BalancedPete
Well-Known Member
- First Name
- Pete
- Joined
- Sep 30, 2020
- Threads
- 11
- Messages
- 92
- Reaction score
- 166
- Location
- Chardon, Ohio
- Vehicle(s)
- 2020 Jeep Gladiator Overland
- Occupation
- Business owner/Vibration Analyst
- Thread starter
- #1
Hey all, I installed a set of Rough Country Powered Side Steps in January 2024. I live in the snow belt in Ohio, so lots of road salt. The drivers side step began to fail to retract in the fall of 2025. I reached out to Rough Country, and after several weeks of emails, videos and a phone call, they supplied me with the two drivers side power units under warranty. I got those in January of 2026.
I hate dumping more stuff in our landfills if it can be fixed. So once I had the replacements, I decided I wanted to try and fix the original power units since I had nothing to lose then. This was also good since I noticed the passenger side step was starting to struggle as well.
The Problem: No matter what I tried, WD40, 2-In-1 oil, penetrating oil, Kroil, pressure washing and re oiling, nothing would get in there. The fit between the 10mm pivot pins and their mating plastic bushings is basically size for size, with no room for any lube. This may be due to salt corrosion getting in and under the plastic bushings, basically squeezing the plastic bushings tighter. Just my theory.
The Solution: Lowered the step, removed the step and removed both power units. With the help of a buddy to hold the power unit over something solid, drive these two pins out with a drift pin. You don't have to drive them all the way out, just enough to get the lower arm out. Then drill out the 10 mm plastic bushings with a 10.1 mm drill bit (Amazon $12). This will increase the clearance about .004", so barely anything, but enough. Drill a 3/32" hole into the backside of the lower arm, centered into each of the two hinge pivot holes. These holes will be between the two plastic bushings for each pivot hole, and will fit any standard spray lube tube or grease gun pin tip. Now you'll be able to lube each pivot point until you see lube coming out between the hinge knuckles! Now line up the lower arm and hammer those pins back into place.
The fix was actually pretty simple. Once I figured it out, took about 20 minutes for each unit. I'm going to try simply drilling the lube holes in my passenger side to see if that fixes those before I go pulling that side apart.
I hate dumping more stuff in our landfills if it can be fixed. So once I had the replacements, I decided I wanted to try and fix the original power units since I had nothing to lose then. This was also good since I noticed the passenger side step was starting to struggle as well.
The Problem: No matter what I tried, WD40, 2-In-1 oil, penetrating oil, Kroil, pressure washing and re oiling, nothing would get in there. The fit between the 10mm pivot pins and their mating plastic bushings is basically size for size, with no room for any lube. This may be due to salt corrosion getting in and under the plastic bushings, basically squeezing the plastic bushings tighter. Just my theory.
The Solution: Lowered the step, removed the step and removed both power units. With the help of a buddy to hold the power unit over something solid, drive these two pins out with a drift pin. You don't have to drive them all the way out, just enough to get the lower arm out. Then drill out the 10 mm plastic bushings with a 10.1 mm drill bit (Amazon $12). This will increase the clearance about .004", so barely anything, but enough. Drill a 3/32" hole into the backside of the lower arm, centered into each of the two hinge pivot holes. These holes will be between the two plastic bushings for each pivot hole, and will fit any standard spray lube tube or grease gun pin tip. Now you'll be able to lube each pivot point until you see lube coming out between the hinge knuckles! Now line up the lower arm and hammer those pins back into place.
The fix was actually pretty simple. Once I figured it out, took about 20 minutes for each unit. I'm going to try simply drilling the lube holes in my passenger side to see if that fixes those before I go pulling that side apart.
Sponsored
