Latch Tip: TM Closing Difficulties

[Wavery]

Originally Posted by MisterP

The side latches should be snug enough so there is no bounce of the trailer shell when underway. Whether a latch opens or not during travel should not be a criterion for it being tight enough.

If the roof bounces (even slightly) the latch will will fall off of the roof latch on the first bump that I hit. That's when I know the latch is too loose. That's the only reason I commented on that. When that happens, I stop and tighten the latch down a few turns. Never have to mess with it again.

If one has to force that over-center latch, sooner or later, somethings gotta give. Those things apply a lot of torque.

[lederhos]

Jim - Back to the issue you were having. It may be that a hasp was caught between the outside shell and the trailer body. If the hasps are not all pointing away from the trailer when you go to close the shells, they have a tendency to get caught when closing the shell. This has occasionally made it impossible for me to latch the stirrup latch. When you re-opened the shells to check for obstructions you may have inadvertently repositioned the hasp solving your own predicament.

Eric

Originally Posted by lederhos

Jim - Back to the issue you were having. It may be that a hasp was caught between the outside shell and the trailer body. If the hasps are not all pointing away from the trailer when you go to close the shells, they have a tendency to get caught when closing the shell. This has occasionally made it impossible for me to latch the stirrup latch. When you re-opened the shells to check for obstructions you may have inadvertently repositioned the hasp solving your own predicament.

Eric

Eric - Thanks. I will certainly add that item to my close-up checklist as something to check before trying the stirrup latch.

Still looking forward to the next trip!

Originally Posted by lederhos

Jim - Back to the issue you were having. It may be that a hasp was caught between the outside shell and the trailer body. If the hasps are not all pointing away from the trailer when you go to close the shells, they have a tendency to get caught when closing the shell. This has occasionally made it impossible for me to latch the stirrup latch. When you re-opened the shells to check for obstructions you may have inadvertently repositioned the hasp solving your own predicament.

Eric

We've done that inadvertantly many times....

Regards,

Bob

[T and C]

Originally Posted by lederhos

Jim - Back to the issue you were having. It may be that a hasp was caught between the outside shell and the trailer body. If the hasps are not all pointing away from the trailer when you go to close the shells, they have a tendency to get caught when closing the shell. This has occasionally made it impossible for me to latch the stirrup latch. When you re-opened the shells to check for obstructions you may have inadvertently repositioned the hasp solving your own predicament.

Eric

This happened to me last week. We lowered the rear shell, latched the door side, went around and stepped into the stirrup on the driver's side. It wouldn't latch. When I checked for the reason, I found that the bolt/nut part of the latch was caught under the shell. We unlatched, lifted a little, removed the travel latch. Then everything worked fine.

Tom

[Unstable_Tripod]

I have to agree. It sounds like TravlinOn is closing the various latches in a different sequence from the prescribed one. When opening the TM you release all four of the corner latches and then the latches for the front shell and then for the rear shell. When closing you put down the rear shell, latch it, put down the front shell, latch it and then close all four of those corner latches. If the process is done in this sequence the corner latches can't affect how easy or difficult it is to latch or unlatch the main shell latches.