1999 Fleetwood/Coleman - won't crank down

[wggirl]

We are borrowing a friend's "folding trailer" for the weekend ... 1999 Fleetwood/Coleman Grand Tour/Destiny Series.

We cranked it up no problem (heard the clicks as described in other threads).

Now we can't get it down.  And the friend we borrowed it from is clue-less.  

It almost feels like there is a release that needs to be activated before it will go down.

Any suggestions?

wggirl

ps - we leave after work tomorrow ... so a prompt response would be greatly appreciated

[badabing67]

have you tried to give it a hard hit on the wrench to free it? sometimes mine feels like it is stuck and i put a little more pressure on it and it pops and comes on down. or see if you can overcrank it and get it to free up

[wggirl]

It cranks counter-clockwise ... but doesn't produce anything.  It feels like it's "grabbing" for the first half of the crank and the second half it moves freely with NO resistance.

wggirl

[badabing67]

I know this may sound stupid , but did you take the door out? or is there any thing set up inside that would be supporting the roof?

[wggirl]

everything is down and out!

the crank "sticks" and feels like it's working from 9 to 3 ... then it "pops out of gear" and turns free from 3 back to 9

there has definetly been a lot of MOUSE activity ... we took the cover off underneath everthing and pulled out a big mess

is there a pin or something we should be looking for?  a specific fix for the clutch where it's not grabbing?

wggirl

[badabing67]

have you tried overcranking it? there is a post on pg.5 about what is involved in the crank mechanisim hope it helps

[wggirl]

we tried overcranking it on your first suggestion ... it did nothing

we were able to get it down however!!

my boyfriend manipulated it enough that he was able to start the crank down process with a wrench up underneath the mechanism ... once it was going, I was able to crank it down the rest of the way.

i think the ENORMOUS rat's nest we pulled out of there must have had everything jammed up and not working properly ... i think overcranking it actually made it worse.

good news, we can go tomorrow ... and we're taking out wrenches and rachets with us just in case ; )

wggirl

ps - thank you for your suggestions

[badabing67]

glad you were able to get it working, the rats nest probably didn't help. hope yall had a good weekend, we just got home from the outer banks of North Carolinia. had a great weekend.