Fine Tuning The Lifting Mechanisim

[RockyMtnRay]

Wow, whatta explanation. However I believe that TM has made the adjustment a lot easier since your trailer was made.

Specifically, I don't believe they use shims anymore...which will enormously simplify the adjustment process. The reason I bring this up is when I took my TM into my dealer this spring to have an awing installed I also had them adjust the pocket stops (rear shell was very hard to pull back far enough on the door side to get the corner latch to go over the pin). When I picked it up I asked how to do the adjustment myself in the future...and they showed me a bolt that's at the very end of each of the lift arms (behind the plastic cosmetic shields on the front lift arms). Told me all I had to do was turn these bolts in or out a tiny bit (quarter turn)..while the shell was down...to change the point at which the arm hits the rubber thingy inside the pocket stop. As with the shims, an eighth of inch of bolt movement equalled an inch of shell movement. Since I have never actually performed these adjustments (only had them quickly described to me), I was hesitant to make the initial reply to the "how to".

It dawned on me as I read the detailed description of the effect of the shims that my dealer didn't say a peep about shims...that all he had discussed was the need to turn 4 bolts on each shell to do the job. My suspicion is that about the same time that TM switched from shim to bolt adjustors on the torsion bars, they also switched from shim to bolt adjustors on the pocket stops.

Lol, as simple as I made it, I KNEW I'd still get by a few people, Ray, yes, I know all about the shims in the torsion bars, that's a WHOLE different concept from the shims under the rubber bumpers....and affects the TM in a whole different way......And yes, your dealer was a missing something telling you how to adjust it, I'm glad you didn't try it. (actually, think you're misreading somewhere) Denny's explaination about turning the screws up under your frame, was completely correct, WITH THE SHELLS UP. With mine, I don't have the bolts yours has, and in mine, the adjustments have to be made with the SHELLS DOWN! Yes, I have shims where yours has the Bolts setup, why I said I wanted to retrofit mine which is ENORMOUSLY easier to make adjustments with is why. (One of the things I want to post on my website when I have the room is a fax directly from Donny at TM explaining all that in drawings.) And no, mine doesn't have those nice little cosmetic white plastic thingamabobs where my travel arms go up into the upper clamshells as yours do.........Ok, since people seem to be missing what I'm saying, in my particular setup, I have STEEL shims on my torsion bars, those particular shims affect the amount of force needed to open and close my tm, also, with my setup, I have a SEPARATE set of wooden shims up under those little rubber bumpers, that affect FORWARD TRAVEL, I.E. how far ONCE OPENED, the shell goes.......in relation to the little pin that goes into the aluminum tube dohicky? These shims reside in the pocket stops which reside in the UPPER clamshells. In yours, you have 4 bolts, up underneath, in place of my STEEL shims to adjust the torsion bars, MUCH easier, which need to be adjusted, JUST AS DENNY said......(not harping, but its different between the older and newer, and very important to do it right), with the shells UP and open! I'm sorry Ray, it's really late, and had a rough day myself for sure.....don't mean to be cranky.........Please reread my post, you'll see exactly what I was talking about.......I did go outta my way to explain it in common terms, with photo examples on my web page as a guide.
http://members.aol.com/br768
I really think you're confusing two totally different sets of shims that perform two totally different jobs, that in your case, you only have one set of the said shims. (The ones under your rubber bumpers in your pocket stops that limit forward or reverse travel once opened). Once I have the space to do it, I want to put pictures of the Torsion bar adjustment with the older models such as mine, as well as the bolt adjustment configuration that the newer models have. Denny, ya mind if I steal your post so's to save me some typing on the adjustment for the newer models? I wasn't kidding about that, it was clear, concise, and very accurate, well laid out........I couldn't have explained it better to be honest! Anyway, it's a half hour past my bedtime now, you guys take care, last day of the work week comes tomorrow for me.........and already know I'm going to be so busy, it's not even funny!


[glow=red,2,300]Happytrails.........[/glow]

Shoot, after me blowing up yet another onion bag, I'm sorry Ray, let me explain what happened when they added your awning, when they added it, it added more weight to the torsion bars on that side of the trailer, what they did was crank down on the bolts to adjust that under yours, again, where mine has shims, older style, which I think I'm going to look into to changing to the new style.......I've a friend with welding equipment, no problem, just need to contact TM to find out the exact bolt to use so's I can buy the right Nut and have the proper length so I can have the same setup you have. WHOAH! just read back, are you telling me they suggested losening the pivot point acorn nuts in your front shells to adjust torque, or ANYTHING else? Um, from what you're telling me, they are suggesting taking your whole top loose by one eighth inch at a time to adjust forward movement? Correct me if I'm wrong, but acorn nuts are acorn nuts because they contain plastic that acts like LOCTIGHT, so the bolt doesn't give AT ALL.......Otherwise they would have use simple plain old nuts to cover the bolt that goes through your TM through the upper travel arm..............I have a strong feeling, they didn't know what they were doing, called TM, TM said to adjust the torsion bolts, (the ones UNDER your TM), and they somehow got it right, and forgot to tell your service rep what actually took place..........DO NOT LOOSEN the acorn nuts that you see through the walls in your upper shells, that's NOT a good thing, and no, they did NOT do any adjustments by doing that directly. Ray, at one point of time or another, I've taken mine completely apart and do know how it works, it's AMAZINGLY simple how it works..........as innovative as the TM is, what makes it so great is the simplicity of the design..........Especially the lift system..............which to simplify it, is nothing more than 4 large paper clips per shell, bent into an L shape, which the long end of the L finally comes out from under the TM perpendicular to the plane the L's followed so far, and attached to a travel arm, (part that goes up from the bottom with another L shape that goes up in the pocket stops......which are exactly that, a POCKET, with a STOP in it. Each Travel arm/Torsion spring handles approx 100-150lbs, (your clam shell weighs in at around 500lbs total, divided by 4 is what holds it up, depending on roof air and such..........You can bend the travel arms amazingly easy back when the clam shell is up and off of them, but together, they do EXACTLY the job they're supposed to. Sorry, if Ray missed it, and he seems pretty sharp, others might as well, hope this helps clarify..........

[glow=red,2,300]Happytrails.......[/glow]

[RockyMtnRay]

Ok, I just reconfirmed with my TM dealer. There are indeed TWO COMPLETELY SEPARATE SETS of adjusting bolts on the new TMs...one set for the torsion bars and one set for the pocket stops. The newer TMs do NOT have Pocket Stop adjustment shims.

Yes, I know full well the torsion adjustment bolts are UNDER the trailer at the ends of the torsion bars. And I've already used them to adjust the torsion for lifting the shells. Very large, very visible bolts. And yes, the torsion bolts are adjusted when the shells are in the raised position.

The Pocket Stop adjusting bolts are on the ends of the lfiting arms themselves...on the lower SIDE of the trailer (not under it) when the shells are down. These are much smaller bolts than the torsion adjustment bolts (the heads are only half inch across). On the front shell, these bolts are behind the cosmetic pieces at the back ENDS of the lifting arms...the ends that are opposite from where the torsion bars are. Simillarly for the back shell arms, the adjusting bolts are on the front ENDS of the arms themselves (again on the end opposite the torsion bars). They are not particularly visible (and can only be seen when the shells are fully lowered)...you will have to peer behind the cosmetic cover to see the ones for the front shell and more or less find by feel the equivalent ones for the back shell.

Please note: these bolts are ON the arms themselves, NOT the trailer body. And no, these are not the acorn nuts that go through the trailer walls, those are indeed for arm pivot point mounts. And contrary to the torsion bolts, the Pocket Stop bolts must be adjusted when the shells are in the lowered position.

Yes, I'm also well aware that you've delved into the innards of your TM much more throroughly than the rest of us. However...and this in an exceedingly important however...the TM engineers have made several significant changes to the design since your trailer was built. And the switch to Pocket Stop adjustment bolts from shims is one of them.

[RockyMtnRay]

Ok, sometimes a picture really is equal to a thousand words. This is a picture of the Pocket Stop adjustment bolt on the rear arm of the top shell on the street (off door) side. I removed the cosmetic plastic cover so that the bolt can be clearly seen. As you can see, this bolt (when the shell is lowered) is just above the cap for the sewer drain.



When the shell is down, the bolt, located on the very end of the lifting arm, is accessible and can be adjusted. When the shell is raised, the bolt goes into the Pocket Stop (inside the shell wall directly above the bolt) and eventually hits the bumper on the bottom of the Pocket Stop. Screw this bolt out (so it is longer) and the arm can't go in quite as far so the shell doesn't move as far forward. Screw this bolt in (so it is shorter) and the arm can go further and the shell will be allowed to move further forward.

Wow Ray, now that picture really WAS worth a thousand words, no wonder for the confusion. I had NO idea TM was doing that now! And it answers quite a few questions I had as well! When I ordered my replacement pocket stops, I was at a loss as to how to affix the rubber bumper in there as they didn't provide any hole or anything, just the plain steel stop. I had to drill and tap the hole to allow a countersunk machine screw to go into my shims and rubber bumper. Wow, now that makes it MUCH easier to adjust forward movement! I think I see a retrofit in my near future for sure on that one. They completely eliminated the requirement to lift the shells completely up to make the same adjustment that can now be done with a turn of a wrench!

[glow=red,2,300]Happytrails..........[/glow]

From the info on this thread, the pocket stop adjustments (bolt or shims) affect only the opening of the clamshell.

My rear clamshell has one side where the latch barely engages the stirrup when closing. How can I make this adjustment? Anything to do with the pocket stops?

Thanks.

Scott

PS: On my 1999 model there is no adjustment bolt on my stabilizer arm.

No, the pocket stops affect only opening, not closing, hence the name, pocket stops; where the lift arms go up in there to stop the shells from opening.........Only suggestions I can give is stuff on the beds etc? (On the closing thing anyway)...........Hope this helps.....


[glow=red,2,300]Happytrails...........[/glow]

Look at the latch carefully, if I remember right there are adjustments that can be made there. If not you might consider moving the stirup as needed (though I would not suggest drilling more hole in the clam shell tubing.

[RockyMtnRay]

Windy is totally correct...there is a substantial amount of adjustment available in the bolts that hold the latch for the stirrups. However, before I went willy-nilly adjusting this, I'd do some measurements of the natural resting point of each side of the rear shell when it is pushed down for closing (pre latching)...specifically between the bottom of the stirrup and the ground. This distance is primarily determined by the tension in the front torsion bars of the rear shell. If one of those bars is adjusted for more torsion, the distance to ground will be greater and it will be much harder to latch that side.

So before doing any latch adjustments, do the old up-and-down with the shell to ensure both sides naturally descend to the same distance above the ground...and adjust tension on the front bar(s) as needed to make this happen.