lift procedure confusion
 

I just acquired a 1998 18TL TowLite on Sat. April 20th. I'm confused as to the exact procedure for raising and lowering. I was shown how to do it but it seems different than what I read. It was left in the raised position. I was told to raise it to turn the black toggle switch on, pull a wire cable and then engage with the white toggle, then pull the wire cable again. To lower was told to do the same thing but push the white toggle the other way. My confusion is about the wire cable. Do you pull it twice each time?

Hi, marvin, welcome to the HiLo family!

No you do not pull the cable twice. It is a safety bar release that gets the safety bar out of the way so you can lower the top. It is not pulled at all when you raise the top.

Now, what you call the black toggle switch is probably the Master Switch (MS). It has three positions:
1. One end IN allows the top to be raised or lowered with the White Switch.
2. The other end IN gives you full power to all interior electrical equipment (lights, fans, water pump, furnace, etc.)
3. Center position locks out EVERYTHING (for traveling) except the refrigerator DC power.

I can't be specific on which end does which because in some trailers the switch was wired backwards. BUT if you have interior lights with the MS depressed at the top, push the bottom to be able to move the top. (And vice-versa).

Now, to raise the top, just place the MS in the raise/lower position and press the top of the white switch. You will hear the safety bar slide in place just before the top stops moving and the lift motor sound will change.

To lower the top, again place the MS in the raise/lower position. Then pull the cable to release the safety bar and press the bottom of the white switch. Once the top starts down, you can release the cable.

There's one possible minor change to this that you will have to employ if the top has "settled" on the bar, binding it. If you find you can't pull the cable out, simply raise the top off the bar while pulling on the cable. Once it releases the bar, you can lower the top.

There are a whole set of videos that you can watch to learn all about the HiLo. Here's the link to a thread that has all of them, starting with Post #3: https://www.hilotrailerforum.com/f49/...-youtube-1233/ Number 5 covers raising and lowering the top.

Hope this helps.

- Jack

Thanks so much for all that very detailed information. That sounds more like what I had read. The seller told me it had been remodeled by the man he purchased it from in Oct. 2018. I was worried that the lift safety bar procedure had been changed. I'm afraid to lower it. I know he pulled the cable, raised it and then pulled the cable again. Does that mean the safety bar is not in place?

Marvin, I have no idea why he would have pulled the cable AFTER raising the top. The cable only releases the safety bar.

If you look at the utube video (Number 5), you will see how to test that the safety bar has dropped into place. Try that technique, but then DO raise the top off the bar so that it's not supporting that weight. The bar is meant to be a safety device only and it can be damaged by continuously supporting the top's total weight.

- Jack

Thanks, I will try to get over the fear of lowering it now, and raising it. His way seemed like it was erroneous. I did watch the video before and after I originally posted.

Welcome!

I found it educational to lay under our Hi-Lo and watch as my wife raised and lowered the Hi-Lo. You can watch the safety bar engage and disengage, the cables wind their way around the various pulleys, and hydraulic fluid in the line.

Getting familiar with the cables is worthwhile, too, as you need to lube them on occasion; and you might want to clean the hydraulic cylinder ram on occasion.

Excellent detailed information on lifting and lowering the top. We were told by the dealer to only pull the cable to release the safety bar when lowering the roof.

Be sure to clean and grease the guide rod that is parallel to the hydraulic cylinder. It is the one single most important component of the lift system. If it is not maintained serious damage can occur to the lift cylinder. That is shown on the video manual.

I will definitely be looking at that. Good news is that I was able to lower and lift the top with no problems. Checked the safety bar as instructed and everything seems to work.

oh no...
 

While I was able to successfully lower and raise, lower and raise, now it will not lower. The front seems to want to go down. I checked the safety bar, it is disengaged as far as I could tell. Anybody have a quick 1,2,3...list I can check off?

marvin, it sounds like something is "binding" at the rear. Can you check the guide blocks to see if they have come off the rails? Is there something inside the trailer that is caught between the gap between the top and bottom halves? If the safety bar has disengaged, these are the only two things that come to my mind.

Others may have some better thoughts on this, so don't give up hope if you can't immediately find the problem.

- Jack

Thanks. That was my first thought too, binding. I'm trying to find the source to tell me where the binding things might be, ie guide blocks, video, manual, pictures?

ok, got it
 

Thanks to a lot of reading and a lot of informed people posting I was able to find the solution. Unfortunately I don't remember who posted it. It was the safety bar stuck I guess. I tried doing what was suggested in a post of holding onto the safety bar cable while pushing the button to lower, worked like a charm.

Yup - you DO have to keep pulling on the safety bar cable to keep the bar released until the top passes it! Don't worry, this beast takes some "learning", and we've ALL gone through the process. Glad you solved your problem.

The "guide blocks" are plastic things that ride on the two vertical rails you'll see on each side of the bottom half with the top up. They keep the top lined up so that it doesn't lift or lower unevenly, which WOULD bind things. They have been known to slip off the rails or, due to age and maybe moving the trailer with the top up, they can break. The blocks are inside the top half and are just above the bottom edge. They are colored black and you can see them with the top up too.

- Jack

Jack, I can not understand the perception that the Safety Bar can be damaged if weight of top supported by it long term. It is just a piece of steel bar that lowers to keep the cable pull\push plate from moving. If is is not capable of constant use then would not be much of a Safety device. I would rather have a solid steel bar holding up my top than relying on the hydraulic system to maintain the up position.
JImmy

Jimmy, I hear you and have found myself thinking the same thing. Especially since once the top settled on the bar there's no "bouncy stress" or similar forces on it. But, I know that HiLo did NOT want the top to be supported by the safety bar long term. Maybe, if the bar has to support the full weight of the top, it will bend the bar somewhat and over time may cause a permanent "set"? That bend could then cause the bar to malfunction?

As you might well know, some members have cut 2x4s to just fit in between the top and the "outriggers" to support the top when camping. You could always do that if you are concerned about the top coming down.

- Jack

Jack and Jimmy, just to chime in here. Way back when, there was a member who had the safety bar come up thru the floor!. For sure the bar some how had gotten a bend and eventually that bend collapsed or hair pinned.
Tree

I recall that incident, Tree - in fact, I had that picture in mind when I posted my last. I DO NOT allow the top to rest on the safety bar. So far, the hydraulic system has held it in the up position without it "settling".

I suspect if the top just kind of settles down on the bar, it will stop descending when the bar begins to take some of the load off the lift system. This is of course very different than a catastrophic failure!

- Jack