Antares' Campsite - Hi-Lo camper travel trailer forum

Antares · 04-09-2011, 11:54 PM

Stealing an idea from the Jeep guys, I will keep this thread and post pictures of my rig and mods that I make along the way. This is my recently purchased 1986 Bon Voyage 27'.

ToDo:
Interior:
Modernize lighting - DONE
Replace flooring with new linoleum
Add curtains
Replace dresser with keggerator (I wish, wife won't let me.)
Fix a bit of water damage on one wall
New stabilizer jacks

Exterior:
New spare tire
Add hitch receiver to back bumper for bike rack
Fix the door - DONE!
Fix storage compartment door - DONE!
PAINT JOB!
Caulk windows - Half done!
Add propane tanks
Replace marker lights - DONE!
Add LED bulbs for brake/reverse

Antares · 04-10-2011, 12:08 AM

Front shot! I'm not sure if the metal sheeting along the front is standard. I've never seen another hi-lo with that metal guard.

The business end..

Side shot! I had the ladder out peeling old caulk from around windows.

Lined up. How about that drop?

Antares · 04-10-2011, 12:09 AM

The other side. Needs quite a bit of work on the door. Someone had previously pried their way in and now the door doesn't close properly. There is no key either.

New tire/wheel combo. These were about $80 each shipped from Eastern Marine. New lugs soon.

This is what the previous owner advertised as 'good tires'. Note the chunk missing from the tire on the left.

Back end!

Antares · 04-10-2011, 12:10 AM

Nasty stuff..

Interior facing rear:

Interior looking forward:

Hmm, I wonder why my marker and reverse lights don't work??

JMDoering · 04-10-2011, 10:29 AM

Really like what you're doing with this old gem! Keep up the good work... and thanks for the great photos.

What a cool rock shield. I want one too!

Interesting thought about replacing the dresser with a keggerator. I feel your pain, don't think my wife would like that upgrade either. Its a guy thing.

Here is a thought... tell her its an auxiliary hot water tank, that you've installed just for her so she can take longer showers!

Good luck and please keep the progress reports/photos coming!

Jim

campthewestcoast · 04-10-2011, 11:20 AM

Ditto on that cool rock shield!! Glad to see you taking on this Hi-Lo, sounds like you like to rebuild things as much as I do. Since I'm banned from tearing apart the house once I finished the remodel, my Hi-Lo Towlite keeps me busy. Keep the pictures coming. Les

sam · 04-11-2011, 12:04 AM

Enjoyed the pictures. I know you will get your HiLo fully restored. Just take it one day at a time. The older HiLo trailers were built sturdy and will last. Can't believe the seller said the tires were in good shape. Seems he needs an eye exam yesterday!! You are right the front of the HiLo is a custum sheet metal fab job. Looks like a decent repair job. There are plenty of us out there with "vintage HiLos" Best of luck with all your repairs.

sam · 04-11-2011, 01:33 PM

When my hubby came home from work today I had him look at your pictures..He is a semi retired sheet metal fabricator..He said the front cap has a great fab job,good radious. Hope you don,t mind your suggestions. You should take out all your windows and reseal with butyl tape. Start by taking out the screws on the inside'retainer clip. Gently pry out the window on the outside..It requires two people to remove and reinstall the window. We did two windows and have two more to go. This will give you a way to look at the condition of the walls/delamination. Looks like you have the awning case only..Back off all the screws and calk in the screw hole. Butyl tape can be bought at any RV store. Hubby says you can purchase a new lock for the door. Probably not cheap. Not much cheap these days. When you get to doing the bike rack you can access the library section HTF. It has a lengthy section/discussion on bike racks. You can get a Master catalog from camping world at 1.800.626.5944 or Camping World.com This will show you all the "Toys" ,parts. P:rices vary so search the internet. A nice thing to have would be a power jack. Take care,Sam

Antares · 04-11-2011, 09:30 PM

Thank you for your input, any is welcome here. With our first campout in less than 3 weeks, pulling out the windows is going to wait for another day. The pictures don't show it, but the drivers side upper wall has a bit of water damage from mid window on both windows down. J&R quoted $2500 to replace the entire wall using the existing skin. While this is probably a fair price, the repair cost is almost double what I paid for the camper, and even more expensive than the book value. A friend of mine experienced with boat repair offered to help me fix it using some exotic new composite materials.

With the awning, i'm on the fence if i'm going to repair it or just remove it completely. It may be easier to just replace the whole thing, but it's the last thing on my mind right now. I have a huge portable easy-up style canopy that measures an unweildly 12'x26' that we will use.

So far i've been using Amazon and eTrailer.com with much success. Amazon had the best price on the weight distribution hitch, and with my Prime membership the whole solid chunk of metal was shipped to the house in 2 days for free.

sting32 · 04-12-2011, 10:15 AM

Hey Antares,

Just to add to my knowledge, does this one have a rubber type roof top, or is it like mine, has the same stuff on top as the sides?

Thanks.

bluewindsue · 04-12-2011, 11:28 PM

i just got an old 87 funchaser 22ft
has the same door as yours
previous ower put a house door dead bolt on it a few inches above the factory lock
works good

sam · 04-12-2011, 11:54 PM

Our service advisor told us to pull out all our windows and reinstall with Butyl tape.then caulk. Keep checking the inside window screws as they may loosen up with road vibration/traveling. I agree that the quote for the wall repair excedes the blue book value. We are in the same boat Sure wish I had a friend that would offer to help fix our delamination.!!!Can I borrow him ? Are you located in OHIO? My brother lives in Cleveland/Strongsville. Your right about using an easy up shelter as awnings are expensive. Seems like you are doing good with your repairs. Take some pictures when you fix the delaminated wall..I would be interested in what the exotic materials are. Take care Sam.

Antares · 04-13-2011, 08:59 AM

sting32: I have a rubber roof. My siding material is actually a single sheet of fiberglass unlike what looks like vinyl siding I've seen on newer models.

bluewindsue: Thanks for the idea of the regular deadbolt. I may just go that route as replacement door handles are too hard to match up.

sam: thanks for the butyl tape suggestion. I bought some to use when I replace the front vent. I live about 45 minutes from your brother on the east side of town.

sam · 04-13-2011, 09:19 PM

If the gas prices weren't so high I would offer to come out and give you a hand with your restoration and also see my brother..He loves it when my husband helps him with repairs at his house. We are busy fixing a tub and toilet leak in our seconf floor br. It trashed the plaster ceiling paint that we just had restored last winter. The joys of owning a home.!! The damaged ceiling is below in our 1st fl. kitchen. Some one also put in a dead bolt lock on our HiLo. The extra lock/security is the way to go. When you get around to repairing the lights on the back of the trailer take the time to sodder all the connections. We spent many years being frustrated before we did this. Also the cute lampshade'lights inside the trailer would never stay on and we were always"smacking them ect. to make them stay lit. We mentioned this to a fellow HiLo camper and he told us to put solder on the base of the lamp where the light bulb makes contact. This solved the problem. What ever the problerm some one out there in HiLo land knows the solution. You may want to contact someone at the O-HI-LO Club. The contact info I have is Bob and Jane Smith 4309 Hickory Hill Ave. Lorain Ohio 44052 1-440-282-2780 BSmith@Century Tel.Net Maybe some one in the HiLo club lives close to you. We live in Niagara Falls,NY

Antares · 05-09-2011, 09:44 PM

And now for the most important reason to have a hi-lo:

Zero interaction of the camper with the 16' kayak I routinely take camping! Pic was taken at our first campout a week ago. Found that the electric didn't work, but that was an easy fix onsite. The plug had bad connections and taking it apart and re-crimping connections fixed it. Also, when going to put it down, the safety release cord felt 'squishy' and the top wouldn't go down. After half an hour of prodding, we finally got it down but the problem is still there. More to come on that part.

sam · 05-09-2011, 10:10 PM

Glad to hear you made it out on your first campout. Seems like you are coming along on your repairs. We had a week of rain and when you do get some sun it is time to rake up from the huge wind storm. Got some firewood from the storm. Mow and weedwack.Going overto the HiLo tomorrow,pictures I promise. Sam

JMDoering · 05-09-2011, 11:07 PM

Anteres,

I've said before how much I like the stainless steel rock shield on your rig. A rock shield that really rocks!!

About the release cable and you're difficulties lowering the top... perhaps you know about this, but try raising the top to its maximum before pulling the cable and pushing the down switch. Due to minor hydraulic leaks, the top halves of Hi-Lo's will very slowly sink down until the ram is resting against the safety latch. Raising the roof section releases that ram interference and frees the latch so it can be pulled out of the way by the release cable. In both of my Hi-Lo's it can sometimes take a couple of sharp tugs, but I can actually hear the latch click free when it finally disengages. Then I know its okay to lower away.

Pretty neat that your kayak cleared the roof of the trailer when you were under way! This is a Hi-Lo advantage I have never before considered!

Jim

Antares · 05-10-2011, 07:34 AM

I actually think I have a top-end leveling problem that is preventing the top from going all the way up and the safety latch just barely engages. I'll be checking it out this weekend.

The Ohioian · 05-30-2011, 10:17 AM

You in the Cleveland Area tell us about some favorite spots I think I could afford gas once a year to get that way. When I was a boy we went to the lake alot sure do miss it. Looking for marshy spots. Or river to lake spots.

Antares · 07-08-2011, 04:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Ohioian

You in the Cleveland Area tell us about some favorite spots I think I could afford gas once a year to get that way. When I was a boy we went to the lake alot sure do miss it. Looking for marshy spots. Or river to lake spots.

Punderson S.P.
Findley S.P.

Both have lakes that the park encircles. We only have one camping trip per year that doesn't involve a lake.