Electric bed/sofa Freespirit gearbox

I have a 2006 Freespirit. The electric couch seems to have a recurrence of the same issue. The driver's side drive mechanism (gearbox) is connected to the motor in the center with what looks like an old fashion speedometer cable. About four times a year it quits working; undo the speedo cable connection at the gear box, push the cable back towards the drive motor, make sure it engages in the square drive and all is well for a while. Does anyone else have issues with these gearboxes on the bed?? I've thought of buying a universal speedo kit and cutting it 1/2" longer than the current cable.... ANYONE HAVE THIS ISSUE??

Had a problem similar to this in our old Pleasure Way Plateau. PW sent me a replacement gear and driving mechanism and never had a problem after that. It sounds that something hasn't quite failed on you but it is almost broken. I'd get a replacement. These driving mechanism are everywhere and seem to be reliable once you get a lemon out of the way. Our current LTV Serenity has them and they work well so far... Al

Where can the cable be purchased?

brassarl said:

Where can the cable be purchased?

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I used PleasureWay to get me a replacement. Perhaps Roadtrek will do the same for you. Otherwise, the maker of those motors should also be able to sell you one... Al

He'd be better off getting in touch with Leisure Travel... don't think Roadtrek would be all that helpful to an LTV owner.

mumkin said:

He'd be better off getting in touch with Leisure Travel... don't think Roadtrek would be all that helpful to an LTV owner.

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Hi, I've found a source that is very reasonably priced. Perhaps others need seat, power seat parts.

http://www.rvandvansurplus.com/seatparts.asp

I've also had this issue with my 2006 Free Spirit. A couple of years ago the driver side cable came off the motor. In the past, it had gotten messed up a bit by getting caught on some stuff that I store under the couch. I don't use the seat in the upright position very much, and have left it down for the last couple of years. But will try to fix it now. Thanks.

I have 2005 Free Spirit. I got very familiar with taking the connectors apart so I could recline the sofa to make a bed. Now I have decided to leave it as a bed unless, for some reason, I need to put a passenger or two back there. When that happens I tie a rope between the wooden slide block to a post at the back of the sofa frame.

My passenger side cable slipped out when I first bought my used 2006 LTFS. I used some duct tape to keep the cable from falling out and it has worked for a year. Now that I have the sources provided above, I think I will replace the problem gearbox.

I had what sounds like a similar problem on our 2004 Free Spirit, with one or both drive cables coming out, and finding that when I tried putting it back together, the inside part (i.e. the cable itself) seemed to be too short. If I push it all the way into the motor, then it does not engage the drive gear, and vice versa, so there was a delicate balance of trying to position the cable so that both are engaged.
I got frustrated, and bought two new cables from Leisure Travel Vans. At first they looked the same as the old ones, but when I measured, I found that the inner cables were the same length as before, but the outer sheath was at least 1/2" shorter than the old ones. This made all the difference, now it is easy to get the cables to engage both ends. It remains to be seen whether they will pop out again, but now I know to be more careful sliding things under the seat.
But that is not to say my electric sofa now works great. It does work with the new cables, it works good enough when lowering the sofa to the bed position, but when raising it back to the bench position, it needs help, especially for the first bit as the back starts to raise. I need to pull on the back of the sofa to nudge it through this difficult section.
When I had things apart, I tried lubricating the mechanism to make it slide better, but I didn't see much improvement, and it seemed a bit stiff to me, but the design is not that elegant, so I don't know if I should expect it to move more freely.
I also wondered about the screw drive mechanisms - I did not try to take them apart, but I did try to run each side by connecting an electric drill to drive cable. The screws seemed to turn smoothly enough, but I was only turning the screw drive itself, the seat wasn't connected - and I didn't know how easy it should be to turn this screw drive.
Anyway, it is now usable again with the new cables, but I am wondering whether replacing the screw drives would make any difference, or possibly replacing the motor? I haven't priced out either yet. Has anyone had any success in making the power sofa struggle less on a Free Spirit?
Dave

90% of the issues with the sofa are a likely result of things having caught on the cables when stored under the moving mechanism. Things can be stored there but they need to be low enough to not catch on the cables in particular. The flex shaft that turns the screw mechanism is stiffened by the outer sheath and held in place by that sheath. When the sheath is caught on something the crimped end can slip a bit and allow the inner shaft to pull slightly or significantly out of the socket in which its supposed to fit tightly. An RV shop can reinsert and recrimp those sheaths such that new ones are not usually required. I also had an issue with one of the electrical connectors - it had be stressed (again by catching on something under the sofa) and my RV mechanic merely rewired a new connector and intermittent problems solved. By the way, that loose connection would intermittently cause the sofa to pause, move slowly or not at all depending on the exact degree of bad contact made. Maybe you have a binding problem with some of the pivot points of the sofa mechanism, but some of that risk could be checked out by pulling the drive mechanism pens so you can move the sofa up and down manually to check for tight spots, Its hard to imagine the screw mechanism being bent enough or fouled (unless with wire, thread, or plant fibers to keep it from turning smoothly. Good luck with your issue.
BTW I bought a bunch of plastic containers with clamp lids to use under the sofa. If it doesn't fit in one of those containers, its not going under the sofa to potentially foul that mechanism. Cheers. Tom

It get it with regard to the need to be careful shoving things under the sofa, I am more careful now.
I did have the link pins out so that I could move the sofa manually. To me, it seems like the sofa is a bit hard to move manually, but it wouldn't say it is binding. I tried some lubrication, but I don't think I improved it much. The most force is required shortly after starting to bring it up. With the motor connected, it needs a bit of help to get through this first bit. It is not "intermittent" at all, it consistently needs just a little help on its initial way up. My problem is we purchased the unit used, so I don't know what it was like new. I'm sure when it was new the motor was able to raise the seat without assistance, but I don't know if could "easily" do so (and hence has gotten much tighter now), or whether it had barely enough power to lift the sofa when new (and now it is only a little worse).
I would replace the screw drives and/or the motor if I thought that would help, but it is usable as is, so I may just leave it.
Dave

rababikes said:

90% of the issues with the sofa are a likely result of things having caught on the cables when stored under the moving mechanism. Things can be stored there but they need to be low enough to not catch on the cables in particular. The flex shaft that turns the screw mechanism is stiffened by the outer sheath and held in place by that sheath. When the sheath is caught on something the crimped end can slip a bit and allow the inner shaft to pull slightly or significantly out of the socket in which its supposed to fit tightly. An RV shop can reinsert and recrimp those sheaths such that new ones are not usually required.
Tom

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Since I've started this thread, I've had a few more experiences. The first picture I used heat shrink with two small clamps. It seem the outer housing would still work their way out, so then I got rid of the heat shrink and just clamped the clamps on the bare cable housing and onto the motor end, secured with a loop of wire; the more I twisted the wire the more tension it put on the cable from coming apart. This has worked the best AND don't put big stuff under the bed! Here is a pic

brassarl said:

I have a 2006 Freespirit. The electric couch seems to have a recurrence of the same issue. The driver's side drive mechanism (gearbox) is connected to the motor in the center with what looks like an old fashion speedometer cable. About four times a year it quits working; undo the speedo cable connection at the gear box, push the cable back towards the drive motor, make sure it engages in the square drive and all is well for a while. Does anyone else have issues with these gearboxes on the bed?? I've thought of buying a universal speedo kit and cutting it 1/2" longer than the current cable.... ANYONE HAVE THIS ISSUE??

Click to expand...

I have the same issue and have never tried that solution. I always think the thing has bound-up and disassemble the entire shooting match and then put it back together.

It's disconnected now. I will put it back together and the next time in happens I'll do your trick.
Thanks

Brassari, I believe there is a special crimping tool that will hold that housing as close to the end piece as necessary to maintain intimate contact with the shaft that needs to turn the bed mechanism. I'm a bicycle rider and the same principal of adjusting the length of the sheath to affect the length of the internal shaft and how it engages the brakes is an adjustable feature. In the case of your bed you don't want to adjust it, you want if firmly engaged. I'd check with an RV dealer to see if they can't provide the proper crimping tool to make your insertion of that cable housing into the end piece as permanent as possible. Shrink wrap, hose clamps and super glue sound like possibilities but I"ll bet the factory device is the way to go. I know how frustrating this can be - I dealt with intermitent bed function in my 2007 for a couple of years but almost always able to coax it up or down by wiggling connections or pushing the shaft into the housing. Only when I got ready to sell it, did I go to the dealer and have the crimping of the cables and the electrical rewiring done properly. So I gave the new buyer, a better rig than I used for a couple of year. Go figure. Tom

After having this problem of not working several times and disconnecting the drives so I could raise and lower the bed/sofa manually and tie it in the up position with a rope around the wood block tied to the vertical steel post, I became convinced that my problem came about because the runners were not synchronized with each other and were binding.

This began early on when a passenger tried to force to sofa to recline by bracing his feet against the bench in front of his feet and pushing with all his force against the top of the seat back.

Over the years I have: obtained the different drive cables from LTV, disassembled most of the seat (more than once) and try to reassemble it perfectly aligned. None of it worked.

Eventually my wife and I decided to leave the bed flat.

But now we want to have it up sometimes and do so without going around behind to tie the wooden slide to the vertical steel post.

So, I took out all of the gears, the motor..all the stuff associated with powering the seat/bed.

We can raise the be into the sofa position from inside but I haven't been able to figure how to fasten it in the up position so it will be safe for passengers.

Has any one worked on this idea?