bulge, not mine, the Hi Lo!
 

A couple of months ago, someone mentioned they had a bulge at one of the outriggers. I knew I also had a minor bulge, however, after looking closely, I realize that mine could indicate a problem. Not sure. If the cables are adjusted properly should there be that much weight on the outriggers? All indications are that the wood in that area is NOT soft nor is there any rot. This bulge is ONLY street side rear, no where else and the top is adjusted properly when raised. Any ideas? I see nothing wrong.

Tree, when the top is down, ALL the weight is supported by the outriggers. The cables should be relatively slack.

I wonder if that corner is hitting the outrigger slightly before the others when the top is lowered? That could possibly buckle the corner slightly

When you "sight" along the lower edge of the top, do you see any curvature in the area of the bulge? If not, I'd say the bulge is just due to a slightly oversized skin in that area.

- Jack

Jack, thanks for the quick reply. I might be lucky, but when I look at a picture on the forum, on most of them, I can right click, get an exploded view and a plus icon comes up, left click and the pic gets even bigger. In the picture, I can see this curvature you speak of. I am a bit concerned, so I'll keep an eye on it. I'd thought about putting a heavy angle stock to distribute the weight, or perhaps lowering the outrigger a bit. How much is too much is the question. Thanks again,
Tree

Expert opinion available for free
 

Call Jay the HiLo expert at Mantelli sales. Have him look at your picture on the forum. He will reference the picture and call you back if necessary. Steve the service manager is very good answering questions. 1-716-625-8877

Thanks sam, I give them a call.

Maybe its a delamination of the outer wall.

I'm pretty sure it's forcing that situation, but I don't know how to overcome it. Seems as though the upper half is too heavy.
Tree

Looks like mine, delamination.

Mine has that a little but up higher

I'm hasn't changed at all. As I said, there is no rot or soft areas. I'll be changing the bulb seal within a year, so I'll be able to determine if there is anything wrong under there.
Tree

Follow-up. I found the cause, and it was right in my face. The hard rubber pads on the END of the outriggers don't belong there. They are supposed to be closer to the trailer- below the rail, not below the trim. I added another semi-hard rubber piece under the hard rubber block, then used gorilla snot to adhere them under the rail. After lowering the top, wa-la, perfect alignment!
Tree

Glad to hear the problem was corrected before you made any drastic changes.

Tree:

How about a picture? I'm having trouble visualizing this.

bulge cure
 

The hard rubber pads on my trailer outriggers were at the ends of the outriggers. This caused the trim to rest on those pads, causing the skin to bulge. After beefing them up and putting them under the rail, the trim no longer strikes the outrigger. You can see by the glue marks where they were. Simple fix.
Tree

Thanks
 

Thanks TC:

Got it now with the pictures. I may have the same issue.

Thanks

Dam, I'm going to have to check mine if I ever get it back.

When you look at the rubber pad, you'll see that I've rotated them 90 degrees. The marks in the pads are from the trim.

I was looking at our trailer, pads are at the ends of the outriggers and the top sets down perfectly on them. ???

Humm....Either my outriggers are longer than yours or my walls are thinner than yours. ?? Either way mines fixed now.
Heading to Highlands Hammock SP for a few days, (DSO thinks I camp just to find more things to fix/up-grade).
Catch ya'll later,
Tree