Help!! How do you adjust the timing on a 75 Royal

AuthorMessagedbeal

Soggy Tenter

Joined: May 03, 2003

Posts: 13

Posted: Sat May 03, 2003 4:51 pm   Post subject: Help!! How do you adjust the timing on a 75 Royal

Help!!! My "superman" son was helping me raise our 75 royal for cleaning and over extended the roof.. It popped twice and when we lowered it down the front of the roof is about 2 inches higher than the back. The back lowers all the way down.. but the front is about 2 inches high from lowering all the way. Is there some kind of manual about adjusting the timing? Also is there an instruction manual on greasing the gear boxes. Thanks Darrell

cimar78

Elk

Joined: Apr 22, 2003

Posts: 243

Location: Fayetteville, NC

Posted: Mon May 05, 2003 6:04 pm   Post subject:

Not sure about that. Tim would be the one to ask. Happy Camping

eric2301

Soggy Tenter

Joined: May 01, 2004

Posts: 15

Posted: Fri May 14, 2004 12:17 am   Post subject:

hey if i was you i believe i would try to lift the top and lower it agian see if tht fixes it it may even out on the way up

jtslj

Vesely Prodigy

Joined: Apr 20, 2003

Posts: 1624

Location: Salt Lake City Utah

Posted: Fri May 14, 2004 6:07 am   Post subject:

my thoughts.. lower the roof.. support the roof.. go under the trailer and disconnect the pipe that connects the front to rear gearbox and then use the either turn the front gearbox to lower the front of the trailer then re-attach the pipe, or drop the gearbox and then carefully lower the front of the trailer then reattach the gearbox. I would check with Tim (timsch) or Terry (aka aawebtools) first just to make sure. _________________ Me -71 (Jeff) Wife ?? (Shauna) Thomas 97 Nicholas 01 '79 Ramada '95 GMC Z71 in Utah

FitzFolly

Deer

Joined: Jul 27, 2003

Posts: 213

Location: Salem, OR

Posted: Fri May 14, 2004 7:02 am   Post subject:

Darrell, Look in the Gearbox Help forum for the Apache Gearbox Primer post. It is right above yours. If you'll print it out, and then download and print out the three files in the Download Module, you'll have a good set of reference information on hand all the time. The lift system download will give you good descriptions and pictures of the gearbox and chain system. My guess is that you need to drop the front gearbox(they should come off first all the time) and slide(with your fingers) each chain down/over as much as it will go, but that's a guess. You may need to drop the rear gearbox as well. The Gearbox Primer talks about lining up the gearbox gears and the chain, as well as the roll pin to connecting shaft linkage. Good luck, Fitz _________________ 72 Mesa 78 Ramada 98 Chry. T & C 66 F-100

kevinw

Wolf

Joined: Apr 20, 2003

Posts: 139

Location: Easton, Ma

Posted: Fri May 14, 2004 11:39 am   Post subject:

you could lower the top as far as it goes. pull the gearbox on the end that is still up. and lower it down. reset the gearbox in place. _________________ 1985 Royal

jtslj

Vesely Prodigy

Joined: Apr 20, 2003

Posts: 1624

Location: Salt Lake City Utah

Posted: Fri May 14, 2004 1:22 pm   Post subject:

where is tim and terry with input one this one _________________ Me -71 (Jeff) Wife ?? (Shauna) Thomas 97 Nicholas 01 '79 Ramada '95 GMC Z71 in Utah

aawebtools

Site Admin

Joined: Aug 23, 2002

Posts: 686

Location: Florida

Posted: Fri May 14, 2004 2:19 pm   Post subject:

Busy working on campers! I would drop both gearboxes, service them while I had them out. Get the end that is out of time back where it belongs and put the gearboxes back on. Then crank the top up and drop the gearboxes again. Check the tension on the chains to see if the cables are stretching. The end of the chain should have enough tension on it that it curls up towards the top of the track and it takes a little effort to move it down. If you find that the chain has no tension, it is time to change the chain! You might want to think about replacing all of them unless you know that some are newer than others. It could also be that there is a link or two in the area of the chain that was hitting the gears when it jumped that are damaged. If you think that this might be the case, remove the chain and inspect it.

_________________

jtslj

Vesely Prodigy

Joined: Apr 20, 2003

Posts: 1624

Location: Salt Lake City Utah

Posted: Fri May 14, 2004 2:26 pm   Post subject:

I am going to take on a lift system problem tomorrow.. front is not lifting properly I will check out the gearboxes first. then go from there _________________ Me -71 (Jeff) Wife ?? (Shauna) Thomas 97 Nicholas 01 '79 Ramada '95 GMC Z71 in Utah

kevinw

Wolf

Joined: Apr 20, 2003

Posts: 139

Location: Easton, Ma

Posted: Fri May 14, 2004 4:46 pm   Post subject:

jtslj wrote:I am going to take on a lift system problem tomorrow..

front is not lifting properly

I will check out the gearboxes first.

then go from there

Just a little tip. 

Don't remove the two hex nuts next to the gear boxes unless you absolutely need to.

(not the 4 holding the gearbox on)

They hold the retainer in place inside the track.

The bolts tend to rust up and snap off. 

If the bolts break off flush you will have to remove the bezel and the track to replace them.

A previous owner or service person broke them off on mine. 

And don't try to lift it without them it will bend the track.

Good luck. 

_________________

1985 Royal

jtslj

Vesely Prodigy

Joined: Apr 20, 2003

Posts: 1624

Location: Salt Lake City Utah

Posted: Fri May 14, 2004 9:24 pm   Post subject:

Thanks. My plans are gear boxes first. . I just got done doing my gearboxes.. should be easy. but I suspect a lift chain problem or a front gear box problem _________________ Me -71 (Jeff) Wife ?? (Shauna) Thomas 97 Nicholas 01 '79 Ramada '95 GMC Z71 in Utah

Stan

Joined: Sep 15, 2003

Posts: 62

Location: Jersey Shore, PA

Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2004 8:21 am   Post subject: HELP--Gearbox/Chain Installation questions

Tim, Terry, ANYBODY!! Help! I have been on this project too long!! I pulled the gearboxes and chains. Gearboxes are greased (but not yet sealed), cables in chains have been replaced with ss cables. Chains have been installed, and gearboxes remounted. I did this with roadcover in raised position. NOW MY PROBLEM and QUESTIONS: Roadcover seemed to raise ok, but when I lowered it, the rear lacked less than 1/2" from being fully down, and the front is probably 2" from the full down position(is this called a timing problem). I thought I would disconnect the connecting tube and turn the front gearbox to get the front into the full down position? Then I thought I would lower the rear gearbox (hopefully get rear of roadcover in full down position ???? Do I need to reallign the teeth in the rear gearbox to get the large teeth to line up with the chain openings? Assuming this is the procedure to follow, and everything lines up, can I now reinstall the rear gearbox and raise the roadcover? I'm beginning to learn more vocabulary and mechanics about Apaches than I ever wanted to know, but you Apache owners have been super helpful. Thanks. Stan.

Trailman

Wolf

Joined: Jul 08, 2004

Posts: 147

Location: New Brunswick, Canada

Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2004 4:06 pm   Post subject:

Quote:Roadcover seemed to raise ok, but when I lowered it, the rear lacked less than 1/2" from being fully down, and the front is probably 2" from the full down position(is this called a timing problem).

Stan, do you have the Apache lift system Parts And Service Manual printed out?

Reading from it it says....

"The lift sysrem is a closed system in time. Essentially it is in time since all corners are down together. This closed position is the reference point to which we can return to to resolve timing problems.

One corner which does not nest with the others is out of time.

This is usually a gear or chain problem.

One end ahead or behind the other is usually caused by a gearbox problem or the connecting tube jumping over the shaft pin."

So it looks to me like you are correct and you should drop the gearboxes and lower all corners/ends and restart from there, i have to do the same with mine as i over lifted the cover on mine and a box skipped.

Please someone with more experience with the system correct me if the info is incorrect.

Den

_________________

74 Apache Mesa

76 Boler

Last edited by Trailman on Fri Sep 10, 2004 6:08 pm, edited 1 time in total

timsch

Vesely Prodigy

Joined: Apr 20, 2003

Posts: 1693

Location: Auburn Hills, MI

Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2004 5:55 pm   Post subject:

First of all, the chains you did yourself could be the problem if they are not the correct tightness. I'm scepticle of this right off the bat. It could be the difference in tightness in each chain by the way you described and the looseness will show in the chains when it is lowered. Timing is nothing more than putting the gearboxes on while the road cover is in the same position, level. (Note that the road cover wobbles when it is raising and lowering, this is inherant to how the gears move and is normal.) I would not time it as how you described Stan but drop the gear boxes and do it again and line the gears up on the second gear box without disturbing the first placed one. A trick also is to pull or push the chains in or out when lineing up the gear boxes. This assures the chains are in the same spot and not a link or so off.

Stan

Squirrel

Joined: Sep 15, 2003

Posts: 62

Location: Jersey Shore, PA

Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2004 8:59 pm   Post subject: HELP--Gearbox/Chain Installation questions