Lift arm bracket bolts all loose from factory

[Troy Dutton]

Heads up everyone about a serious TrailManor problems to check for. On my 2022 3124KB, new in June of this year, the front camper shell had fallen so it was sitting too low to swing the door side frames into place. I discovered that ALL of the bolts holding the six support arm brackets to the frame were loose, and the bolts in the support bracket by the door had unscrewed far enough that the left side of the bracket was hanging 1/2" below the frame! All of the bolts on the other five brackets were over one full turn loose, and many bolts were two or more turns loose. Also, one of the shell height adjustment bolts that adjusts the height of the open end of the shells was able to turn with no resistance, so it would not hold its adjustment. I added three layers of Teflon tape to the bolt threads to solve this. These bolts are located at the tops of the support arms near the top pivot point, and can only be adjusted with that shell down. The pivot points in the open end of the shell's support arms have a slot instead of a hole, and the back end of these bolts push up on the shells when the shells are in the raised position, so unscrew the bolt to raise the shell. The front shell needs to be the correct height to properly mate with the pivoting door frames, and the rear shell needs to be the correct height to seal properly with the front shell. After tightening the bolts and properly adjusting everything, the shells open and close much easier. Feel free to contact me if you are having similar problems.

[Kidkraz]

Have you contacted the factory on this? The camper should be under warranty. If you bought it at a dealer, they should be doing the repair for you.

[Troy Dutton]

I inspected all of the bolts and nuts underneath my camper, and found that all twenty-nine 5/16" bolts (1/2" hex head) were loose. The other sizes were properly torqued. This included both the bolts that attach the lift arm support brackets and the bolts that attach the subframe to the trailer frame. I have already fixed the problem, and the closest TrailManor dealer is hundreds of miles away. I contacted the factory, and am asking them to contact recent customers for an inspection, as it is likely that other TrailManors have the same issue.

[Larryjb]

Originally Posted by Troy Dutton

... Also, one of the shell height adjustment bolts that adjusts the height of the open end of the shells was able to turn with no resistance, so it would not hold its adjustment. I added three layers of Teflon tape to the bolt threads to solve this. These bolts are located at the tops of the support arms near the top pivot point, and can only be adjusted with that shell down.....

To clarify, I believe these bolts you refer to here are actually a "stop" to control how far the shell opens, not the height of the shell. However, your solution seems to be a good one.

[Troy Dutton]

The bolts at the tops of the lift arms near both ends of the camper are travel stops, but the bolts at the tops of the lift arms near the center of the camper adjust the height of the open ends of the shells. Adjust the front shell height to mate properly with the door, then adjust the rear shell height for proper compression of the seal between the two shells. The top pivot points on the lift arms near the ends of the camper are holes, but the top pivot points on the lift arms near the center of the camper are slots. These slots are vertical when the camper is open, and are horizontal when the camper is closed.

[Larryjb]

Originally Posted by Troy Dutton

The bolts at the tops of the lift arms near both ends of the camper are travel stops, but the bolts at the tops of the lift arms near the center of the camper adjust the height of the open ends of the shells. Adjust the front shell height to mate properly with the door, then adjust the rear shell height for proper compression of the seal between the two shells. The top pivot points on the lift arms near the ends of the camper are holes, but the top pivot points on the lift arms near the center of the camper are slots. These slots are vertical when the camper is open, and are horizontal when the camper is closed.

Can anyone confirm if this is a change in design for recent TMs?

These pivot holes can and do get enlarged if too much stress is placed on the shells while lifting, or if the travel stops are too far out forcing the lift arm into the pocket stop. On my TM, the damage is severe enough that the lower frame member on the shell is actually bent up slightly into the shell. You can see the sheet aluminum is buckling out at the bottom edge of the lift arm pocket. I have plans to reinforce it one day.

[kjfatl]

We had a similar issue with our 2022 3124KB built in September 2021. The rails slid due to loose bolts so the door would no longer open.

I will be checking if anything else is loose, but will be careful to not over-torque and break the bolts.

Does anyone have a recommended torque setting for torque wrenches on these bolts?

Threadlocker(blue) does wonders to keep bolts from loosening.

[Shane826]

What “rails” slid?

As for torque, when I was learning how to fix cars my mentor always told me “tight is tight and too tight is broken”… We had to drill out a lot of bolts.