top out of alignment ...torsion bar problem?

I put my 18 sport deck away last month.. no problems... today I raise the top to get ready for a 3 week outing in 2 days..
the top is out of alignment front to back. the left rear was 2 inches off the bottom while the right rear was only 3/4 in... I found the height adjuster on the end of the left rear arm and lowered it to match the other 3 arms.. that settled out the height issue. I thought.. BTW the left rear was painted shut by the factory and showed no signs of ever being moved in its 4 yrs of life

now the left side of the top stops 2 inches before seating in the bottom deck..
so I bet I missed another adjuster for fore and aft on the arm.. searched the forum and found a note to remove the plastic covers over the arms and find another adjuster.. will do tonight.

will check the torsion bars also. I gave them a cursory look and they all seem to be in the same space as last yr when I "tuned" the opening tension.,

I use this trailer every 3 months for a weekend and 3 weeks every memorial day. I do love the looks it gets from my friends in popups..

Please call me at 512-659-6953 if u have any suggestions or comments
I called trailmanor and am waiting a call back.

---tom

[Redtail Cruiser]

Hi Tom,

Make sure you always level the trailer completely, before you open it up. The torsion bars are designed to be opened with level platform. Everything will tweak and won't seat right.

I use a bubble level on all four sides and have a blocks with me to roll a tire on to get it close, then adjust the tongue jack for back to front. The finally screw down all four scissor jacks to fine tune it. Then when I open the shells everything lifts easy and fits together properly.

I too do the leveling first.. learned that on the forum last yr when I bought the trailer...

I use 2 bubble one fore and one aft, for course adjustment
then I use 2 of the 6 inch contractor levels for the final before lifting.. never scraps, goes up fine... just got the wonky results this first time
going home after work to remeasure everything .. re torsion the bars and check the adjusters everyone writes about.. did not know of the fore/aft adjuster till the forum..

thanks for your feed back as always

TM has not yet called me back

[Padgett]

The problem is that we now have little idea of where you are. Mine was hard to open so I added a 1/4 turn to all four adjusters and now when released it pops up a few inches which seems about right. I need to stand in the handle to close but now I do not need to strain to open.

Have enclosed a picture of the unlocked front module. This seems about right for mine. Be nice if TM would furnish a spec.

[Padgett]

BTW, if you watch the TM video closely, you can see how tight the factory set the torsion bars by how far it pops up.

I am sure that 2922KB is tuned so tightly it squeaks and is lubed with pure unobtanium (and note that he does not try to close the front) but can get a good idea of how to tune the system from that video.

Note the handle on mine is at the bottom edge of the coach since I prefer a bit less torque on the bars while in the video the handle is a few inches higher. Note also how the 2009 decals align to make it easy to set initially and that the top of the patio light also aligns with the top of the closed rear module.

Well loaded up with everyone's posts for the last few years.. I went home. measured each arm and found them off from left to right by 1-1/4 in back and 3/4 inch in the front.. I found only one leveling adjustment nut and reset the heights to within 1/8 inch...I improved the situation... I then re tune the torsion bars and that helped further...

Finally I drove the trailer around the neighborhood ( w/ the car obviously)... and reversed the parking position.. releveled the TM and wal-La it went up smoothly and settled in to position ask it should..

Now it off to Kerrville, TX for the next 3 weeks..
BTW the fine folks at TM called this morning to confirm that there is only one adjustment nut on the 18 sport decks and that remeasuring and releveling was the solution..

Love my TM again....

[Redtail Cruiser]

Glad to hear you resolved the problem. Enjoy your vacation.

Originally Posted by Padgett

BTW, if you watch the TM video closely, you can see how tight the factory set the torsion bars by how far it pops up.

I am new to TM, my 2004 3023 front shell will pop up about the same amount as in the video. What should I do to so it can be opened as easily as seen in the video. (and I can't afford a brand new TM...)
I use the lower-the-front-jack trick to open the front shell, but it's still just barely manageable by one person.

Thanks,
King

[Padgett]

Did you lube all of the linkage joints ? Are you pulling up at the center to start ?

I have no idea where to and what lube to use...
Still learning from this forum. I have not adjusted the torsion bar screws yet.

I got TM delivered last winter from a used car lot. TM has been sitting in my backyard since then.

I just replaced the tires, old tires (w/o much wear) were dated XX03. I guess the TM had been sitting somewhere for a very long time...