Cam latch alignment fore aft.

sgrant914 · 10-05-2023, 03:23 PM

So some of my latches are off. My shells measure well are not sagging that I can tell. Any ideas. I have searched but didn’t find anything.

-Steve

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**Larryjb** · 10-05-2023, 04:12 PM

How is the height of each shell? It should be in the neighbourhood of 39.5" from the bottom of the box to the top of the pocket (inside the pocket). If these adjustments are off, they will affect the alignment of the catch as you have pictured.

sgrant914 · 10-05-2023, 04:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Larryjb

How is the height of each shell? It should be in the neighbourhood of 39.5" from the bottom of the box to the top of the pocket (inside the pocket). If these adjustments are off, they will affect the alignment of the catch as you have pictured.

Larry I will double check but I want to say it is good

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**Larryjb** · 10-05-2023, 04:25 PM

Another thing to look at are the pivots in the pocket stops. This is where the lift arm pivots in the shell. A last place to look are the L brackets that the torsion bars go through, but I think you would have noticed more serious problems if you had a problem with these.

**Bill** · 10-06-2023, 02:37 PM

Larry, this is probably the same thing you have been saying ...

Looks like the lift arms have slipped on the end of the torsion bar. The four hex bolts in the each picture need to be loosened, then the lift arm moved and the bolts tightened tightly. And yes, the end of the lift arm is supposed to be belled out a bit between the bolt heads.

Bill

sgrant914 · 10-06-2023, 03:06 PM

The worst offender is the front shell driver side. I am not sure what to check in the pivots in the pocket stops.

Being the lift arms pivot in the upper shell and the distance from the pivot to the latch on the lift arm seems fixed, I have a hard time understanding how adjusting shell height affects the latch position fore aft. As I see it, if I adjust the shell height on the front torsion bar by sliding lift arm up or down on the torsion bar, the distance for the latch fore aft is the same regardless of height of shell height position as the distance of the latch on the lift arm to the pivot is the same regardless if shell height

Am i missing something?

**Larryjb** · 10-07-2023, 08:15 AM

If the position of the lift arm in the torsion bar has changed, that will push lift arm in a different position relative to the torsion bar, whether it is in the vertical configuration (shell is up), or horizontal (shell is down). If the lift arm has been adjusted too high, the lift arm will have been placed higher up on the end of the torsion bar, increasing the distance between the bend of the torsion bar and the bottom of the lift arm. When the shell is lowered, that pushes the lift arm right or left as well.

In your pictures, it looks as if the shell has been raised too high on the torsion bar, so that the distance from the torsion bar is greater. This has pushed the lift arm to the right in your first two pictures, and to the left in your last two pictures.

I would draw a couple of diagrams to illustrate this, but I don't have the time just now. I could probably draw one later today if you wish.

If there is a problem with the bracket that holds the torsion bar below, this might also cause a problem here. From the sounds of things, your pivots in the shell are okay. If they were bad enough to cause the kind of misalignment you have pictured, there would have been obvious damage to the shell, so I think those pivots are probably fine.

For now, it looks like some one has adjusted the shells too high at one point.