[rickst29]

This is for a friend, and I will attempt to do repair at my house. I've attached a photo of the problem, which creates great difficulty in hooking the rear street-side lift arm of the front shell. The TM was badly damaged along the front orward shell. Possibly during a previous parking accident. (The owner I'm helping is a new owner.) The lowest 4" of the front street side shell is bent outwards from the rest of that vertical wall. I'm imagining a very complex fix, and wonder if I have any good alternatives.

I plan to raise the TM front shell on its four lift arms, lock the curb-side upper clamp -- and then brace the upper curb-side corners of the shell with long pieces of 2x4 lumber. (The other ends of those 2x4s will be braced against some LARGE decorate rocks which I have near the driveway.) This will prevent the shell from sliding sideways and downhill when I raise the street side....

I will also build two or three "lifting posts" with 2x4 lumber. Each has a large plate at the bottom and a segment of 2x4 at the top. I must then disconnect all the wiring going up the rear outside lift arm, that's the slowest part of the job.
- - - -
After raising the front shell, I set the "lifting posts" in place under the lower lip of the street side shell. They're on lifting jacks. I then disconnect the lift arm tops from the shell, which will allow me to raise the street side by about three inches - enough to clear the lower "box" completely. (I hope that the pigtails of the shell electrical wires on the lift arm are long enough to do this, with a need to destroy and re-do the sleeves and rubber conduits after bringing it back down.)

I'll carefully go inside the Trailmanor and place a long 2x4, with the outside covered by a bath towel or shop rags to prevent a lot of damage on the TM inside wall. This brace will need to be at or very near the line where the bend begins, just underneath the street-side window edge. I'll brace this longer 2x4 against the curb-side lower "box", using some shorter peices. I'll tape the window with duct tape, to also try and lower the likelihood of cracking the window when I try to bend the lower part of the sidewall back towards the inside (using sledge hammer hits).
- - - -
Finally, I go back outside the TM to the target, with a short segment of 2x4 and my trusty sledge hammer. From front to back, I hit inwards along the line of the shell's bottom outside corner, trying to straighten the out-bending damage portion so that it will be vertical and properly aligned after I lower the street-side back to normal height. If I go with 3 posts, then I'll be moving my middle "raising post" further along (and then behind me) while I work.

Before lowering, I'll go back inside and remove the long interior "shell wall brace". Then I'll lower the lifting jacks (middle and front, then back), allowing me insert the corner lift arms back into the shell (one at a time), at proper "lifted" position. Finally I'll tighten the lift arm bolts and reconnect all the wiring, remove the exterior "curb side" bracing, and test opening and closing a few times.

My obvious question is:

Do you guys with experience (lifting shells out of lift arms) have any warnings or suggestions with regard to this plan?