As far as I can tell, the lift arms are appropriately "bulged". I assume this is to ensure they are crimped around the end of the torsion bar.
I'll try to take some pictures of the issue next week. It is raining now, and I've got the TM tarped for now. However, I can try to describe my observations.
I measured the distance between the lift arm and the box when the shell was lowered, but not latched. The lift arms for the front shell, but near the centre of the TM (rear-most lift arms for the front shell) are parallel with the box. The distance between the lift arm and the box is within 1/4 or less at all points along the length of the arm. The front lift arm is not parallel with the box. I forget the actual measurement, but it increases by almost an inch from the base where the torsion bar sits inside the arm to the pocket stop. This measurement was taken with the shell closed. This way, there are no outside forces as far as I can tell pushing the lift arm outwards.
I then checked the lift arms when the shell was raised. This is more difficult because the top of the box flexes quite a bit, so measuring the distance between the lift arm and box is not reliable. However, I can measure the vertical deflection from 0°. Again, I made fairly crude measurements, but these were done quickly to support my casual observation that the front lift arms were bending outwards. The lift arms at the centre of the TM (rearmost arms for the front shell) were nearly vertical. In fact, deflection from vertical was probably due to the fact that I don't have my TM perfectly leveled. The front lift arm is noticeably tipped outwards, and only held in because of the locking pin. In fact, the lift arm appears to actually pull the box out a little. Keep in mind, this is a slide model so that the box near the front does not any significant support keeping it vertical.
I am suspecting that after 17 years of use, the weight of the front shell has stressed the lift arm so that it is now bowed outwards. In the non-slide models, the box would have kept this straight.
You suggest that the issue may be with the lift arm rather than the torsion bar. I can put a straight edge along the lift arm to check. I didn't notice any bending at this point, but I'll check anyway.
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