HiLo fun chaser need help?
 

I just picked up this Hilo camper for free. I got it to keep the guy from tearing it apart and scraping it. It has been sitting since the mid 80 in the same spot. I got it home and would like to fix it up and have it next year to go camping. There is some water damage on one wall. I will fix it first so it don't get worse. I'm mainly wondering what all needs to be done after sitting this long? The lift system still works fine. Which is amazing lol. The 2x4 on the bottom of the top half is rotted a lil. That is where the leak is at that window. Can that be replaced easily? I do not have owners manual or anything so any information would really help. I don't know anything about it really and this is my first camper.

Welcome to the forum. Here is the pre buy checklist. Look in the reference library in the forum under owners manuals for your year model or one that is close to the same year. They didn't change too much between years.

Basically, start with the visual items –
1. Exterior
• Look for water stains and discoloration on inside walls and around ceiling anywhere vents, skylights, windows, etc. exist.
• Push and prod with your hand on the inside walls for soft spots (which could indicate a water leak and a damaged or rotten interior wall).
• Check for bubbles in the wallpaper (a sign of delimitation or water intrusion)
2. Interior cleanliness of the unit-
• Look for water stains and discoloration on inside walls and around ceiling anywhere vents, skylights, windows, etc. exist.
• Push and prod with your hand on the inside walls for soft spots (which could indicate a water leak and a damaged or rotten interior wall).
• Check for bubbles in the wallpaper (a sign of delimitation or water intrusion)
3. Test appliance functions –
• lights
• fans
• refrigerator
• air conditioner
• heater
• water pump
• range hood
• stovetop
• oven (if equipped)
• microwave (if equipped)
• stereo (if equipped)
4. Lift System-
• Does the unit raise and lower properly
• Check the lift system for hydraulic leaks (puddle under the trailer)
• Check the lift cables to see if they are in good shape and not frayed
• Check the seal between the upper and lower body halves for tears or damage
5. fill the tanks to the top and check for leaks
6. Battery
7. Solar Panel (if equipped)

Wow! Glad you got it for free. I cannot see why anyone would let a trailer get in such bad shape, appearance-wise. But, from what you've said, the damage may be more cosmetic than functional.

I would think you could replace or repair the 2x4 without too much trouble. If the damage is localized, there are products like Bondo that can repair the wood rot. Otherwise, you'd need to prop the top up on 2x4s so that you could remove and replace the damaged section.

I don't know what you'll have to use on the outside. Maybe you could rent a sand blaster?

- Jack

I pressure washed the outside after these pictures. I didn't spend a lot of time on it. Just trying to get the majority of the stuff gone. I want to get leaks fixed first and other stuff then I can get outside painted. When I get home I'll post pictures of inside and outside. Yea it's a shame that people buy these things then just let them rot.

A pump up sprayer with some bleach and water will do wonders for the outside. I have the same model trailer. Before moving it around a lot I would jack it up, remove the wheels and pack the wheel bearings with grease. If it's been sitting that long the grease is bound to be dry. You are gonna need to take out the windows and reseal them with new butyl rubber tape and then caulk them with a sealant that will stay flexible. If you use silicone make sure its paintable if you plan to paint the outside. Mine was leaking the most where the upper plug for the AC is on the outside. Check everything that is mounted to the outside and I would suggest recaulking all of it. Check the roof for damage or pinholes. Getting the outside sealed up is the best place to start before beginning the inside.

My buddy is a roofer so we're gonna get started on the leaks. The wheels and tires that were on it were completely flat and dry rotted. I borrowed this set of wheels to get it home. So it's on blocks now with wheels back off. Can I not just caulk around outside of windows instead of taking them out?

Taking them out is not as hard as you think. The inside trim ring is all that holds them in. Take out the ring of screws on the inside, remove the garnish ring, and the window comes right out. The old butyl rubber gets dry so you may want someone outside or put a few pieces of duct tape between window and outer wall when you remove the trim ring in case the butyl rubber is no longer holding. You don't want the window to fall out. Remove the window and scrape off the old butyl rubber from window and outer wall. Acetone and a rag cleans the residual butyl rubber off the wall and makes a good clean surface for new butyl rubber tape to seal to. The tape is not very expensive. One thing I don't like about our siding is that it isn't flat so the sides of the window doesn't want to seal well in the low spots. As you replace the screws in the garnish ring, I found that using a criss cross pattern of tightening the crews seemed to help pull the window in tighter and squish the butyl rubber better for a better seal on the sides.

That awning is in amazingly good shape. That alone is worth at least $600. Mine didn't have the original on it and it's a small fortune to replace. You did great getting that trailer for free. What year is that trailer?

I have no idea on the year. I would like to find out. Yea I don't think this camper was used much. I'll post better pictures in a minute. It is in good shape to be sitting for 25 to 30 years.

Where can I get that rubber at?

My 1981 camper looks similar to yours. When we bought it, was very moldy and few leaks in the ceiling, like misfit429 suggested, mixture of bleach and water works great and that is what I used on mine, in the attached picture, the tinted window is the only one I removed to seal with new butyl rubber tape, because when it rained, that window was letting water in, and after the window removal and reseal, it was still letting water in, and it turns out that the sheet metal few inches above the window had small hole in it, I sealed it with flexible sealant. so it was not necessary to go thru the process to remove the window, but that was for mine, yours may be different. enjoy your camper.

You can buy the Butyl rubber tape at any camper supply or online at any number of RV supply dealers. One of my favorite online places is adventurerv.com. They seem to have cheaper prices than most places. You dont have to remove your windows and reseal them but about 90% of forum members would recommend it. That is typically where most of these trailers develop leaks.

There should be a data plate somewhere giving the model number. First 2 digits of model are the length and last 2 are the year model

Here are some pictures. I'm posting more

Here some more lol

And some more

I will look into fixing window. But I lowered the camper so me and my buddy could fix the two small leaks in the back. At the shower vent and the sewer vent. Well when I went to raise it back up so we can start working on inside the cable that supports back half broke. The camper came down and luckily nothing is damaged on inside. But I have no idea about how to replace these cables. Has anyone done this? For the mean time i have it all supported by wood so weight is off hydraulics. Also found out cannot get the fridge to work, heater comes on but don't get hot and the stove does work.

Rebuilding a HiLo
 

Wow!! What a mess. It is all fixable. The question is how handy are you? How much time do you have? Do you have enough money to complete the project. Is it worth it? only you can answer these questions. If you want to proceed then I can give you posts to look up and advice. We have done extensive repairs to our HiLo including water damaged walls and removing all windows. The windows were then resealed. We also had a HiLo near us that was left to rot. The owner was a wealthy business man and just didn't care. You tube has a video on removing and resealing windows. It can easily be a DIY job.

I want to fix it. Considering I didn't pay anything for it I can't lose much money. I know cables can be replaced but I'm curious about how would you replace 2x4 that goes along bottom of the top half?

To replace the cable you have to jack the top half off the bottom half and put 2X4s across the corners then set top half on those. Then the top will be high enough to expose the 2X4 you want to replace. Cables are available through a company called Midget RV or JR Repair although JRs website is under construction and I haven't had any luck in getting an email response to my cable inquiry. Midget RV wants about $350 for a set of cables. May be possible to make your own cable but I wouldn't know how to go about it.