"Popping Down" problems

Our 2001 TM 3023 is a joy; I've towed it about 1,700 miles in all since we got it last month, but I wonder if the "joints" on these things ever loosen up and move more easily?  My question is prompted by the fact that that on a recent solo camping trip (and here at home as well) the rear section  would not latch until I climbed up on the roof  where my full weight came into play and then caused the latches for the rear  to catch, so that I could fasten the other little latches at the back of the sides. .  I was laughing as I did this, thinking how funny I must look.  While I am fortunate in being so   agile,  I really hope it wont be necessary to climb onto the roof  each time I camp alone.:P

There was nothing physically blocking the drop--I was meticulous about this--nothing on the beds but sheets, nothing still fastened anywhere, and nothing obtruding above the dropline to keep the bars from making contact with the latches.  Although I am very strong for a woman, I dont weigh a lot and so stepping onto the stirrups usually does not work for me.  Is there a lube product which might help?  (There will be times when I must camp alone and I really dont want to get stuck somewhere because no one is around to help me get the latches to make contact.)

Although I love our TM, it is a physically demanding challenge to get the "clamshells" to raise and lower--right now I can do it with no problems, but when old age begins to creep up and take a toll, I am wondering if we are going to get "aged" right out of our beautiful TM. :'(    (It is for us at this moment, the perfect TT--we do not want the wind resistance of an upright TT, our Aerostar pulls it with power to spare, even over the Smokies, and my husband has just retired, so we have the time to travel and enjoy the creature comforts of the TM which we prefer over other types of "popups" at this point in our lives.)

[Chris_Bauer]

If you have a chair in your TM I really recommend laying it down in the aisle in the kitchen.  I saw the dealer demonstrate closing a TM and saw him use a lot weight on the stirrups to close the TM.  After I had my turn, I put the chair down and showed him how much more easily it closed.

Also, you should latch (push down)the door side first.  Do this by opening the upper part of the door and pushing down on the edge of the roof, then do the kitchen side.  Close the door and close the other half by pushing down on the awning rail or door side first and then again the kitchen.  This seems to save a lot of energy and also wear and tear on the TM.  Ours opens and closes this way very smoothly.  I hope I was able to explain this well.  

My wife has the same problem.  It is difficult for her too.  She is rather small and often cannot close the TM even when standing on the latch stirrup.  She can usually close the sections by standing on a chair and pulling each section down holding onto the roof.  It takes all of her weight to start the movement and secure the latch.  The TM does seem to close easier if you do the door side first.

Good luck and keep at it.      

[arknoah]

We had a similar problem before our first outing.  What we discovered is that it is realy important to make sure when you're closing the rear of the TM that the rim of the bottom rests firmly on the rubber of the bumper.  When I close the trailer, I set it down on the black rubber, then keep pressure on the door side as I move to the stirrups.

Having said all of that, I weight 190 lbs., and even if you were to follow my instructions to the letter, weight has a lot to do with how easily you can close the trailer.  You might go to a dealer and ask them to vary the amount of assistance the springs give you.  The trade off is that if you lower the assist, it will make it a bit harder to pull up the halves, but it would also make it easier to close the trailer -- obviously, a balancing act.


Good luck

F. J. & Ellen

Chris and edarnold, thank you both for your replies--I think your ideas of standing on something will be helpful; it makes good sense for someone "lightweight" to use this approach since it provides more leverage for applying downward pressure. I travel with a sturdy folding stepstool which might be an acceptable substitute for the chair--and if it turns out not to be, then by golly, we will add a chair to our gear!Another way of solving this might be for edarnold's wife and me to start eating everything in sight.:o) --this way we could get that sucker to drop like a rock when we stand on the stirrups. On the other hand, there could be disadvantages to this method--maybe our feet would eventually get too fat to fit into the stirrups? (And climbing onto the roof might then REALLY get to be too much of a challenge! ) ;)

F.J. and Ellen, I really appreciate your thoughts on closing-down, too. Hope we wont have to have the lift adjusted, but at least we know it is a possibility if it does become necessary.

I recall your earlier posts back when you were in the process of finding your TM and also your first experiences with it, and read them all with interest. This board has been so helpful for us as we have also moved through the steps of deciding and then actually buying, ours. I hope the folks at TM appreciate Chris Tretta's above-and-beyond-the-call-of-duty service to the TM community in maintaining this fine message board even after he moved on from his TM. Thanks to his loyal efforts there is invaluable information available about our TM's for all of us at the click of a mouse--much of it is information crucial to using and maintaining our trailers properly and safely. Since that part of TM ownership is my responsibilty in our family, I am especially grateful for all the tire and bearing and torque wrench details provided here! :-*

When demoing our trail manor the dealer showed us some grab spots.  You can stand on hitch for the rear section and reach your hand through the top part of the door and pull it down.   The dealer also said to make sure you pull straight down when you are trying to latch it.  Let the trailor do the work.  hope this helps.  

[Carol]

We, too, have had our share of problems doing the closedown on our 2720SL. Next time, we'll try the suggestion to put the chair on its back!

We have been closing the door side first - hubby's job. Then, I do the other side. The lower half is never a problem. We do try to do the sides at approximately the same time, especially after we put a couple of slight creases on one side of the exterior (ouch). The closing was hard that time and we forced it instead of reopening and checking everything. Now we know better!

That said, we have had trouble closing it, with me standing on the stirrup, holding onto the top and bouncing (strange sight, I'm sure!). Sometimes, even my 200 lb. hubby can't get it to close. The last time this happened, we lifted up the top half again, looked around - everything looked fine. Then, we closed it again and everything went smoothly. Something must have been caught that fixed itself on the way up!

Another thing we found to check for is that the latch is in the closed position. Ours sticks open sometimes and no amount of effort is going to latch it down when that occurs.

[Carol]

:D
Problem Solved! We put "The Chair" down on its back and the unit closed without any problem.