower our jack stand, and with an extra set of hands, we're gonna move our steps out of the way so that we can safely get them out of there. And since this hardware is a little old, with a little bit of rust on there, we're gonna go ahead and replace it. So, we're gonna be using a three inch bolt, and a flat washer, to go through each mounting location. We're gonna go ahead and put those in there now, that way when we go to get our step, we can lift it up and have the bolts drop down through, it's gonna be a lot easier rather than trying to support it, get the hardware from the top and then put the washer and nut on the bottom.And then, when we get our new steps, they're gonna be collapsed when we get em' out of the box. Now on the backside, we're gonna have that same four pin connector and a ground wire. Now, in order to help us get our steps in easier, we're gonna want to have them extended. So, we can grab the pigtail that comes with our kit, and it's just gonna have four wires coming out of the back, a red, a yellow, a brown, and a white, and this is gonna plug directly into the pigtail that's already mounted on the steps. Now, what we're gonna need to do is power and ground our steps so that we can extend them out, so we're gonna need either to have a car battery, the battery from our motorhome, or some kind of power source where we can send power and ground to it, so that we can make sure that the steps are fully extended, so it'll be a lot easier to get the hardware in place.So, I'm gonna take my ground wire and we're gonna hook it up to my jump box, to the negative cable, and then I'll take my pigtail end . And if you haven't already, you're gonna pull the insulation off of the red wire. Then we'll get a 12 V power source, in this case we're using a jump box, and we're gonna hook the red wire up to the positive cable. And when we turn our jump box on the steps are gonna extend out, so you wanna make sure you have it on a nice, steady surface so that it's not gonna be moving around too much on there.So, you're gonna want to have your steps fully extended. Now, we did find whenever we we're applying power, it did only want to extend a little bit, but what we did was, is we turned our steps upside down, so there was no pressure on the bottom platform here, so it moved a lot easier. Again, you just want to be careful whenever you're doing that, because the steps are rather large, and they are gonna extend pretty far out, so you wanna make sure you have a nice stable surface when you're doing it.Now, with an extra set of hands, we're gonna bring our new steps in and we're gonna line up the mounting holes with the studs that are coming through the bottom here. Now, once we get our bolts going through the holes, it's not a bad idea to put a jack stand back under there to help support it. I'm gonna take a flat washer and the lock nut and we'll secure it in each one of the spots, making sure that we get it at least hand-tight, so we don't have to worry about the steps falling on us.With all of our hardware in place, and our steps supported, we can come back and tighten it all up. So, we'll grab our 9/16 inch socket and wrench, and we'll hold the bolts on top when we tighten the nut up on the bottom side.Now, the pigtail and the harness that's coming out of our motorhome. We can hook these directly up, and then we would need to hardwire it into our motorhome, however, our motorhome already has an existing plug, so we don't need to hardwire it in. But, if you do need to wire yours in, you're just gonna connect the wires in the same fashion, on whatever different plug you have, just get some butt connectors and connect it in. But for now, we'll just plug our harness directly into that plug. With our harness connected, we can take our ground wire and we can put it back in place.On the back of our steps here, we are gonna have one more connection, and that's gonna have a purple wire and a little bullet connector on it. Now, this is an optional connection, because whenever our steps are extended, we are gonna have our light come on, and when they retract, it'll turn off automatically. But this is gonna be if you want to hook up your step light to a porch light, so whenever you have your porch lights come on, this will come on as well. So, you just find your porch light circuit and tap it into there. However, we're not gonna go be doing that in this application.Now, more than likely if you're replacing your steps, the switch that's gonna be in there is actually gonna be reversed, so when the door's closed our steps are gonna be out, and when we open the door they're gonna retract. Now fortunately, our steps are gonna come with a switch, so we can switch them out.So, we're gonna have two separate parts to our door switch, we're gonna have one that's gonna be mounted inside the door jamb here, and we're gonna want to peel that off. If there are screws holding it in place, you want to remove those, but a lot of these are just mounted directly to the door jamb using double-sided foam tape. So, you can get a flat-bladed screwdriver, and we're just gonna pry it away till it disconnects from the door all the way. Now, you can see we're gonna have a couple of wires on there, we wanna go ahead and remove those. Now, we don't necessarily have to keep the terminals on there, because we're not gonna be reusing those. So, we'll cut the ends of our wires, and we're gonna remove this switch.Now, on the door itself, we're also gonna have the other part of the switch, and this is what's gonna activate the steps, to let them know whether they're closed or open. So, we're gonna want to remove this as well. Again, we'll just carefully take a flat-bladed screwdriver and pry it away from the door so that we can peel it all the way off. I'll pull the cover off, and this one is actually held on by two screws, so we can just pull those two screws out.Now the two wires that we cut earlier, we're gonna want to push these back down into the motorhome, but you do wanna make sure that access them from underneath before you push them in, because our new switch is gonna have plenty of wire length on it, so if we make the connection up here, we may not be able to get the buck connectors through the hole. But, if you have enough room, you can make the connection up here and then shove all the extra wire underneath, but it's very limited right here, so we're gonna push our wires in and then reach underneath to find out where they are.Now are switch wires came out right by this insulation, so you may need to pull it back a little bit so you can reach your wires and pull them through. So, our two wires are gonna be pretty stripped on each end. So, we'll pull the little bit of insulation off, and we'll take our other two wires and we'll strip back the end of those. Then we can take a buck connector . now, these aren't included in our kit, but you can find them here at etrailer.com. We're gonna crimp our buck connector on end of the wire that was from our old switch, and we'll take one of the wires from our new switch . now, they're both black wires, it's not gonna matter which way we put them in, but since this is a littler bit thinner wire, I'm gonna fold it in half, that way that buck connector has a little bit more to grab onto. And we'll take one of them and put it in our buck connector, and I'm gonna crimp it down. And we're gonna do the same thing for the other one, just connecting the two other wires.Now that we have the connections made, we can come back up to where the switch is, and we're gonna remove the backing off of the double-sided tape. And we'll push the excess wires back in. And we're gonna wanna line up the large piece with the edge of the door, and we'll just press it against there. And if you want, there are a few screw holes in the back to where we can actually screw our switch in place, but it's gonna hold on just fine with that double-sided tape.Now, on the outside door, we're gonna have another part of our switch, just like the other one, to mount up. And again, it's gonna have two holes, so we can screw it in place or we can use that double-sided tape. So, we'll remove the backing, and this time you wanna make sure that large piece, again, is towards the outside of the door so I'll line up with the other one. And we're gonna get it roughly in about the spot that we have the other one. So, make sure that sticks nice and good.So, you want to make sure the power is on, and we can close our door, and we see that the steps are gonna retract. And just to make sure everything's working properly, we'll open the door, and we can see that they're coming out, as well as the light coming on. So now would be a good time to go ahead and tidy up any loose wires underneath, bundle them up, and make sure that everything's gonna be out of the way and not get caught in anything.That'll finish up your look at the Lipper Components Kwikee 25 Series Triple Electric Step, Part Number LC3658373, on our 2012 Forest River Georgetown XL Motorhome.
Average Customer Rating: 4.9 out of 5 stars (17 Customer Reviews)
Powered RV entry steps with 25-1/2" mounting plate automatically open and close with your RV door. Motor and control unit extend and retract steps. Switch kit lets you override step extension. Amber light illuminates when steps extend.Steps arrived on our door step in badly beat up cardboard box. Minimum damage to actual step unit. A few scratches, but tollerable. Challenge was to remove the old unit. Lots of "liquid wrench" needed on the four nuts holding the old unit in place. Needed strong assistant to manage the floor jack while positioning the new unit into place. Twenty-something sons are good for something after all :) Definitely watch the videos on etrailer.com for tips on how to remove / install the unit. Took 2 days of repeated administration of liquid wrench to be able to break the nuts free and uninstall the old steps. Be patient, you don't want to strip the nuts or you will never get the old steps off. In my case (2005 Winnebago Adventurer) I did not need to install the new magnetic switch set, the existing system worked just fine. Connected the 4 wire connector and everything worked fine. Exception is that the steps "on and off" switch is now reversed... I can live with that. I will relabel the toggle switch. In my case the repair shop I usually use wanted $1600 just to Mickey Mouse a replacement motor into the original unit. With etrailer.com I spent $900 and about 4 hours of manual labor for a brand new step unit. I would highly recommend this unit. 661367
TEAM RV HAS DONE BUSINESS WITH E TRAILER FOR AWHILE YOUR TECHS INFORMATION IS ALWAYS ON THE MONEY TEAM RV APPRECIATES ALL YOU DO. THANKS 615220
Great service...great support...fits like the original. Probably better built than the original one. 614410
GOOD ITEM FOR MY MOTORHOME THANK YOU 589200
Product delivered as scheduled. Package was beat up pretty well, but the steps appear to be unharmed. The steps are a replacement for the existing steps that were damaged. 464857
Joseph M - 01/04/2019
Review from a similar Kwikee Kwikee 25 Series in RV and Camper Steps
Fast delivery,easy to install great price,works great 606933
Review from a similar Kwikee Kwikee 25 Series in RV and Camper Steps
I purchased a RV electric extending set of steps (3), and I am very satisfied with the quality and price of the product, price (best on web!), customers service, and the free fast 3 day shipping across the US. The box it ships with was pretty much unable to handle the weight and six but since the step assembly is 87 pounds and all steel, it was not an issue. Thanks etrailer.com. 523950
Review from a similar Kwikee Kwikee 25 Series in RV and Camper Steps
work great,had to order new door switch 728037
Review from a similar Kwikee Kwikee 25 Series in RV and Camper Steps
The 22 x 8 bolt pattern was not exact. I spent 3 hours yesterday and couldn't get it. I will try again today and if I still can't get it, I will have to return. 715721
Review from a similar Kwikee Kwikee 25 Series in RV and Camper Steps
Great service,was shipped and was on time,quality of help was excellent and so helpful I will definitely be going back again.Thanks for the help 608047
Review from a similar Kwikee Kwikee 25 Series in RV and Camper Steps
Everything was exactly as described,shipping was ontime.Thanks for the follow up, I appreciate that immensely! 604818
Review from a similar Kwikee Kwikee 25 Series in RV and Camper Steps
Am a new account with them and so far they have been a real asset to my business.... They seem to stock and have anything and everything I have needed so far and ship them fast..... From Edward A to Melissa A she is very knowledgeable and helpful with great people skills. 580595
Review from a similar Kwikee Kwikee 25 Series in RV and Camper Steps
Quick service, easy website. Stairs bolted up perfect and work great. Very quiet. 551290
Review from a similar Kwikee Kwikee 25 Series in RV and Camper Steps
Excellent service. Showed up right on time. Thank You. 541005
Review from a similar Kwikee Kwikee 25 Series in RV and Camper Steps
I ordered these 3 steps without the motor to replace steps I trashed while backing up. The previous steps were almost new when I trashed them, so I decided to try to just replace the steps and move the electronics & motor to the replacement steps. The ones I bought from etrailer were listed as "used" due to scratches & scuffs, making them about $140 less than the new ones. When I received (in about 3 days) them they looked new with a few chips out of the paint. I moved the electrical stuff over and positioned them under the coach. They are really too heavy to install without a lift or extra person, but I was able to get them aligned and a nut started ... so they were on the only remaining issue was the bolt that actuates the steps needed to be inserted. This requires one to use the door to auto retract the steps (a little) to be able to insert the bolt. I was able to close the door while under the coach allowing the mechanism to come in far enough to get the bolt in and unplugged the steps to stop them from going back out. The steps look and operate as NEW!!! The etrailer staff are very professional and helpful and quick to follow up if needed. Top notch service and excellent discounted product. Thanks, 457989
Review from a similar Kwikee Kwikee 25 Series in RV and Camper Steps
the steps we ordered were just right, so easy to install.....and the price was so much lower than the place we usually buy our rv items.... 450915
Review from a similar Kwikee Kwikee 25 Series in RV and Camper Steps
It took a while for the manufacturer to ship but received regular updates. Great communication!! 449873
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