You could shoot the pivot points of the footboard with dry lube or give it a good cleaning and lube. Disassemble the lower tube and clean the spring, push rod and tube interior. New grease on the spring and push rod. Dry lube or oil on all other metal moving parts.

Thanks, Woody!

That begs the question of how to disassemble the lower tube. So far everything seems to be riveted together.

The Yoke that the chain attaches to looks to be treaded in the photo. Is it?

If so, disconnect footboard from the stand base, hold the push rod at the top, then screw off the yoke. May need pliers. Take note of how the spring, push rod and any washers or other bits go together. Clean 'er up and lubricate.

There is a much easier way. Use a socket wrench to unscrew the coupling nut that is sticking out of the top of the tripod base. You might need to hold the bottom yoke (upside down U that the chain attaches to) with pliers. Hopefully the coupling nut is secured to the lower pull rod. They usually are. If not, you'll have to JB Weld it on and wait 24 hours.

Once the lower pull rod is disconnected from the pedal, take off the pedal and set it aside. Then hold the base so that the lower pull rod is HORIZONTAL and slowly remove it. The spring and any washers should come out with it. Clean the spring by letting it soak in paint thinner overnight. Having the pedal removed really gives you a chance to easily clean it and attack that rust on the chain. Clean the lower pull rod and washer as well. Put the washer/spring back on the lower pull rod, and lubricate liberally. Then put it back into the base section HORIZONTALLY. Set the tripod base in its normal playing position and then press down on the coupling nut with the socket wrench so that the threads are exposed at the end of the lower pull rod, line up the threads on the yoke and thread the lower pull rod into the yoke by turning the socket wrench.

You should lube the heel plate hinge too. Also, you may benefit from putting a small rubber grommet at the top of the yoke (that the lower pull rod goes through), so that when you release the pedal, it has a cushion and doesn't "bang" against the metal housing. It looks like there is a felt pad there now. I like to use rubber grommets. They are more durable and are skinnier, so that the pedal can go up just a little bit further.

This definitely a newer Slingerland, imported stand. Looks very Gibraltar-ish.

Thanks!

The stand was $20 so I thought it was worth getting, just to keep accumulating "Slingerland" brand hardware. For playing, I'm using new PDP hardware.