# Entry Step Replacement: Cost, Hours and Process in Hacienda Heights Entry step replacement covers electric, manual and fixed step assemblies at the main door, plus the step well and the mounting structure they bolt to. The most common failure on an electric Kwikee step is not the motor. It is the linkage bushings, the magnet switch or the controller reading a door state incorrectly. ## Specifications - Price band: $400 to $2,000 - Shop hours: 2 to 8 hours - Turnaround tier: Light cosmetic - Insurance billable: yes - Parts lead time: 5 to 15 business days for common Kwikee and Lippert assemblies, 15 to 30 for obsolete configurations - OEM brands: Kwikee, Lippert, Stromberg Carlson, Torklift, Norco ## Diagnose the circuit before you buy a motor An electric step is a small system, not a part. There is a motor and gear assembly, a linkage with pivots and bushings, a controller, a magnet or plunger switch at the door that tells the controller the door state, an ignition input on most coaches so the step retracts when you start the engine, and an override switch inside. A complaint can come from any of them and they present similarly. The most frequently replaced part is the motor and the most frequently faulty part is not. Worn linkage bushings let the geometry go slack, which loads the motor and makes it groan, and owners hear that as a dying motor. A dirty or misaligned door magnet switch makes the step behave erratically, which reads as a controller fault. A controller genuinely does fail, and it fails in recognizable patterns. That is why this page is scoped with the in depth diagnostic at one hour at $285, credited against an authorized repair, rather than the systems estimate. An hour on the circuit with a meter tells you which of five parts you are buying, and on this job that hour routinely saves the price of the assembly. - Motor and gear assembly, tested under load rather than swapped on suspicion - Linkage, pivots and bushings, the most common actual cause of a rough step - Controller, tested for the specific failure patterns of the family fitted - Door magnet or plunger switch alignment and replacement - Ignition interlock circuit, which is what should retract the step when the engine starts - Complete assembly replacement where the linkage geometry is beyond rebuilding ## A step that deploys while driving is not a nuisance It is the one symptom on this page we ask owners to stop driving on. A step that extends at speed is the lowest, most outboard thing on the coach, and the first curb, apron or roadside object it finds tears it out of the sidewall. The damage is never limited to the step, because the mounting structure is bolted or welded into the frame and the step well area above it goes with it. The cause is usually a door switch that has stopped telling the controller the door is closed, or an ignition input that was disconnected during some earlier repair so the step no longer knows the engine is running. Both are small fixes found in the first diagnostic hour. Where it has already happened, the scope grows off this page: step assembly, mounting structure, frame outrigger repair if the mount tore, sidewall and skirt repair, and often the step well floor. That combination is a good example of why the cheap line items on this program deserve attention before they become the expensive ones. ## Electric, manual and the honest comparison Kwikee, now under Lippert, built most of the electric steps in the market and parts support for the common single, double and triple configurations is good, at 5 to 15 business days. Older and unusual configurations get thin, and on those the practical question becomes whether to keep chasing an obsolete assembly. A manual folding step or a fixed platform step has no circuit to fail, weighs less and costs less to maintain. A Lippert Solid Step style fixed assembly is dramatically more stable underfoot than a hanging electric step, which matters if anyone using the coach is unsteady on stairs. The tradeoffs are ground clearance and departure angle, and on some coaches a fixed step simply will not clear. We measure before recommending: door sill height, frame clearance, departure angle, and whether the deployed tread stays inside the body line. Anything that hangs outside the body line becomes the first casualty of a tight turn, and we will not fit one that does. ## Not included - We do not weld a step assembly to a frame member that has lost section to corrosion. The frame area is repaired first or the step tears out again. - We do not fit a step whose deployed geometry puts the tread outside the coach body line, because it becomes the first thing a curb finds. - Interior step well trim, flooring transitions and threshold plates are interior scope written separately. ## Questions **My electric RV step will not retract. Is the motor bad?** Usually not. The three more likely causes are worn linkage bushings that have let the geometry go slack and loaded the motor, a door magnet switch that is not reporting the door state, or a controller fault. An hour with a meter on the circuit identifies which, and it commonly saves the cost of an assembly that did not need replacing. **Why does my step come out while I am driving?** Because the controller is not being told the door is closed or the engine is running. A misaligned or failed door switch and a disconnected ignition input are the two usual causes. Stop driving on it. A deployed step at speed is the lowest outboard point on the coach, and when it catches something it takes the mount, the sidewall and often the step well with it. **Can I replace an electric step with a fixed or manual one?** Often yes, and there are real reasons to. A fixed platform step is much more stable underfoot and has no circuit to fail. The constraints are ground clearance and departure angle, so we measure sill height, frame clearance and the deployed footprint first. If the tread would sit outside the body line we will say so, because that step will meet a curb. **How much does an RV step replacement cost?** The band on this page is 2 to 8 hours at the posted body rate plus the part. A switch, a bushing set or a controller sits at the bottom. A complete assembly with new mounting hardware sits at the top. Where the mount or the frame outrigger was damaged, that structural repair is written separately because it is not step labor. --- Source: https://ocrv.club/rv-body-shop/entry-step-replacement OCRV Center, 23281 La Palma Ave, Yorba Linda, CA 92887 Phone (949) 799-3387. Email info@ocrvcenter.com. Serving Hacienda Heights and the surrounding area. 18.4 miles, 24 to 38 minutes via SR-60 west to Fullerton Rd, then south to La Palma Ave. In shop work only. All estimates are priced and credited against an authorized repair.