Adjusting shell height via screws at the bottom of white support arms

[HoMiPa]

I've been searching the forum for idea about how to fix a problem I have with the bottom half of the entry door. Both the front and rear shells seem to be lower on the curb side, because I can't get the pins on either side of the bottom half of the door to clip into place. Last year it took my son lifting on the shell on each side, while I shoved it into place. I got the rear shell side (left side of door) pin in place today (finally) by myself by lift on the rear shell with a crow bar between the lower portion of the trailer and the rear shell. Not exactly ideal.

There is an obvious different in the height of the two sides of my TM. If you are looking at the front, you can see about 1.5" of the front bed slide below the upper shell on the right, but on the left, the bottom of the front bed slide is almost level with the bottom of the upper shell. Same with the back, except it is the right side of the bed that is even with the upper shell. In other words, both curb sides of the bed slides are even with the bottom of the upper shells, while the street sides are about and inch and a half lower than the bottom of the upper shells.

Anyway, I found this:

Originally Posted by commodor47

That usually indicates the front shell needs a slight height adjustment. You will notice that the torsion bars terminate into the rectangular (white) support bar. At that point are 4 small screws holding the white support arm in place. Mark the current location of the white support bar on the torsion as a point of reference. Using a support (2 x 4 on top of a hydraulic jack or car jack) placed under the shell and parallel to the white support arm, loosen the 4 bolts and carefully tap down with a rubber mallet on the curved part of the torsion bar. Put some upward pressure on the jack as you hit down on the torsion bar. You should find that 1/8 to 1/4 inch increase in height will be enough to allow the door jamb to fit properly. Do be careful swinging the rubber mallet as it will tend to bounce into the side wall of the box denting the aluminum skin.

Dick

My question regarding this is about the holes for the bolts. Are there not just holes for the bolts on the torsion bar portion? Inside the white support arm, do the torsion bars have long slots that the bolts go through, to allow this adjustment?

I'm heading to bed right now, but I'll check back here tomorrow. I'd like to get this adjustment made before I start working on the flooring this weekend, since I can't close the door right now.

[Bill]

The torsion bars have a round cross-section all along their length. There are no holes, slots, flat spots, pins, or other retaining provisions. In other words, they are held on by friction, so when you retighten the bolts, you must be pretty torque-y about it. The one thing missing from Dick's procedure, although it should be obvious in reading it, is that the shell should be open before you loosen the bolts. This "untwists" the torsion bars, taking the pressure off the support arms.

Bill

[HoMiPa]

Originally Posted by Bill

The torsion bars have a round cross-section all along their length. There are no holes, slots, flat spots, pins, or other retaining provisions. In other words, they are held on by friction, so when you retighten the bolts, you must be pretty torque-y about it. The one thing missing from Dick's procedure, although it should be obvious in reading it, is that the shell should be open before you loosen the bolts. This "untwists" the torsion bars, taking the pressure off the support arms.

Bill

Thank you. I took a good look at it this morning when I first took the dogs out. At the center of the trailer, where both a rear shell and front shell white support arm are located, the bottom of the street side front shell support arm is about a 1/4" higher than the bottom of the rear shell support arm. On the curb side, the bottom of the front shell support arm is about 1/4" lower than the rear shell support arm. Which makes sense, but also indicates that I have to both raise the curb side of the front shell, but also lower the street side of the front shell. Not sure how it got all out of whack like that, but I'm going to assume since it's just sheer pressure holding the torsion bars in place inside the support arm, that over time, especially with snow load up here, or perhaps being parked over the winter slightly off level, that it just all slips a tiny bit every so often. Over time that all adds up. Amazingly enough, it opens and closes just fine, so I've been trying to figure out exactly what is wrong. I've known for a while that the beds looked off kilter, but up until this year, I haven't given it much thought (ain't broke, don't fix it), since opening and closing worked fine. So I thought it was just the beds off kilter - but they are level to the ground, because they sit on/ride on the bottom shell. Doh! But the door halves are off much more this year than they have ever been, which has forced me to look at it and figure it out.

[Larryjb]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but there seems to be a bolt at the top of the white support arm that will adjust height of the shell. This bolt is only visible when the shells are closed, because when the shells open, this bolt rotates to be inside the pocket stop. I don't have a picture of that yet, but I could take one later today.

The torsion bars themselves will not adjust the height of the shell. They will only adjust the ease of lifting. Too much tension, and you will have difficulty closing the shells.

[HoMiPa]

Originally Posted by Larryjb

Correct me if I'm wrong, but there seems to be a bolt at the top of the white support arm that will adjust height of the shell. This bolt is only visible when the shells are closed, because when the shells open, this bolt rotates to be inside the pocket stop.

It's my understanding that that bolt is to adjust how close to vertical the support arms will go. In other words, if you can't pull the shell open enough so that the support arms are true vertical, then you need to loosen that bolt inside the pocket stop, to allow the support arm to swing up more. If you can pull the shell open so far that the support arm moves past vertical, and leans towards the front of the open shell, then that bolt needs to be tightened.

Originally Posted by Larryjb

The torsion bars themselves will not adjust the height of the shell. They will only adjust the ease of lifting. Too much tension, and you will have difficulty closing the shells.

The 4 bolts on the bottom of each support bar are not the bolts that you adjust for the torsion bars. They hold the vertical portions of the torsion bars in place, inside the support arms. Adjusting those will only shorten, or lengthen, the distance between the actual torsion bar and the bottom edge of the shell.

[Bill]

Holly -

I am not an expert in the lift system, but my impression is that you are right on both counts. If you look at the bottom of the support bars (in your photo), you will see that the bottom of the support bar is deformed, wrapped around the torsion bar a bit. This increases the grip of the (flat) support arm on the (round) torsion bar, and is also an indication what I meant by "torque-y".

Bill

[Deb Mac]

Originally Posted by Bill

The torsion bars have a round cross-section all along their length. There are no holes, slots, flat spots, pins, or other retaining provisions. In other words, they are held on by friction, so when you retighten the bolts, you must be pretty torque-y about it. The one thing missing from Dick's procedure, although it should be obvious in reading it, is that the shell should be open before you loosen the bolts. This "untwists" the torsion bars, taking the pressure off the support arms.

Bill

Another resurrected old thread
I adjusted the torsion bars last summer on my trip home after picking it up - made the front a LOT easier to open. But... Just curious, does anyone know what the torque on those 4 strut bolts should be? Going to find the pocket stops and check the measurements today before closing her up for the winter. Based on a few things that I see on mine and have read in various threads, I suspect that I need to adjust the height of the shells, but that won't be happening till the snows go! I have a torque wrench that I use on the lug nuts, and if and when (another spring project) I get at adjusting the struts and pocket stops, it would be great to know that I was "torque-y" enough. One person's "torqued" is another's "wrist tight"

[Larryjb]

Because the shell and box are essentially locked together it shouldn't make any difference. However, it would probably easier to be making any adjustments while the slide is recessed into the box.

[Deb Mac]

Originally Posted by Larryjb

Because the shell and box are essentially locked together it shouldn't make any difference. However, it would probably easier to be making any adjustments while the slide is recessed into the box.

Thanks Larry. That's what I thought. Really not essential, but maybe easier. I'm going to try first with it set up, since that's where it is right now. And shifting that box in & out is a bit of a tough go - partly because I think the shell isn't leveled properly. Once I can get the front shell adjusted, I will try sliding the box in & out again.

One thing I think I'll watch as well, to help guide how much I need to shift them up, are the aluminum locking bars. Right now all 4 of them are angled down to some degree or other, which is another indication to me that the shells to need to come up. I'll mark the struts and torsion bars with tape to see exactly how much movement I'm getting, but I will watch those aluminum bars as well and look for them to approach horizontal. Does that make sense as another indicator?

I've checked and we are level, and the struts are pretty much vertical (surprisingly!) so I think i should be good to go with trying the adjustments today. Sun is out, wind is calm, and I have nothing else on my to-do list that takes priority. Yet....

[Bill]

Not meaning to intrude, but looking at the last three posts - is everyone agreed as what constitute the shell, the box, and the slide?

Bill