Falcon 2 tow bar frozen in RETRACTED position
My tow bar has been stored over a year in the retracted position. The tow rods won't extend. I soaked them overnight with wd40 and plan to employ a hammer and rod if there are no other ideas. ...
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Sorry for the delay reporting back. My solution was the brute force method.
Note that my problem was arms NOT EXTENDING. They were frozen in the RETRACTED position. This is an extreme case. I don't ever plan to retract them. They'll stay extended unless I send them in for a rebuild.
* Removed the square rubber caps at the base of the arms.
* Liberally soaked the rods with WD40
* Used an aluminum rod (so it would be softer than the steel of the towbar).
* With a 5 lb sledge hammer I drove the towbar arms out until they locked in place.
Of course this made it difficult to jockey the car so that the towbar could be attached. No, I don't recommend this, but it worked for me.
Note that my problem was arms NOT EXTENDING. They were frozen in the RETRACTED position. This is an extreme case. I don't ever plan to retract them. They'll stay extended unless I send them in for a rebuild.
* Removed the square rubber caps at the base of the arms.
* Liberally soaked the rods with WD40
* Used an aluminum rod (so it would be softer than the steel of the towbar).
* With a 5 lb sledge hammer I drove the towbar arms out until they locked in place.
Of course this made it difficult to jockey the car so that the towbar could be attached. No, I don't recommend this, but it worked for me.
