tallphil Posted September 13, 2015 Share Posted September 13, 2015 Hello, my 14-year-old motorhome (CI Carioca 10, Fiat Ducato) has an electric step made by Italian company Nuova Mapa. It stopped deploying fully, so I took it apart and extracted the worn-out gear (see photo) which has lost about 5 teeth (BTW, these teeth take all the weight of the person on the step - not a brilliant design). I was delighted to find a replacement gear that looks just like mine, in stock, on the Nuova Mapa website here: http://www.mapastore.com/scheda-prodotto.asp?articolo=1138 So I ordered one, and paid by paypal, a week ago. The trouble is that I've had no emails from them about my order, and two emails from me to them (using Google translate into Italian) have gone unanswered. It also seems dubious that shipping to UK appears to be free. So I just want to ask, has anyone dealt with this company? Are they ok? And does anyone know if there are any UK stockists of these parts? Many thanks, Phil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt003 Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 Did you have any luck ordering the part just took mine off and the way the teeth have worn is identical to yours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJay Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 Might be worth a PM to Tallphill , if you want a reply, has not been on forum since September PJay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will H Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 The teeth could be rebuilt quite easily if a new one never arrives Will86 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tallphil Posted October 23, 2015 Author Share Posted October 23, 2015 Hi matt003, yes I did have luck - eventually! After several weeks Nuova Mapa emailed me to say I hadn't paid the shipping charge (which is almost as much as the cost of the part). The reason I hadn't paid it is their original invoice said the shipping was free - which seemed fairly unlikely! Anyway, I paid the shipping by paypal and they then sent a new gear. Fitting it is just the reverse of getting the old one out. At first the step motion was juddery, although I'd greased everything thoroughly, but after a few ins and outs it settled down and now works like new. As I said before I think the design is bad - basically your whole weight on the step is carried by a couple of these teeth, so they're going to wear rapidly. Given the high shipping cost, and the possibility of them stopping making this part, I wish I'd ordered two of them! Anyway, you can order from the page link I gave before, and if they don't charge you for shipping at first, send them an email. Cheers Phil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJay Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 Might be worth changing step to Omnistor , or just buying a caravan step free standing ? PJay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt003 Posted October 25, 2015 Share Posted October 25, 2015 Thankyou Phil but I've had a stroke of luck for a change. Took the motorhome in for a damp repair at http://deesidetowingcentre.co.uk and mentioned the step. Turns out it's very common so they had a dozen made up by a local engineering company a few years ago slightly thicker and a higher grade steel. Cost me £65 but I'm happy to pay the extra as my kids tend to use the step as a springboard to get off. Bad news for anyone else with the same problem is I got the last one, they were searching the workshop for 40 mins to track it down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tallphil Posted October 25, 2015 Author Share Posted October 25, 2015 Well that's certainly faster than ordering one from Nuova Mapa, if more expensive. I paid 53.7 Euros including shipping which is about £38. The replacement one from them was also thicker than the original, I don't know about the type of steel. But I'm telling the family not to jump on the step now I know how it's put together! Glad you got it sorted. Phil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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