I wanted to take the old damaged steps back to a Fleetwood dealer, but they would fit only in my living area, and I did not like the idea of sharp metal there. The RV guy even tried fitting them in the driver's seat, but we decided they would damage the upholstery, so he suggested I take them into town to get someone to cut the rivets so they could be in two or three smaller pieces and fit into my basement area. The whole step assembly is very heavy and made of substantial steel. It would not be good to have an accident with this flying around in a coach.
I dropped them off yesterday at this one-person auto repair shop, and the guy said he would try to cut them up or bang on them to make them smaller. This was your typical small town shop, complete with dog, except the dog was a poodle mix.
Imagine my surprise this morning when I returned to pick them up and found he had banged them back into operating condition!!!! They are not pretty, but they work, and he managed to bend back the heavy metal without even damaging the electric motor or the light that was attached underneath!
So while i waited, he reinstalled them on my RV, and they work!!! I cannot believe my luck in finding this amazing man. He charged me only $100 and took a check. I am really thrilled I do not have to go in and out of my driver's door all the time. In addition, this means I can go camping with my son and his family as soon as I get to California instead of having to either cancel and head for the dealers or use some sort of stepstool at the entrance, not a safe thing for small kids.
So, now I can relax a bit and schedule all the warranty stuff for later in August and not have to mess up all of our plans. I am still going to insist the Fleetwood get me a new set of steps and fix all the other stuff, but at least everything is usable for now.
Today was a good day!!
PS - I am in a KOA in Rawlins, wy, and VERY glad I am not in a popup camper. A big storm with heavy winds and rain just came through and my rig rocked like crazy. There are two popups here with small kids, and I imagine it must have been scary. It was scary enough in here!