FunLite/TowLite What's the diff?
 

My newly acquired 24', 1996 says FunLite? Is this same or different than TowLite?

Does anyone know the empty weight of my 24' FunLite?

Jerry

The Funlite was sort of a predecessor to the Towlite. The Hi-Lo Classic and the Funlite were both built at the original Butler, OH factory. In 1992 Hi-Lo started building the Towlite at their new factory in Belleville, OH. The Funlite was a lighter and less expensive model as compared to the Classic. The Towlite was also a lightweight and lesser expensive model. Eventually the Butler factory became the repair facility and Classic production moved to the Belleville factory. Look at this link and you will see the transition of models during the 90's. Also, click on the 1996 Funlite and you will see a brochure with the specs. That's part of what can be found in the Forum's reference library. Past Trailer Models | Hi-Lo Trailers

RichR, that is a great link! For the 1996 Funlite, it shows the unloaded vehicle weight (UVW) as 3810 lbs. and the hitch weight (HW) as 590 lbs. However, for the 1996 24' Funlite, I see no cargo carrying capacity (CCC). When looking at the 1995 brochure for the 24' Funlite (just one year older), it gives a CCC of 1275 lbs. We all know that the UVW is useless by itself unless one is planning on never loading it for camping (Ha!); so to get a realistic gross vehicle weight (GVW) for camping, you would need to add together the UVW and the CCC.

Dee
Summerville, SC

Rich, good useful info. Thanks man. Seller said our FunLite weighs "less than 3000 lbs"......HA. Chart you sent shows 3800 Lbs empty.

Good thing we have old Ford F250 (Factory 560 V-8, 5 speed, crank windows). It will tow almost anything and doesn't drop when Hi-Lo's 590 lbs (hitch wt) is lowered onto hitch ball. No stabilizing bars needed

Jerry

Dee, I agree. Great info here. Am looking forward to winter FL camping in FunLite. BTW I lived in Mt Pleasant for 5 years from '81 to '86. Love the Charleston area!

Jerry

Correct set up for towing
 

We tow our 1990 25ft. Classic(heavier) with a weight destributing hitch and sway bars. DH say the sway is built into the bars. You also need a brake controller. This was set up by our HiLo dealer. Our tow vehicle is a 1997F250 4x4 8ft. bed with a fiberglass cap. Just want to make sure you are set up properly to tow.

Towing safely
 

Thanks Sam. We want to tow safely

I do have electric brake control and wt distributing hitch, but not the sway bars. My empty 24' FunLite weighs 4K. We towed 20 miles from seller to home with no sway, thankfully, but do you feel I should also have bars? We only plan to tow 20 miles to and from State Park

BTW,I tow with 1990 F250, 8' bed empty except for tool box, 460 V-8, 5 speed, a real workhorse.......not good on gas

Love old Fords!

jerry

Jerry, if your camping at Fl. state parks, I'd suggest you make reservations NOW. Rainbow Springs, near Tampa, spot 43 was perfect! Also Blue Springs, near Orlando. If you want other sites, let me know, we've done many Fl. State Parks, and we'll do the rest as time goes by.
Treeclimber

Fl State Parks
 

Thanks man. Agree, we've been to several including Rainbow Springs. We are close to Kissimmee River State Park and REALLY like it. Have you been? Check our site 43 for deer early and hogs late.

Jerry

towing safely
 

I was following behind DH and that when I saw the sway. You are only going a few miles. May not need. I know what you mean about our ford trucks being gas hogs. We probably get about 10miles per gallon when we are towing. We are able to buy our gas at a near by Indian Reservation...tax free. This week it was 1.96 a gallon. $40.00 to $50.00 a week.

Sam, I'm gonna try and get away towing without sway bars as we're only going 20 miles to FL State Park and then back home, all on flat ground, of course.

Here, gas is 1.96 currently and yes, our Ford trucks love to eat it up! Got to admit though, I love having 7.5 litre V-8 and factory 5 on floor. Without towing, I'm happy to get 11 per gal. Long bed seems to help towing stability.

Jerry

Hi-Lo usually doesn't have any sway problems unless they are loaded up to make them tail heavy. Just be sure to place heavier items forward in the trailer and lighter to the rear.

Rich, thanks. Good to know. We'll be sure to load heavy stuff up front. Do most or all Hi-Lo's have 2 and 5/16 inch balls?

My unit came with wt distributing hitch but lacks the bars. Prior owner lost em.

Jerry

Jerry, you have a hitch weight of 590 lbs. According to the fellow in North Charleston, SC who professionally set up the weight distribution hitch for our 2009 25-foot Hi-Lo Classic when we bought it new, he recommended and used 800-lb. bars for our 630-lb. hitch weight. The common theory is to match the proper weight bars as closely as possible to your hitch weight without using bar weight lighter than your hitch weight; therefore, I questioned him as to why 800 lbs. for a 630-lb. hitch weight. Why not 700-lb. bars? It probably was a stupid question, but I knew nothing about this stuff!! He said the product Draw-Tite weight distribution only came in 200-lb. increments. In addition, he said that a weight distribution system provides or allows better tracking at higher speeds behind the tow vehicle. Also, he did not recommend sway control for us because we have on-board sway control via a computer in our 2010 F-250 Powerstroke diesel pickup which was rigged out for heavy duty towing at the factory. I truly believe you can get away with 600-lb. bars for weight distribution which will be easier to take on and off your Hi-Lo along with a power lift.

By the way, you would not even recognize Mt. Pleasant now; it has grown so much since the old Cooper River bridge has been replaced by two bridges side by side; new bridges on I-526, and causeway bridge from Mt. pleasant onto Isle of Palms.

Dee
Summerville, SC

Dee, thank you. I will search for 600lb bars.

I would prob get lost in Mt Pleasant today due to all the growth. BTW my middle son John (USC) is the proud owner of JSP Realty Co. in Mt Pleasant.

We plan to use '96 FunLite only for 20 mile trips to FL State Park, so I just might be able to not use bars. My vintage Ford F250 doesn't mind or drop down at all when 590 lbs is lowered down, so maybe I won't have to utilize bars (which, as yet haven't been turned over by prior owner) Bummer.

Thanks again for your help. Great folks in this forum. Very helpful.

Jerry

I can't say that your Hi-Lo has a 2 5/16" ball as do later models. I think some older models had 2" balls. The weight rating of the trailer dictates the ball size. You definitely need to use the correct size. Some hitch tongues have the ball size stamped on them. Maybe someone here with a similar size and year trailer call tell you what size their trailer takes.