TrailManor Owner's Forum - View Single Post - Hold-down stirrup repair

04-29-2003, 08:34 AM

Windbreaker,
Yes, on our trip from California to the East Coast last summer, I rigged up a rope tiedown after it was apparent that our upper shell's latches had failed. The tiedown consisted of some 1/4" dia. nylon/polyester rope and 2 small racheting pulleys that I purchased at a Lowes store in Georgia. The 2 small black-colored racheting pulleys came equipped with short lengths of soft, 1/4" polyester rope with steel hooks on their ends. To hold down the upper shell with this rig, we looped a long piece of rope (about 20' long), with a pulley tied to each end, over the top and down the sides of the shell (close to the open end, near mid-trailer). A shorter piece of rope with hooks tied to each end, about 7' long, was manuevered underneath the trailer. We connected the hook on a pulley to the hook on the lower rope on one side, then did the same thing on the other side. This created a loose loop, with a racheting pulley on each side near the street level. We then could proceed to rachet the upper loop down tight by tightening gradually one side then the other. It worked well enough to allow us to finish our trip without stopping for extensive repairs. We were able to pull the open end of the shell down so that there was only about a half inch gap between it and the top of the lower shell. You may need to put cardboard pads underneath the pulleys and rope to protect the TM's exterior finish. Even after repairing my latches, I intend to keep the pulleys and rope stored in my TM - just in case!

The kind of a repair job that I intend to complete on the latches is not difficult, just a little involved. Other than the heliarc welder I've used, the only other tools required will be hand tools available at hardware stores or tool supply stores. Even welding is not necessary as the 6" long square piece of aluminum could be fastened to the inside of the 1" square x 1/8" wall aluminum tube with sheet metal screws or machine screws (these require drilling and tapping) driven through the top of the aluminum tube. Look at the extensive repairs that Happytrails did on his 1980s vintage TM. They were an inspiration to me to tackle repair jobs like this on my own TM.

04-29-2003, 08:34 AM	#4
Larry_Loo Guest Posts: n/a	Re: Hold-down stirrup repair Windbreaker, Yes, on our trip from California to the East Coast last summer, I rigged up a rope tiedown after it was apparent that our upper shell's latches had failed. The tiedown consisted of some 1/4" dia. nylon/polyester rope and 2 small racheting pulleys that I purchased at a Lowes store in Georgia. The 2 small black-colored racheting pulleys came equipped with short lengths of soft, 1/4" polyester rope with steel hooks on their ends. To hold down the upper shell with this rig, we looped a long piece of rope (about 20' long), with a pulley tied to each end, over the top and down the sides of the shell (close to the open end, near mid-trailer). A shorter piece of rope with hooks tied to each end, about 7' long, was manuevered underneath the trailer. We connected the hook on a pulley to the hook on the lower rope on one side, then did the same thing on the other side. This created a loose loop, with a racheting pulley on each side near the street level. We then could proceed to rachet the upper loop down tight by tightening gradually one side then the other. It worked well enough to allow us to finish our trip without stopping for extensive repairs. We were able to pull the open end of the shell down so that there was only about a half inch gap between it and the top of the lower shell. You may need to put cardboard pads underneath the pulleys and rope to protect the TM's exterior finish. Even after repairing my latches, I intend to keep the pulleys and rope stored in my TM - just in case! The kind of a repair job that I intend to complete on the latches is not difficult, just a little involved. Other than the heliarc welder I've used, the only other tools required will be hand tools available at hardware stores or tool supply stores. Even welding is not necessary as the 6" long square piece of aluminum could be fastened to the inside of the 1" square x 1/8" wall aluminum tube with sheet metal screws or machine screws (these require drilling and tapping) driven through the top of the aluminum tube. Look at the extensive repairs that Happytrails did on his 1980s vintage TM. They were an inspiration to me to tackle repair jobs like this on my own TM.