diff --git a/include/openrave/robot.h b/include/openrave/robot.h
index 54f4f6c801..37f7991f20 100644
--- a/include/openrave/robot.h
+++ b/include/openrave/robot.h
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ class OPENRAVE_API RobotBase : public KinBody
         std::string _sBaseLinkName, _sIkChainEndLinkName, _sEffectorLinkName; ///< name of the base and effector links of the robot used to determine the chain
         Transform _tLocalTool;
         std::vector<int> _vChuckingDirection; ///< the normal direction to move joints for the hand to grasp something
+        std::vector<int> _vChuckingDirectionLegacy; ///< _vChuckingDirection comes from the legacy file, e.g. collada. This is only used to keep the value from the legacy file format and to expose this to json for further post processing.
         Vector _vdirection = Vector(0,0,1);
         std::string _sIkSolverXMLId; ///< xml id of the IkSolver interface to attach
         std::vector<std::string> _vGripperJointNames;         ///< names of the gripper joints
diff --git a/src/libopenrave-core/colladaparser/colladareader.cpp b/src/libopenrave-core/colladaparser/colladareader.cpp
index f150486781..991f24bf25 100644
--- a/src/libopenrave-core/colladaparser/colladareader.cpp
+++ b/src/libopenrave-core/colladaparser/colladareader.cpp
@@ -3526,6 +3526,7 @@ class ColladaReader : public daeErrorHandler
                                             }
                                         }
                                         manipinfo._vChuckingDirection.push_back((dReal)chucking_direction);
+                                        manipinfo._vChuckingDirectionLegacy.push_back((dReal)chucking_direction);
                                     }
                                 }
                                 continue;
diff --git a/src/libopenrave/robotmanipulator.cpp b/src/libopenrave/robotmanipulator.cpp
index b0ab62274c..ce2c003dc7 100644
--- a/src/libopenrave/robotmanipulator.cpp
+++ b/src/libopenrave/robotmanipulator.cpp
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ void RobotBase::ManipulatorInfo::Reset()
     _vdirection = Vector(0,0,1);
     _sIkSolverXMLId.clear();
     _vGripperJointNames.clear();
+    _vChuckingDirectionLegacy.clear();
     _grippername.clear();
     _toolChangerConnectedBodyToolName.clear();
     _toolChangerLinkName.clear();
@@ -46,6 +47,9 @@ void RobotBase::ManipulatorInfo::SerializeJSON(rapidjson::Value& value, rapidjso
     orjson::SetJsonValueByKey(value, "effectorLinkName", _sEffectorLinkName, allocator);
     orjson::SetJsonValueByKey(value, "ikSolverType", _sIkSolverXMLId, allocator);
     orjson::SetJsonValueByKey(value, "gripperJointNames", _vGripperJointNames, allocator);
+    if( _vChuckingDirectionLegacy.size() > 0 ) {
+        orjson::SetJsonValueByKey(value, "chuckingDirections", _vChuckingDirectionLegacy, allocator);
+    }
     orjson::SetJsonValueByKey(value, "grippername", _grippername, allocator);
     orjson::SetJsonValueByKey(value, "toolChangerConnectedBodyToolName", _toolChangerConnectedBodyToolName, allocator);
     orjson::SetJsonValueByKey(value, "toolChangerLinkName", _toolChangerLinkName, allocator);