Help With 69 Hi Lo
 

Looking to get my dads old 69 Hilo on the road again. Its been in a shed for a long time but it is in pretty good shape. Going to put 4 new tires on it and repack the wheel bearings and use it this summer. Not going to use the bathroom or fridge so all I need is it to be reliable driving down the road. I have a few questions that I'm not sure about..

1 What type of battery should I put in it? Will my truck keep it charged from the trailer plug?

2 What is the black coil wire on the front of the camper that goes up and down with the camper? Mine is damaged

3 What should I use to seal the vent on the roof from leaking?

4 Should I repack the wheel bearings or put on new hubs with bearing buddies on them?

Thanks

Welcome to the forum:

I dont know much about 69 hilos- others will know more but here are some quick thoughts.

*The coiled "cord" is, I think, the wiring to the rest of the unit from the battery.If it is damaged then it needs to be repaired for lights and the lift system to work- along anything else electrical. OR- it may be the power cord for the air conditioner.

* If that trailer has been sitting I would definitly take the time to have the bearings re-packed. I think the "bearing buddies" route isn't the way to go here, those being a better application for boat trailers where the wheels are in the water a lot. You will also want to inspect the brakes when you do the bearings, of course, because if its been sitting things can get stuck or just old and busted.
* Check back posts for recommendations on sealing the roof. others will have suggestions.
*Put a 12 volt deep cycle ( marine) battery in it as large as you can reasonably fit.
* if there was a 7 way plug coming off the trailer in 69' and you have one on your tow vehicle then it should be wired to charge. If not- you will have to run one yourself from your tow vehicle to the battery.
* look under "library" section on this forum and see if there is a manual for that year of hi-lo or a year close to that. That should prove helpful

* post us some pictures.:) Good luck. There are others on here with vintage hi-los that should be able to help you out.

Hi, Deduc, welcome to the forum!

1. The kind of battery you want is a "deep-cycle" battery. Unfortunately, you are probably going to find only "Marine/Deep Cycle" types and they are not quite as good. Still, they will work. I have no idea what size your battery is - most of the modern trailers use Group 24, but you really want to put the largest battery in that will fit. The trailer is a 12 V system, so, you could use either 12 V batteries (if you can fit two, connect them in parallel) or two 6 V golf cart type batteries connected in series if they would fit (they may be too high). The two 6 V option gives you more capacity.

If you have a 7-pin trailer plug on your tow vehicle, it should supply charging power. But, if you have only a 4-pin plug, it only supplies power to the lights (brake lights and running lights). And, since your trailer is so old, you'll need to determine which pin in the trailer plug connects to which component. It may have been designed before these things were standardized.

2. Modern trailers don't have the black coil wire you describe, but I suspect it supplies power from the battery to the upper part of the trailer. Things like interior lights, a fan if you have one, and the running and brake lights on the outside.

3. If you have a crack around the vent, I suggest Lexel as a sealant. You can buy this at ACE hardware or on line.

4. I suggest you simply repack or replace (if needed) the existing bearings rather that trying to upgrade them with Bearing Buddies. These trailers aren't regularly dunked in the water like boat trailers, so a properly installed and maintained bearing will last indefinitely, and will only need lubrication every year or 12,000 miles.

Other members may have different thoughts, but these are mine!

- Jack

What Jack said. :)

:) :) What hiltool said!

- Jack

Thanks guys ! I got it in the driveway today. Tires and bearings this week, and little cleaning and I should be good to go. Heck the air conditioner even blew cold air ! I just feel nervous pulling it around because of the age but with new tires and bearings it should be good to go! Unless the Duramax yanks it in half…lol

As hiltool said, pay particular attention to the brakes when you service the bearings. Both of my OEM brakes in my HiLo had to be replaced because the spring on the adjuster broke and then the adjustment screw (mechanism) fell out and was rolling around inside the drum. On one side, it caused binding of wheel while backing. The latest failure gave me no warning at all except for a horrible squeaking, dragging sound when I spun the wheel with the tire off the ground.

Anybody else have brake failures like this?

- Jack

Do I really need to use a weight distribution hitch for this camper? I got a 2011 crew cab duramx and when I pulled it home it felt fine. It was only 5 miles though. Opinions???

I imagine, an empty trailer and an unloaded tow vehicle would not require much in the way of weight distribution. But, when you load up for camping, it's going to put quite a bit of additional weight on the rear axle of your tow vehicle.

This has several unsafe effects. First, it lifts the front end of your tow vehicle (where the steering happens), reducing the contact at that end with the road. If you have to make a sudden evasive maneuver, you may find the front simply continuing in the old, unwanted direction.

The lifting effect points your headlights higher. Your low beams now shine in other driver's eyes and your high beams are lighting the sky.

The lifted front end reduces the braking capability of your tow vehicle. Most of the braking in a modern vehicle happens at the front (the front disks are larger than the rears) and reduced weight on the front end means less braking force there. In addition, without a WDH, during braking, the trailer nosedives, putting more force on the rear of your tow vehicle which lifts the front of it even more.

Finally, the increased loading on the rear end of your tow vehicle may well exceed the weight limits of that axle. You are certainly putting extra stress on the tires there, raising their running temperature and increasing the chances of tire failure.

For all these reasons, if you tow a trailer that weighs more than 2000#, you really should use a WDH. It's not a bank breaking investment, and your trips will be much more pleasant with it.

- Jack

Towing the empty trailer a few miles as compared to towing a loaded trailer with a loaded tow vehicle 200 miles can be totally different. The ride will be different and more importantly the weight loading on the tow vehicle axles will be different. I'm sure you have read all about that here or on other forums. I consider a WDH to be a safety item.

So my hitch is fine and all I need are the bars and a new insert? I know my dad had this on his TV back in the day. Would the bars he had and his insert work on my truck? The trailer has the places for the chains to go already on the tongue.

If you know what the weight of the trailer is, it can help in determining what hitch you need. I have no idea what size and weight the 69 is. I take it that your truck has a 2" square receiver for a hitch.

My truck has a class 4 or 5 factory hitch, 2.5 inch receiver 2011 chevy 3/4 ton cc short bed diesel

With that truck you may not need a WDH, just a ball mount.

Here is a manual for a 1969 Bon Voyage, I don't know if that is close. It gives weights on the back page.

https://www.hilotrailerforum.com/f49/...on-voyage-836/

As Rich said, you may not need a WDH with a 3/4 ton truck. Sorry, when you typed "duramx", it meant nothing to me. I guess you meant Duramax, but I'm not familiar enough with the Chevy lineup to have made that switch.

I think I'd measure the height from the ground to the rear fender opening (top center) on the truck with nothing in it and nothing attached. Then, measure it again with camping loading and the trailer hooked up. If the difference is more than 1 inch, I'd think a WDH would be a good idea, because you're probably raising the front of the truck by almost that much too.

- Jack

Just a thought, does the '69 have electric or surge brakes? If electric, do you have a brake controller on your tow vehicle?