Visited my HiLo - Hi-Lo camper travel trailer forum

sam · 03-25-2014, 12:05 AM

Spent three small sessions getting the HiLo ready to be towed out for inspection. Had to remove the cover. Part of it had shifted and was frozen slightly in the ice. Next year we will stake down the drivers side of the tarp. Next the battery was reinstalled and then the tires pumped up to the correct tire pressure. The next day it was towed to Dunn tire for five new tires. We had to order them in and defeniately had to pay a stimulation price to boost up the economy. The last tires were put on in 2008 and cost two hundred and some dollars. Yuck!! inflation. Cheaper than a blowout!!!! The HiLo was shiny and oh so clean until we towed it out our dealer for inspection. The inspection was only $6.00. It cost more in gas to get there. No work was needed. All registered and ready for camping. Waiting for Friday when the weather will be a balmy 50 degrees. I will wipe down the exterior and recover. Sunday I brought DD to work at HD and decided it was time to order new 1" aluminum blinds as they were on sale at 20% off. I did all the research for this in the fall. Ended up going to the HiLo(parked off site) and raising it up to decide how many inches for the wands and a few other details. Called our sales person up with the changes. Sure was cold in the HiLo 20 degrees. Felt so good to be back inside our expensive hobby!! The blinds should be coming in about two weeks. Worst case we take our noisy generator over and run the furnace and get the blinds installed. Something to look forward to after my April 11th major surgery. The blinds only come in room darkening. Hoping this will be okay. The old blinds lost a lot of their coating when we washed them. I will post pictures when they are installed. What did you get for your RV today?

notanlines · 03-25-2014, 07:10 AM

Sam, if I may be nosy, what brand tire did you have installed and what price range are we talking about? We are headed for new tires before Alaska and I'd like to get your opinion. Thanks (And you are still in our prayers)

dstclair · 03-25-2014, 07:39 PM

We bought our HiLo and drove it to Alaska many years ago. It was a wonderful trip!

sam · 03-25-2014, 10:53 PM

I don't want to quote you a price as our size tires may be different then yours. We had the tires balanced. Dunn gives you a folder that explaines their 24hr Roadside Assistance Benefit and Nationwide Limited Road Hazard Program. Ours is a 1990 25ft. Classic. The tires are sure trail by carsile. DH told me these tires are American made. Alaska sounds like a fun trip.

Garry · 03-25-2014, 11:13 PM

Sam, I did not spend as much on my unit today as you did as I only bought a "Tornado" for the black water tank. We had a three day campout this past weekend with our Tow Lite for its maiden outing and since the toilet was hardly used I decided to clean the black water tank when we returned home. Was I in for a surprise! One inch rocks and gravel came out of the tank and continued rinse after rinse. After installing the "Tornado" I will take the unit to a dump station for a thorough rinse.

2005 Toyota Tundra Access Cab
2005 Tow Lite 27T

campthewestcoast · 03-26-2014, 09:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by notanlines

Sam, if I may be nosy, what brand tire did you have installed and what price range are we talking about? We are headed for new tires before Alaska and I'd like to get your opinion. Thanks (And you are still in our prayers)

I just replaced my tires, did alot of reseach. I bought Maxxis brand tires, switched to a D rating tire from a C rated tire. At $120 per tire, one of most expensive tires but was the highest rated. All the tires I came across are made in china. I think Maxxis are made in japan. Read the reviews. I had to purchase these tires on amazon.com because there was no local dealer for them. Then I had a local tire shop mount and balance them. I put the tires back on the trailer myself after I repacked the wheel bearings.

sam · 03-26-2014, 10:21 PM

I know about the price of buying tires. Ours were not quite as expensive as yours. We aged out our tires. One tire was worn a little crazy from our broken leaf spring that we towed with a while before we realized we had a problem. We only camp about ten days a year. We had this brand of tire on since we purchased the RV and had no problems with it. Would love to camp more but DH is still working part time. This year I have been hit with too long a list of health problems. I will need at least four surgeries to regain my health. Keeping positive!!

garyk52 · 03-27-2014, 12:26 AM

Another thing when buying tires, tell the tire dealer you will not accept tires that are more than 6 months old. I bought mine last year from Steve Shannons (tire store in our area) and told them if I look at the date codes on the tires and they are more than 6 months old they're going to replace them with newer ones. All four of my new tires had date codes of less than 3 months.

89Hilo · 03-27-2014, 06:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sam

I know about the price of buying tires. Ours were not quite as expensive as yours. We aged out our tires. One tire was worn a little crazy from our broken leaf spring that we towed with a while before we realized we had a problem. We only camp about ten days a year. We had this brand of tire on since we purchased the RV and had no problems with it. Would love to camp more but DH is still working part time. This year I have been hit with too long a list of health problems. I will need at least four surgeries to regain my health. Keeping positive!!

Glad to hear you are spending some $$$ on your hobby Sam! Even better to hear you are thinking and feeling positively about April 11th and beyond!!!!

I always enjoy your posts so keep on posting. Want to see your new shades once you get and install them.

Best wishes and prayers are coming your way all the way from Houston!

sam · 03-27-2014, 07:59 PM

I also told the sales rep. at Dunn tire that I would not accept tires that had been sitting in the ware house for two years. Our code date is Jan. 2014. Today was a balmy 40degrees and we visited the HiLo. I wiped off the outside and then we reapplied the sunbrella cover. We weren't able to separate our two halves of the HiLo with a crane when we replaced the seal. This made it impossible to replace the seal around the Ref. I purchased a teal towel and fabricated up a draft stopper to put in back of the ref. when in the up position. With the left over towel fabric I made a draft stopper for the inside door ledge. I filled them with dried lima beans. DH says every now and then they can be put in the microwave so bugs aren't attracted to them. You can also fill them with rice or cat litter. Next week it is going to be 50degrees four days in a row. This should melt all the snow. Our city looks like a garbage bomb went off with all the dirty snow and papers blown around.

sam · 03-27-2014, 08:03 PM

DH got a call from HD that I didn't pay for the blinds. I called and got it straightened out. Too many people in the blinds flooring dept. I most certainly paid when I placed the order. The projected delivery date is April 4th.

dmichna1 · 05-06-2014, 09:13 PM

I also have purchased the maxis tires also after extensive research and also went from a c to a d mostly because I have a 19 t and only have one axle.
I have had a blowout it is not fun, because of this I have purchased an electric scissor jack ( 4k lbs) and it came with a impact gun with universal sockets ,battery hookups (12v) all in a nice hard suitcase . ($89) online Unfortunately I admit I got caught with my pants down (no jack), the tires looked great ,lots of tread but I understand trailer tires rot from the inside out . It is good to roll them in storage if possible . I wanted to change them ASAP after purchasing the trailer but the season came and away I went . I learned a lot that year. Camper is out of storage and ready to go all have fun this season !!!

Garry · 10-24-2014, 08:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sam

Spent three small sessions getting the HiLo ready to be towed out for inspection. Had to remove the cover. Part of it had shifted and was frozen slightly in the ice. Next year we will stake down the drivers side of the tarp. Next the battery was reinstalled and then the tires pumped up to the correct tire pressure. The next day it was towed to Dunn tire for five new tires. We had to order them in and defeniately had to pay a stimulation price to boost up the economy. The last tires were put on in 2008 and cost two hundred and some dollars. Yuck!! inflation. Cheaper than a blowout!!!! The HiLo was shiny and oh so clean until we towed it out our dealer for inspection. The inspection was only $6.00. It cost more in gas to get there. No work was needed. All registered and ready for camping. Waiting for Friday when the weather will be a balmy 50 degrees. I will wipe down the exterior and recover. Sunday I brought DD to work at HD and decided it was time to order new 1" aluminum blinds as they were on sale at 20% off. I did all the research for this in the fall. Ended up going to the HiLo(parked off site) and raising it up to decide how many inches for the wands and a few other details. Called our sales person up with the changes. Sure was cold in the HiLo 20 degrees. Felt so good to be back inside our expensive hobby!! The blinds should be coming in about two weeks. Worst case we take our noisy generator over and run the furnace and get the blinds installed. Something to look forward to after my April 11th major surgery. The blinds only come in room darkening. Hoping this will be okay. The old blinds lost a lot of their coating when we washed them. I will post pictures when they are installed. What did you get for your RV today?

Returning on 5 October from our 4 week camping trip, there were a number of repairs and improvements that need to be done before putting our sleeping beauty back to bed. In the time that it took me to complete the repairs, a number of you could have completed a full refurb! First thing to work on was the water heater, which started leaking when we were dry camping south of Ouray, Colorado. We did not have any leaks with the tank itself, just with the plumbing to the tank, but those repairs, which were started on the 12th, weren’t completed until the 18th. With a continued drought here in sunny California, I did give sleeping beauty a sponge bath and after she was dry I climbed on the roof and cleaned all the sealing tape around the vents and such and followed up with self leveling Dicor along all edges of the tape. While I was on the roof I noticed the vent lids on both the kitchen and bathroom were cracked so I replaced those today. On 3 October, just east of Tucson, we lost the tread on one of the trailer tires and I called AAA to change the tire, with the worthless tire throw into the back of our truck. After completing a few of the afore mentioned repairs, I realized there wasn’t any way this senior citizen could get the new spare back in place...under the trailer and secured with two bolts....so, since I had a hitch receiver on the back of the trailer (not heavy duty) I ordered a spare tire carrier that I could slide into the hitch receiver. I also cleaned all of the old caulking (squeeze out) from around all of the windows and re-caulked around the windows with a silicone caulk. On the front window guard, one of the wing nuts to hold the window guard up could not be tightened to secure the sliding bracket, so I had to drill out the rivet at the top of the bracket and then remove the screws holding the bottom part of the bracket. I removed the small bolt and epoxied a new bolt in place and re assembled today. The sleeping beauty has now been put back to bed. Winterizing? Nah, this is Southern California and so far climate change isn’t so severe that we have to worry about a freeze.

Garry · 10-24-2014, 08:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Garry

Returning on 5 October from our 4 week camping trip, there were a number of repairs and improvements that need to be done before putting our sleeping beauty back to bed. In the time that it took me to complete the repairs, a number of you could have completed a full refurb! First thing to work on was the water heater, which started leaking when we were dry camping south of Ouray, Colorado. We did not have any leaks with the tank itself, just with the plumbing to the tank, but those repairs, which were started on the 12th, weren’t completed until the 18th. With a continued drought here in sunny California, I did give sleeping beauty a sponge bath and after she was dry I climbed on the roof and cleaned all the sealing tape around the vents and such and followed up with self leveling Dicor along all edges of the tape. While I was on the roof I noticed the vent lids on both the kitchen and bathroom were cracked so I replaced those today. On 3 October, just east of Tucson, we lost the tread on one of the trailer tires and I called AAA to change the tire, with the worthless tire throw into the back of our truck. After completing a few of the afore mentioned repairs, I realized there wasn’t any way this senior citizen could get the new spare back in place...under the trailer and secured with two bolts....so, since I had a hitch receiver on the back of the trailer (not heavy duty) I ordered a spare tire carrier that I could slide into the hitch receiver. I also cleaned all of the old caulking (squeeze out) from around all of the windows and re-caulked around the windows with a silicone caulk. On the front window guard, one of the wing nuts to hold the window guard up could not be tightened to secure the sliding bracket, so I had to drill out the rivet at the top of the bracket and then remove the screws holding the bottom part of the bracket. I removed the small bolt and epoxied a new bolt in place and re assembled today. The sleeping beauty has now been put back to bed. Winterizing? Nah, this is Southern California and so far climate change isn’t so severe that we have to worry about a freeze.

Pictures that I selected did not post

Garry · 10-24-2014, 08:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Garry

Pictures that I selected did not post

To be continued. Tha Thats all folks.

Luckydog671 · 10-24-2014, 10:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Garry

To be continued. Tha Thats all folks.

Oh my gosh, how in the world did you get your trailer in that tight space, Garry? I would have wiped out the house!

Luckydog671 · 10-24-2014, 10:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Garry

Pictures that I selected did not post

Looks like you hit many of the spots we would like to go in the future!

Garry · 10-24-2014, 10:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luckydog671

Oh my gosh, how in the world did you get your trailer in that tight space, Garry? I would have wiped out the house!

Even I can't back a trailer hooked to a truck into such a tight spot. I use a "Power Caster" to park the trailer and I do it just a few feet at a time, always checking the clearance on both sides. Power Caster,electric trailer mover dolly, boat dolly, toy hauler

Garry · 10-24-2014, 10:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luckydog671

Looks like you hit many of the spots we would like to go in the future!

On our trip the National parks and Monuments included Moab, Mesa Verde (second time, first time for the Cliff Palace Tour), Aztec National Monument, Carlsbad Caverns and White Sands National Monument. Bridal Veil Falls in Colorado required a round trip hike of 4.6 miles, which really did us in.

JackandJanet · 10-25-2014, 12:24 AM

Garry, where did you camp at Carlsbad? And, would you recommend it?

Glad you were able to visit Cliff Palace. Did you tour Balcony House too?

The Power Caster looks a neat tool. I had a "manual one" from Harbor Freight. Not nearly as expensive, but our trailer was just a bit to heavy to make it practical.

White Sands is a pretty amazing place isn't it? My eyes still hurt from the glare. Janet and I ate lunch at one of the picnic sites in White Sands when we visited while camped in the mountains above Alamogordo, near a small town called Cloudcroft.

- Jack