Cable replacement and adjustment
 

Cable_Replacemnet_And_Adjment_1998_24TD.pdf

Courtesy of dward51

what kind of bolt
 

Good info--Just one question. Is the bolt that attaches the cable to the top half of the trailer a lag bole into wood or a threaded bole into a nut or threaded metal?

Thanks

cable replacement
 

The Bolt that conects the cable to the roof is a threaded bolt into the metal frame of the roof.
Sam

Neal and Bev - Thanks so much for this file. Mine are in good shape still, but I saved this in case I ever have any trouble.
This is excellent!

Cable inspection
 

Hi,

I'm new to HiLo's, and considering checking out a '93 23'. On your '98, are all the inner top pulleys as easy to access as the one in your picture ?

This '93 is 3+ hours a way from me, so it's a day to check it out, and a bit of fuel, even when not towing !

Great article, esp. for someone new to the brand.

Best Regards, Dave.

Welcome to the forum See below. This isn't an all inclusive list but a lot of great information to look at.

This was taken from NDgent's post here on the forum. It is a great go-by list. You can do a search of thinking about buying and find his post to read it first hand.

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)

Checking cables....
 

Thnx RCR, that is a good list.

I'll have to allow a bit more time than I was thinking. If I can get the owner to agree to having the tanks filled, in fairness, I should stick around to drain 'em - tis a warm December here, but still below freezing..

Best Regards, Dave.

Pasted from the General Hi-L0 camper discussion, from mrwalsh
 

"I have a 2007 30' hilo. I have popped the side cables our of the outsides. I am think the cables may have been to tight. I have had the pulleys welding back in place. Should I loosen all the cables completely so this won't happen again? I would appreciate a suggestion.Or perhaps you know someone in Colorado that can service this problem. Your help will be appreciated. Also do you know where I can buy a service DVD on the HiLO's? Thanks. Marilyn Claycomb. you can also email me at mrwalsh1937@hotmail.com and I could maybe call you if I need more help."

Marilyn presented a good question, unfortunately in an off-topic thread. To keep it (and whatever answers come forth) from being lost in the HTF, I've copied and pasted it into this Thread. As mentioned in the General discussion thread, I've contacted a Rocky Mountain Hi-Lo Club member, in Colorado, to advise on the availability of any former Hi-Lo dealer, in that geographic area, who may still have the expertise to help.

Jim

I am a retired Canadian (licenced) aircraft mechanic, and those instructions for applying 'Nicopress' sleeves are as good as any.
I have a 2308C HiLo. Nice little thing.

After reading some of the Forum entries on cable rusting, I checked my 2308C and found one by the shower had rusted a fair bit, the other, one the right side, by the coat storage place just had some surface rust.

The HiLo manual makes NO mention of lubricating or checking them; and as there is a 'lifetime' warranty on the lift system, I just assumed that they were using Stainless Steel cables. NOT!
I just hope that the aft/LH cable holds up for this summer.
Having said that; I think that It's time to trade it in for an Airstream or something. HiLo is a great 'home' for what it is, my only complaint being a sofa/bed. My mate has to crawl over me to get to the 'biffy'.

Mel, I think there are some 24 ft models that have a walk around bed in the front of the unit and my 27 ft has a walk around bed in the back.:)

Cables and Pulleys
 

Well went to put the HILO up this past weekend and had a major disaster. As it was going up one side snapped and dropped. Had a heck of a time getting it lowered. Spent the rest of the trip in a hotel at night and at the campground during the day with the rest of the family. Now we are contemplating our options. My husband wants no part of trying to fix it. We have a mechanic friend that we might be able to cajole into taking a look at it. I like to tinker and thought about watching the videos to see if I could attempt it. Or of course have it professionally repaired. Any estimate on the cost of that? How about the cost of parts for diy? Anybody know of any shops that do that type of repair in Michigan between Higgins lake and Port Huron? We are currently without a tow vehicle (our son in law towed it there) so will not be able to tow it any distance except home. Any thoughts suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!

Wow! Sorry to hear about that Zookeeper. I have not had any experience with replacing cables but several on the forum have replaced cables. Hope the attached PDF file will help.

cable replacement parts
 

Parts are available from J&&R or Midget in Ohio. A member of our HiLo clubwith a 28ft. unit just had the dealer replace it for $1800.00.

Where can I order a cable set for a 1990 25 foot voyager 259l

I would like to change mine as preventive maintenance

See links below....

Home - JR REPAIR

https://hilotrailerparts.webs.com/

Have you examined your cables? You can see virtually every inch of them that are exposed to the elements with the top raised. Then, if you take off the trim strip (it's held on with screws) that is on the top edge of the lower half (inside the trailer), you'll see the last portion of the cable as it goes over the final pulley before attaching to the lower edge of the top half.

You'd be looking for rust and/or frayed cables. Unless you see any damaged areas, I think you are just throwing money away by replacing them. If they are periodically cleaned and properly lubricated, they should last indefinitely.

- Jack

Replacing cables.
 

I agree with Jack's post. It is at least an 8hr. job and guaranteed to agrivate you!!

The work don't bother me
I'm going to be removing and re bracing all four cables where they connect to the roof any way
Gonna do an angle iron mod I seen because the edge is dented pretty bad from the weight of the top
Figured being 25 years old it would be best to swap them out so there's no risk of trouble down the road

Ruben, i don't know quite how i got here but it was a real hoot.
Or a toot. Or a wild ride all over the site.
In any event, I have a question regarding the raising or lowering of the upper portion of the unit.
After printing and reading the "how to" posted by D Ward, I am wondering whether simply raising the upper part by means of a floor jack would do the trick.
In my case, the upper part is in the "up" position and it would seem simpler to merely raise the front half of the camper the one to one and a half inches needed to bring it up to the rear half, which seems to be fully "up"
Then placing 4x4 posts on the both sides of the front only to support the top and not bother with supporting the rear of the unit in as much as it is being supported by the cables
And then adjust the right front "AA" adjusting nut and the "DD" adjusting nut accordingly.
Those two nuts already show 2 1/4 to 2 1/2 inches of the threaded area. The beam there is 2 inches wide leaving not that much more to tighten.The two rear nuts have only 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inches of thread showing Thank you, John Brysacz
Cell 727-459-0010

Proper adjustment is making the upper and lower bulb seals meet. Do not use the inside wood trim as a reference. I believe most would suggest using farm jacks to raise the top half. I would suggest adjusting the front and back at the same time. Looking at the threads showing that you have stated, there is a possibility that you may have a stretched cable. I hope I answered your question.

How do you replace the upper pullies?
Thanks

Are you talking about the pulleys at the top edge of the lower box wall about three to four feet from each end?

Welcome to the forum. I've never had to replace mine but you access them by removing the trim on the paneling on the inside.

I have a 2000 260TFB towlite camper and I cannot find the lock nuts to raise and lower my towlite. I need to replace the seals all around the camper. Does anyone have the location for the lock nuts so I am able to R&R the seals? Thanks

Check the area in front of the left side tire (inside the wheel well). You should see four bolts protruding from the lower box there. Each one should have two nuts on it. The outer nuts are the lock nuts.

- Jack

I found the location, thanks. Do you know which one raise what part of the camper? Should I have it all the way down before I try to adjust them? What I am trying to do is replace the seals and also put all new covers on top while I am putting Gaco Gr1600 silicone roof coating on. I put it inside my pole barn on Sunday so I thought I make sure there will be no leaks. I am also replacing the old awning with a new fabric. When I am done it should look brand new.

Terry, here's a link to the Owner's Manual for the 2001 trailer. https://www.hilotrailerforum.com/f49/...2001-hi-lo-23/ Yours will be the same. It has the identification of which bolt tightens which cable in the trailer. It should also tell you how to do it, and I've done it the way it's described there. You will need 4 2x4s cut to IDENTICAL lengths that you can lower the top onto. I put the 2x4s between the top and the "outriggers", and they were long enough so that the top was only lowered about 4" from the uppermost position. That will create enough slack in the cables so that you can adjust them.

I'd replace the seals before adjusting the cables. Then, shorten the cables just enough so that the seals make uniform contact with the top edge of the lower "box". DO NOT shorten them more than this! You will damage something if you do. I know this from first hand experience and had to repair some distortion of the frame of the top half when I shortened mine too much.

- Jack

Replacing seal between top and bottom.
 

Jack has given you good advice about where the screws are and adjustment. Mark the screws so you will about where to put them when you are finished. Check out this back post Outline for replacing a roof gasket. By Sam Shields a retired hilo service advisor. 4-3-2010. Another post that you can get information/colored pictures from is 3-3-2010 cable replacement. It shows were to place the 2x4s and the use of a floor jack. DH has done this repair. I would say to use heavier metal. The aluminum that is white on one side for wrapping windows. Ask if you have any more questions.

Thank you both, I will try it when I get all the parts together. I am just looking for the 3/4 inch blub or P seals.

Finding P bulb seal
 

Do a search on the internet. It is 3/4 hollow P bulb seal with one inch stem(flat part).

I just received 60ft of ¾” OD black rubber blub seal from ebay for $132. I will replace the seals after I am done with the roof. I remove everything from the top of my roof so I can place two coats of Gacoroof Silione Coating. Should I place the A/C, skylight and everything back on before or after the two coats? Thanks for the help.

Doesn't it depend on whether or not you want the coating to cover the seams between the A/C, skylight, etc. and the roof? If you want the seams covered, put them on before coating. (But then I don't see why you removed them in the first place.)

Terry, I'm probably confused, so don't take my comments as a criticism.

- Jack

thanks for that information on cable adjustment

I have major Hilo trouble right now:( Heres our story....we went on a camping trip a couple months ago and our 1994 Funlite right rear leaf spring broke...which lowers the camper...which shredded the tire, bent and ripped the metal piece that the pulley is connected to and took the cable off the pulley track! Now the cable is on the wood! So yesterday we finally had time to replace the leaf spring and tire and it looked good to take to our more experienced friend to help with the pulley/metal welding replacement. We got about a mile down the road and the same exact thing happened on the other side! Broken metal/pulley, cable off track, shredded tire and cussing husband! So now I'm thinking it did it because the cable had too much pressure on it and probably still does! Should we follow the above cable replacement steps after having the metal/pulley frames welded and straightened back in place? Any suggestions would help! We have owned this camper for about 6 years.

You did not mention the lentgh of your Funlite and I am not the expert on this type of stuff, but the later models of Hi-Lo's had torsion bar axles. If you have a single axle unit it might be more cost effective to replace the axle with a torsion bar axle. Did the other leaf spring break the second time the pulley/cable broke?:confused:

Its a 1994 and i believe its 24 foot long. The leaf spring did not break the second time so I think the trouble is not the leaf spring. They leaf springs are fine now. I think because of the cable trouble because of the first incident put too much pressure when we did the second trip with the swaying on the top half made the cable give way on the other side. So now the top half is basically just sitting on the bottom half and I haven't tried to lift it up because I'm afraid to:/

We're wanting to prop it up with 2x4's to take pressure off the cables, winterize it, then wait til spring to fix it cause we want to take it to Colorado next July. I don't think we'll have enough time to fix it before it gets too cold here. Do u know how long the process takes and how long it takes to get parts?

The replacing of the cables takes a few hours to a day depending on your mechanical background. The cables can be purchased at J&R's (Jim & Rob), J&R Trailer Repair, 740-392-1600, or jrrepair@centurylink.net, and they are located in Mt Vernon, OH. They can also do the job for you. They do great work.

Givanapta, When I schedule a cable change, I encourage the owner to really look at the bulb seal and the change both, if needed or just the cables. I have a cable/seal change down to 6 - 8 hrs. I also have 2 or 3 helpers when I do this. This is with no surprises. I just learned and may try, using gutter material cut down because the interior is coated with aladine (spelling) to prevent corrosion. This, coupled with angle bracing routed into the wood, at the cable points, would be major improvements.

Thanks so much! We are bracing it on 2x4s now as I type this! We have a friend that can weld it and brace it as you suggested! We are afraid that the top will move to much without cable support to be able to drive it to Mt. Vernon. Any suggestions on bracing it to drive? We think the metal broke due to the unlevel top and no cable support to hold it still and too much pressure. We hold really like to get someone to do the cable and check out everything else as we're not totally sure what we're doing since we've never had to do this before! It seems like that whole trailer is falling apart and we don't want to make it worse:/