How to deal with the torsion bar tension
I think I found why it's so hard to drop my roof. The lifter isn't attached to the gear hardware! I'll provide photos and an explanation when I put together my build thread later today or tomorrow - and hope someone can provide me with a solution.
BUT I also still need to replace my back roof rim board so I've been cogitating on the torque issue for awhile (I may have to take up drinking coffee to speed up that process
). I DO understand how the torsion bar that runs inside the top rail of the lifter puts stress on the bracket. I DON'T understand how that aides in lifting the roof since - if I understand it right - the torsion bar is rotating freely inside the top rail... and the end of the top rail just slips into the bracket housing. How does that affect the scissor action or gearing? Again, as I'm visualizing it, all the torsion bar is doing is putting tension on the bracket attached to the rim of the roof. Hopefully, someone can explain that to me.
While I'm confused about the function of the torsion bar, I do understand the need to deal with the pressure it's exerting on the L-bracket. I had thought I would just be unbolting the brackets only at the back, removing the weathered plywood rim, replacing it with solid plywood reinforced with angle iron (such as the bed frame iron), and re-bolting the L-bracket to the new back rim board...and maybe I can, now that I believe the torsion bar is not the problem. As long as the bracket is still bolted to the side (where the wood is still solid), the torsion bar should stay housed in the hexagonal seating of the bracket. Right?
If I'm wrong and need to remove the L-bracket completely, I need help understanding how to fully release the tension in the torsion bar before removing the bracket so it won't twist through the good roof as happened to someone else rebuilding their roof. And then when I'm ready to re-install the bracket, how do I create a little tension in the torsion bar with the rest of the roof intact and the canvas still on?
Here's Eugene's rear rebuild using 2x material:
To deal with the tension, he cut the board in the middle so he could pull each side down and then connect them. He's able to do that 'cause he doesn't have a roof above it. Bill, I'm guessing you did the same with the bed frames, i.e. I'm thinking you pulled your roof forward a bit or lifted it high enough to get it out of the way so you could insert the bed rails at a similar angle, pull them down, and connect them together with the middle frame. Then (again, I'm guessing), you dropped the roof down and bolted it to the brace. (Is this how you did it?)
My hope is that I won't have to unfasten the canvas and unbolt the roof in order to move it out of the way. I want to keep as much as possible intact. However, that means the roof is in the way of installing the back angle irons or boards at an angle before pulling them down to horizontal.
Ideas?
I think I found why it's so hard to drop my roof. The lifter isn't attached to the gear hardware! I'll provide photos and an explanation when I put together my build thread later today or tomorrow - and hope someone can provide me with a solution.
BUT I also still need to replace my back roof rim board so I've been cogitating on the torque issue for awhile (I may have to take up drinking coffee to speed up that process
). I DO understand how the torsion bar that runs inside the top rail of the lifter puts stress on the bracket. I DON'T understand how that aides in lifting the roof since - if I understand it right - the torsion bar is rotating freely inside the top rail... and the end of the top rail just slips into the bracket housing. How does that affect the scissor action or gearing? Again, as I'm visualizing it, all the torsion bar is doing is putting tension on the bracket attached to the rim of the roof. Hopefully, someone can explain that to me.While I'm confused about the function of the torsion bar, I do understand the need to deal with the pressure it's exerting on the L-bracket. I had thought I would just be unbolting the brackets only at the back, removing the weathered plywood rim, replacing it with solid plywood reinforced with angle iron (such as the bed frame iron), and re-bolting the L-bracket to the new back rim board...and maybe I can, now that I believe the torsion bar is not the problem. As long as the bracket is still bolted to the side (where the wood is still solid), the torsion bar should stay housed in the hexagonal seating of the bracket. Right?
If I'm wrong and need to remove the L-bracket completely, I need help understanding how to fully release the tension in the torsion bar before removing the bracket so it won't twist through the good roof as happened to someone else rebuilding their roof. And then when I'm ready to re-install the bracket, how do I create a little tension in the torsion bar with the rest of the roof intact and the canvas still on?
Here's Eugene's rear rebuild using 2x material:
To deal with the tension, he cut the board in the middle so he could pull each side down and then connect them. He's able to do that 'cause he doesn't have a roof above it. Bill, I'm guessing you did the same with the bed frames, i.e. I'm thinking you pulled your roof forward a bit or lifted it high enough to get it out of the way so you could insert the bed rails at a similar angle, pull them down, and connect them together with the middle frame. Then (again, I'm guessing), you dropped the roof down and bolted it to the brace. (Is this how you did it?)
My hope is that I won't have to unfasten the canvas and unbolt the roof in order to move it out of the way. I want to keep as much as possible intact. However, that means the roof is in the way of installing the back angle irons or boards at an angle before pulling them down to horizontal.
Ideas?
