Adjusting shell height via screws at the bottom of white support arms

HoMiPa · 05-27-2017, 12:07 AM

I've been searching the forum for idea about how to fix a problem I have with the bottom half of the entry door. Both the front and rear shells seem to be lower on the curb side, because I can't get the pins on either side of the bottom half of the door to clip into place. Last year it took my son lifting on the shell on each side, while I shoved it into place. I got the rear shell side (left side of door) pin in place today (finally) by myself by lift on the rear shell with a crow bar between the lower portion of the trailer and the rear shell. Not exactly ideal.

There is an obvious different in the height of the two sides of my TM. If you are looking at the front, you can see about 1.5" of the front bed slide below the upper shell on the right, but on the left, the bottom of the front bed slide is almost level with the bottom of the upper shell. Same with the back, except it is the right side of the bed that is even with the upper shell. In other words, both curb sides of the bed slides are even with the bottom of the upper shells, while the street sides are about and inch and a half lower than the bottom of the upper shells.

Anyway, I found this:

Quote:

Originally Posted by commodor47

That usually indicates the front shell needs a slight height adjustment. You will notice that the torsion bars terminate into the rectangular (white) support bar. At that point are 4 small screws holding the white support arm in place. Mark the current location of the white support bar on the torsion as a point of reference. Using a support (2 x 4 on top of a hydraulic jack or car jack) placed under the shell and parallel to the white support arm, loosen the 4 bolts and carefully tap down with a rubber mallet on the curved part of the torsion bar. Put some upward pressure on the jack as you hit down on the torsion bar. You should find that 1/8 to 1/4 inch increase in height will be enough to allow the door jamb to fit properly. Do be careful swinging the rubber mallet as it will tend to bounce into the side wall of the box denting the aluminum skin.

Dick

My question regarding this is about the holes for the bolts. Are there not just holes for the bolts on the torsion bar portion? Inside the white support arm, do the torsion bars have long slots that the bolts go through, to allow this adjustment?

I'm heading to bed right now, but I'll check back here tomorrow. I'd like to get this adjustment made before I start working on the flooring this weekend, since I can't close the door right now.

**Bill** · 05-27-2017, 07:24 AM

The torsion bars have a round cross-section all along their length. There are no holes, slots, flat spots, pins, or other retaining provisions. In other words, they are held on by friction, so when you retighten the bolts, you must be pretty torque-y about it. The one thing missing from Dick's procedure, although it should be obvious in reading it, is that the shell should be open before you loosen the bolts. This "untwists" the torsion bars, taking the pressure off the support arms.

Bill

HoMiPa · 05-27-2017, 08:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill

The torsion bars have a round cross-section all along their length. There are no holes, slots, flat spots, pins, or other retaining provisions. In other words, they are held on by friction, so when you retighten the bolts, you must be pretty torque-y about it. The one thing missing from Dick's procedure, although it should be obvious in reading it, is that the shell should be open before you loosen the bolts. This "untwists" the torsion bars, taking the pressure off the support arms.

Bill

Thank you. I took a good look at it this morning when I first took the dogs out. At the center of the trailer, where both a rear shell and front shell white support arm are located, the bottom of the street side front shell support arm is about a 1/4" higher than the bottom of the rear shell support arm. On the curb side, the bottom of the front shell support arm is about 1/4" lower than the rear shell support arm. Which makes sense, but also indicates that I have to both raise the curb side of the front shell, but also lower the street side of the front shell. Not sure how it got all out of whack like that, but I'm going to assume since it's just sheer pressure holding the torsion bars in place inside the support arm, that over time, especially with snow load up here, or perhaps being parked over the winter slightly off level, that it just all slips a tiny bit every so often. Over time that all adds up. Amazingly enough, it opens and closes just fine, so I've been trying to figure out exactly what is wrong. I've known for a while that the beds looked off kilter, but up until this year, I haven't given it much thought (ain't broke, don't fix it), since opening and closing worked fine. So I thought it was just the beds off kilter - but they are level to the ground, because they sit on/ride on the bottom shell. Doh! But the door halves are off much more this year than they have ever been, which has forced me to look at it and figure it out.

Larryjb · 05-27-2017, 09:19 AM

Correct me if I'm wrong, but there seems to be a bolt at the top of the white support arm that will adjust height of the shell. This bolt is only visible when the shells are closed, because when the shells open, this bolt rotates to be inside the pocket stop. I don't have a picture of that yet, but I could take one later today.

The torsion bars themselves will not adjust the height of the shell. They will only adjust the ease of lifting. Too much tension, and you will have difficulty closing the shells.

HoMiPa · 05-27-2017, 09:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Larryjb

Correct me if I'm wrong, but there seems to be a bolt at the top of the white support arm that will adjust height of the shell. This bolt is only visible when the shells are closed, because when the shells open, this bolt rotates to be inside the pocket stop.

It's my understanding that that bolt is to adjust how close to vertical the support arms will go. In other words, if you can't pull the shell open enough so that the support arms are true vertical, then you need to loosen that bolt inside the pocket stop, to allow the support arm to swing up more. If you can pull the shell open so far that the support arm moves past vertical, and leans towards the front of the open shell, then that bolt needs to be tightened.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Larryjb

The torsion bars themselves will not adjust the height of the shell. They will only adjust the ease of lifting. Too much tension, and you will have difficulty closing the shells.

The 4 bolts on the bottom of each support bar are not the bolts that you adjust for the torsion bars. They hold the vertical portions of the torsion bars in place, inside the support arms. Adjusting those will only shorten, or lengthen, the distance between the actual torsion bar and the bottom edge of the shell.

**Bill** · 05-27-2017, 10:00 AM

Holly -

I am not an expert in the lift system, but my impression is that you are right on both counts. If you look at the bottom of the support bars (in your photo), you will see that the bottom of the support bar is deformed, wrapped around the torsion bar a bit. This increases the grip of the (flat) support arm on the (round) torsion bar, and is also an indication what I meant by "torque-y".

Bill

Larryjb · 05-27-2017, 12:17 PM

I'm sure your impression is right Bill, and that I am mistaken. I just realized that the bolt I was referring to cannot change the height of the shell because the pivot point between the shell and lift arm is fixed.

I'm wondering if Holly should take a peek at the mounting of the torsion bars underneath to make sure nothing is coming loose. 1.5" seems a lot to adjust from the bottom of the lift arms. But I've been wrong before.
See:
http://www.trailmanorowners.com/foru...ad.php?t=17530

**Bill** · 05-27-2017, 12:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Larryjb

I'm wondering if Holly should take a peek at the mounting of the torsion bars underneath to make sure nothing is coming loose. 1.5" seems a lot to adjust from the bottom of the lift arms.
See:
http://www.trailmanorowners.com/foru...ad.php?t=17530

Agreed.

Bill

gonzo628 · 05-27-2017, 01:57 PM

You might want to check the lag bolts near the door (underside of the trailer). When I took my TM to Custom RV, one of the things they did was to remove my lag bolts and insert longer ones. This is a common repair for them and was done because they noticed that my door did not set up right. Prior to their having fixed it, I used to have to do the same (re: lifting the upper shell to get the lower portion of the door in place to set up).

HoMiPa · 05-27-2017, 02:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Larryjb

I'm wondering if Holly should take a peek at the mounting of the torsion bars underneath to make sure nothing is coming loose. 1.5" seems a lot to adjust from the bottom of the lift arms.

Yes, I thought of that myself all of a sudden early this morning, which is why I checked it out when I first took the dogs out. I had a major panic moment that perhaps that problem of the lag bolts ripping right out of the TM floor, which seems to happen so often, finally happened to me. But all is well under there. Whew!