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Old 05-13-2022, 07:34 PM   #12
coralcruze
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Join Date: Mar 2022
Posts: 234
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rickst29 View Post
That is a possibility. When you release all 4 bar clamps for the front shell, check the height of rise in the center. If the rear end of the front shell has risen more than about 6" above the still-clamped rear shell, then it's possibly pushing the front of the shell forwards and down by too large a factor. In that case, lowering the front end (on the A-frame jack) to provoke more forward movement could accentuate the problem with "somewhat weak front bars" problem even more.

The "lower the front" strategy is primarily for addressing problems at the end of the lift, helping to pull the already-lifted shell more forward (to reach it's final and most forward position).
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But, if the front bars are extremely weak and your problem occurs at the very beginning of the lift, the opposite strategy might work better. Leave the excess gap at the center present, or even increase it a bit with respect to a leveled TM. In this strategy, you raise the front jack a lot for both raising and lowering. (Be absolutely sure to have the wheels chocked, or the TM will slide backwards on the rear leaving jacks.)

The resulting 'tilt', towards the rear, moves more of the shell weight onto the rear support arms. You keep raising the front jack, until the center 'rise' above the rear shell is reduced, by front shell weight being focused on the rear lifts, into the intended range of 4-7". Your lift at the very front end should be easier - but pushing it all down, with extra-strong center bars, will be harder (you have to raise the front jack for both directions).

The complex balancing act in this strategy is between getting enough assistance at the start versus pulling the shell sideways and somewhat UPHILL at the end. In the long term, you and I should both have those front bars replaced.

Super detailed as usual... very informative too. Any idea how much is a set of torsion bars? Anyone know?
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