TORSION BARS

Im experiencing a great deal of difficulty lifting the front shell of my 1987 M25 TM.  Two people can just about lift it.  Does this indicate a need to replace the torsion bars or is there an adjustment that can be made?  Any ideas would be appreciated. Thank you!!!

Granted I don't know if something is wrong with your bars, but they are adjustable. Look under your trailer, you will see that each bar comes down the outside of your trailer, curves under your trailer, then across to the other side. On that other side, where the bar ends, is a large bolt. You screw that bolt in and out to adjust tension on the bar. Try to adjust both sides the same. The bolt puts a "twist" on the bar, for lack of a better word. Just like raising or lowering the front end of an old Chrysler or Dodge.


Hope that helps

Mack

As per Trailmanor, shims need to be put in.........I've got all the info on it straight from them on the issue, and will be posting it soon......... :

Just out of curiosity....how's the wood in the front shell? When you go to lift the front section, does it stop where it's supposed to by itself? Just curious, mine's only 1 year older than yours is. I recently saw one on the net that was a 1987. I think it was going for around $8,000.00. It stopped showing up so I assume it got sold. Was it you that bought it? Just wondering. Mine was severely neglected, and I'm having to do a lot of work to it, but I don't mind. I still don't have hardly anything in it! I've got a lot of info on the older TM's on my web page, and will be posting some stuff on the shims and such as soon as I can get my notes from work scanned in.

http://members.aol.com/br768

Happytrails........

I have noticed after raising the front section it does not remain level.  I have traced the problem back to what I believe is a missing "Pocket stop".  I have purchased my trailManor used and would like to know how I could order such a part from the manufacturer.  Can you provide a phone number?

I am interested in how you installed /shimed the pocket stops to ensure a proper alignment.

JT

JT,

The phone number is (865) 426-7426.  I'm sure they will fix you right up.  I'd ask for Jimmy Davis.

Happy Trails..........George

If you look on my website link, you'll see a picture of the "replacement" pocket stop. What you have in there now is wood, with a little rubber bumper screwed into it, when you raise it up the "L" shaped travel arm bumps up into the rubber bumper. When you say it's not level.....is that side to side? or front to back? If the wood up in there is still good, all you need to do is put a 1/8" shim under that rubber bumper for every 1" of travel forward in the front 4, or depending......if it seems to be "Twisting" it may just need them on one or the other pocket stops. If your wood is good, I'd not worry about installing the pocket stops, you don't need them....just need the shims. (Which means you *will* have to remove the good wood to make room for the stops.....no easy chore as it's vacumed pressed and laminated in there along with a ton of contact cement). The wood's so rotted in mine, I'd wager my lift arms are going into the styrofoam underneath the wood, so in my case, I did need the stops. They cost only 10 bucks apiece. To see the wood, you will have to have the trailer shells lowered, and lay on your back with a flashlight. You should be able to peep in there and tell if the wood is good or not. When I first opened mine up, the front section fell so far forward, there was a 3 foot gap between the back of the front shell, and the front of the rear shell.....yeah, three feet of *sky*. Pocket stops stop forward travel, not side travel.....if yours is going to the side, I'd check the wood in the roof/wall. Donny explained all of this to me down at Trailmanor. if it's properly secured......wall to roof.....it won't go side to side......forwards and backwards is all about the  pocket stops and how much "shims" you need under the rubber bushing that they bump against. Hope this helps.......

Happytrails........

BTW, not all TM's have the same way of adjusting the torsion bars.....some do use that screw, others like mine and other older ones just use shims. If you look under your TM, more than likely you already have some in there, either that, or the screw type deal.....either way, look at the small tube that comes out of the frame where the torsion bars end up.....According to the diagram faxed to me by Donny at TM themselves, for positive preset, (I would guess more lifting power), you would put a shim on TOP of the side of the torque tube that goes to the travel arms, and a shim on the BOTTOM of the side of the torque tube where the ends of the  torsion bars come out. For negative preset, (I would guess, less lifting power), just do the opposite. There is a side note here that on 1994 models, there are no shims, just the bolt.....tighten to lift, losen to remove lift. Also all of this is done with the trailer in the OPEN position ONLY! The shims are held in place with nothing more simple than those little hose clamps that look like radiator hose clamps, only smaller......Hope this helps!

Happytrails.......

P.S.......the side note about 1994 models might mean 1994 and higher, dunno.......but probably.....

Happytrails........

Thanks for the INFO.


My Front shell was not level side to side.  I taped a 3/4 in  piece of wood to the top of the torsion bar (front on door side) with top shell down.  This worked well,  In fact it also helped to align my door.  I havent called down to the factory yet.  I guess I will put together a list first.

Thanks agian for the help,  

JT