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Topic: Passenger Seat Leg Rest (Read 1378 times) previous topic - next topic

Passenger Seat Leg Rest

The passenger seat leg rest will not extend.  Assuming it is an actuator based on searching other posts.  Neither switch on the right hand side of the seat seems to do anything.  What should they do?

Any advice on making the repairs?  Anyone have how to videos or pictures? 

I am planning to contact David Richards at SmithRichards.com for parts and advice unless there are better sources (from a prior post).

Thanks!

40ft 1997 U320

Re: Passenger Seat Leg Rest

Reply #1 –
Have you checked for the connections under the seat? Wires pulled off the switches? Power being supplied to the switches?
Nitehawk,  Demolition Lady, & our NEW master, Zippy the speeding BB cat.
1989 Grand Villa 36' ORED
Oshkosh chassis, 8.2 DD V8
2006 Saturn Vue AWD

Re: Passenger Seat Leg Rest

Reply #2 –
Yes, checked the power and the power buttons on the left side work to move the seat forward and backwards.

One of the switches on the right side causes the upper most actuator (the one that appears to operate the leg rest) to move/jerk slightly, but nothing else. 

I removed the the seat off the base so I could get a closer look and take pictures.
40ft 1997 U320

Re: Passenger Seat Leg Rest

Reply #3 –
Daydreamer-did you pull on foot rest while you were activating switch?  The footrest on our seat was stuck to the vinyl on the lower part of seat.  Once I finally got it out I cleaned both the seat and footrest so it would work properly.  The lift mechanism is not very strong so it will not force the foot rest up if they are stuck together.
Chris
1999 U 320 DGFE
Build Number 5523
Chris & Elka Lang
In the field, Lonoke AR

Re: Passenger Seat Leg Rest

Reply #4 –
Quote from: Chris m lang –
Daydreamer-did you pull on foot rest while you were activating switch?  The footrest on our seat was stuck to the vinyl on the lower part of seat.  Once I finally got it out I cleaned both the seat and footrest so it would work properly.  The lift mechanism is not very strong so it will not force the foot rest up if they are stuck together.
Chris
No, but I will give that a try.  Seat is currently laying on its side, but will make "extension cables" to power it up and try that approach.
40ft 1997 U320

Re: Passenger Seat Leg Rest

Reply #5 –
Mine did the same thing.  I got a new rod from Foretravel and replaced what i had.  It kind of works now but it is still temperamental
It's like you can only make it go out so far or it will stick.
So we just put a foot rest on the floor for my wife.
Rick & MJ Berry
1998 U320 40'
Ohio

Re: Passenger Seat Leg Rest

Reply #6 –
What lubricant should I use on the  power seat actuator rod and gears.  I am thinking about using sil-glyde because it will not melt (up to 400F) and drop off on the carpet.  Thoughts?

The rest of the story:

I confirmed everything had power and double checked the foot rest but still did not work.  The motor would move slightly, but not more.
I removed the actuator and when I did, the foot rest pulled out easily, so I know it is not binding or stuck.

Took the assembly home and figured I could not do much harm since is was not working, so I completely disassembled it.  I have zero experience with power seats, so it was new territory.  I removed a rubber cap and exposed a recessed square drive.  Using a square driver, I tried rotating it and it moved, but was very, very stiff.    I noticed the screw rod was very sticky from the old grease so spent some time cleaning it and the gear assembly.  Apparently the lubricant had gotten very gummy.....after 23 years....especially the grease  inside the gears. 

Using brake cleaner, I sprayed, rotated, sprayed, rotated several times to flush the old grease out of the gear box via two very small access holes.  Also used a pick to scrape some loose as it was surprisingly hard,

Re-assembled and bench tested and happy to report is seems to work great. 

Before I re-assemble the seat, I thinking about cleaning all of the other screw rods and gears.  Seat is not really hard to remove, but prefer to only do it once.  If the grease is that hard on the foot rest actuator, it cannot be much better in the other ones.

Seat is not installed yet, so cannot say for certain the problem is resolved, but it is looking very optimistic.


40ft 1997 U320

Re: Passenger Seat Leg Rest

Reply #7 –
I say go for it. I cannot believe that only ONE is that way.
Future Foretravel Owners
2019 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk
Retired USAF, Retired DOD Civ's
FAA A&P, Indust. Eng., Acft Depot Lvl. Maint.
Larry and Becky Rountree

Re: Passenger Seat Leg Rest

Reply #9 –
Quote from: DayDreamer –
Took the assembly home and figured I could not do much harm since is was not working, so I completely disassembled it.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it; if it is broke, you can't hurt it. 

Richard
Jan & Richard Witt
1999 U-320  36ft WTFE
Build Number: 5478 Motorcade: 16599
2011 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited w/Air Force One
Jan: NO5U, Richard:KA5RIW
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Re: Passenger Seat Leg Rest

Reply #10 –
I never used the footrest much. I had a little footstool from home that I kept in the front to put my feet on.  It was a tad wonky because of the height difference in the floor and step-slide but did the job.  It was additionally handy elsewhere in the coach, so it always came along. 
Carol & Jeff Savournin
Usta have a '93 U225 36', Usta have a '95 U320 40', Usta have a '02 U320 40'
Usta have a 2006 Born Free, Usta have a 2011 Phoenix Cruiser
Usta have a 2012 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited 4dr
"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life."  Steve Jobs

Re: Passenger Seat Leg Rest

Reply #11 –
Happy to report the leg rest now works!  All it took was a few hours labor and a can of brake cleaner to clean the old lubricant out of the gear mechanism.  If you can hear the actuator "clunk" once when you try to open or close the leg rest, this might be the problem.

The systems that move the seat forward/backward and up/down have much shorter screw rods and do not have a gear box so they were still working.  I cleaned them up anyway and used a light coat of silicone lubricant on all of the screw rods.

I will post a few pictures later.

40ft 1997 U320

Re: Passenger Seat Leg Rest

Reply #12 –
Including a couple pictures I hope others will find useful.

I removed the seat base, but if doing the job again, I would leave it in place and just remove the four nuts holding the lift assembly to the base.  Also need to remove the E-Clip retainer that holds the release cable for the swivel and disconnect the power supply wires.

For re-installation, I put the base back in first.  Re-connecting the swivel release cable and installing the E-Clip retainer was a little bit of a challenge due to the tight quarters, but I think it was probably easier than it would have been trying to line up the seat base bolts.  Being able to raise the footrest did make it easier by providing more room.

The footrest actuator is located above the seat lift assembly, so had to remove it to get access.  I cleaned the screw rods in for the up/down actuators while the assembly was out, but they were still working.  They have a solid metal block the screw passes through vs a gearbox used for the footrest, so old lubricant does not accumulate inside.

I completely disassembled the footrest actuator to gain access to spray brake cleaner into the two locations marked on the photo.  Used a small pick to loosen up some of the old lubricant and rotated the gears using the small square "drive rod" to completely clean all of old lubricant from inside the gearbox.  The old lubricant was hard in some places and very tacky in others, which apparently was binding up the gears.  Applied a light coat of silicone lubricant after it was cleaned up.  Re-assembled and tested by connecting to a 12v source before re-installing.

In the for what it is worth category, the round Up/Down switch on the left side of the seat simultaneously powers the front and rear up/down actuators to raise or lower the seat.  The "tilt" switches powers them individually to raise or lower just the front or rear of the seat.

Overall, not a difficult job.  The seat is heavy.  Having extra hands to re-install would be helpful, but can be done by alone.  Recommend putting down a drop cloth or something to work on.  There will little "globs" of old grease that dropped off during the removal and re-installed. 
40ft 1997 U320

Re: Passenger Seat Leg Rest

Reply #13 –
Like many others, the footrest on my passenger (co-pilot) seat stopped working.  I was able to follow Daydreamer's instructions to remove the drive mechanism and clean out the old dried grease in the gearbox.  Works great now.  For any others following suit I recommend removing the chair from the base which is only 4 nuts and requires a deep socket.  You need to unplug the power connecter and disconnect the release cable from the seat base. I flipped the seat upside down to work on it.  The footrest mechanism is the hardest one to get to because it's located above all the other motors and gears.  It's secured with two 5/16 x 1 bolts with nylcock washers.  The smaller your hands the better for this.  There's one more bolt securing the end of the worm screw to the lift mechanism.  Once the bolts are removed the motor mechanism can be wiggled out without too much difficulty so that it can be cleaned out on a bench.  I also had a problem with the lazy susan bearing in the seat base that the seat swivels on, it was loose and wobbled and I was able to tighten it up to take the slop out. Thank you to Daydreamer and others for posting their experiences with this over the years.  It sure is nice to have the knowledge and confidence of someone else having solved the problem successfully before you tear into it.  I think this is the first thing on my coach that I was able to fix for literally zero cost... lol
George Mann
2002 U320 #5934
2017 Rubicon
2013 BMW GS
Waterford MI
 

Re: Passenger Seat Leg Rest

Reply #14 –
And just this past month, my passenger foot rest stopped working, after the chair was re-upholstered.  But I had the seat off for Ernie to re-floor and with a simple shot of magic spray he had, on the gear shaft, things are working again.
Dave Cobb
Buckhorn Lake Resort The Club, #6202, Kerrville TX
check the map.  I do rent it out when I am traveling!
2001, U320, 36' #5887, in Kerrville, FT Club #17006, (7/23 to present)
2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee L, Summit, white
EX: 98 U295, 36' #5219, (mid door), (4/13-10/23)
EX: 93 U225, 36' (4/11 to 4/13)