Quote:
Originally Posted by TheBrowns
We are more worried on how to take the tension (or torsion) off the top to get that plate loose...It is still caught by that one bolt. Also have some upper top damage where you had it and will work on that later.
Harveyrv...sounds like a good idea..especially the plate since I was wondering what I could do to make the attachment stronger. I can be doing the wood rot cleanout while DH is still out...one less thing for him to do. Just a little worried about what would happen if that one bolt (which is just caught at an angle comes loose if I am under it. See Pic
robertkennel...DH and I are very handy but are just worried about the top coming down. The rot is probably from the wheel well (square box style)...the former owner had a blowout and never repaired the box so water was being sprayed up in there. (The wheel well has been repaired but might also look into retrofitting it later)
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With the roof in the "Up" position, most of then tension is off of the torsion bars. The torsion bars are loaded when the roof is in the "Down" position. You should support the weight of the roof with 2x4s on the damaged side. It looks to me like the pressure that is causing that brace to pull out of the wood may be more from he weight of the roof than the tension on the torsion bars. If you support the roof weight, you may find that those parts may just hang free. I could be wrong but that's the way that it looks in the pics.
I think that eventually, you may have to unbolt the upright "arm" from the roof. Once the repair is complete, I think that you will have to attach the lower end of the arm to the torsion bar, then attach the other end to the roof with a little tension on it. I can't see any other way to do it. It may be wise to just
securely support the roof and completely remove that arm now.
BTW...The acorn nuts are used to prevent someone from over tightening the nuts on the threads of the bolt and smashing the "hollow" material that is being secured. The bolts are an exact length and when the acorn nuts are tight, the fit is proper.