Wall repair need suggestions

Well I got my 21 ft 97 towlite home and the bottom rail and wall on drivers side needs to be redone I'm needing some info on how to get wall off and repair is it best to do it with the top down or up any info is appreciated also I have two cable that cross each other wondering if this is normal for this year model.
Thanks David

Can you post some pictures of the wall, and the dry rot or moisture damage that you have? It will help for us to get a better idea of what might need to be done.

Have you taken anything apart yet?

We had a lot of moisture in one of the walls of our HiLo, and I honestly thought the lower rail was going to be totally wasted, but it was in excellent condition. I am just curious as to what you are seeing that is leading you to need to replace the whole wall and lower rail.

Hi vdubn I can't post pictures my computer is down I'm using my iPhone but I will explain best as possible when I got it the fiberglass was starting to roll towards trailer because the rail was so rotted under further investigation it looks like the rail is totally rotten and about 2' up on the wall in the front of trailer I supported the inside with 4x4s and took the rail off I noticed that the end rails are dry rotted so I'm thinking of replacing all the rails to have good support when I screw it back together but the top part of the wall is good exept 1 1x4 was wet to the roof I took it out as well and about 2 foot of a 1x4 and 1x2 on the side towards the front.
David

Gunnerkylie said:

Well I got my 21 ft 97 towlite home and the bottom rail and wall on drivers side needs to be redone I'm needing some info on how to get wall off and repair is it best to do it with the top down or up any info is appreciated also I have two cable that cross each other wondering if this is normal for this year model.
Thanks David

Click to expand...

GunnerKylie,

Attached are pictures of the underside of my old 1997 21ft Towlite. I believe this is the same trailer model as yours.

In the first picture is the outside cable mounting plate between the two axles. The second picture is the cable routing next to the lifting ram. As you can see, these cables are not crossed.

Thanks les for the pics and your time were my cable are crossed are the two cable going towards the hitch the top cable runs to the bottom pully making an x if there's any way you can look at those ones and tell me how they run I would really appreciate it thanks David

GunnerKylie,

Here is a picture of the front center pully on a 97 21ft.

A picture of the front cables to front center and cables back to rear pully at lifting ram on a 97 21 ft Towlite.

Picture of the front cables to rear pulley at lifting ram.

Thanks les they don't look crossed to me I appreciate all you help looks like im going to have to buy new cables as I'm repairing the top rails there all about 4 inches short oh well thanks bro for all your help

Replacing the cables

To buy new cables is a pain in the pocket booknow but peace of mind for many years to come. If you send me a pm with your name and address I would be able to send you a 15 page description with color pictures on cable replacement. JR in Ohio sells the cables. Other sources to purchase cables are available. Other forum members please add to the discussion.

replaceing bottom rail wood

J&R Replaces all of their rotted wood with the "BLUE" moustureproof wood so you never(i hope) have rot problems again. replace your seal at the same time

campthewestcoast said:

GunnerKylie,

Attached are pictures of the underside of my old 1997 21ft Towlite. I believe this is the same trailer model as yours.

In the first picture is the outside cable mounting plate between the two axles. The second picture is the cable routing next to the lifting ram. As you can see, these cables are not crossed.

Click to expand...

I noticed on my cables, the forward one, (left side of picture 2) it actually touches the hyd ram at the fitting where the line is attached. Is that normal?

It looks like mine was doing the same thing but someone who had it before drilled a hole in the frame and ran it through there don't know if that helps but there were mine was when I took it off but I can see thats we're it use to be was up against the fitting

RCREYES said:

I noticed on my cables, the forward one, (left side of picture 2) it actually touches the hyd ram at the fitting where the line is attached. Is that normal?

Click to expand...

The only thing I could figure out,when the factory installed the ram they rotated it a little so the fitting is in the way of the cable.

Gunnerkyle asked me a towlite question

Gunnerkylie, "I noticed on the door side there is metal that is screwed from the top to the wallbut not on the other side. Do I need to add some metal?" I can't help as I have a Classic and we didn't have extensive wall rebuilding on the door side or on the actual door. Perhaps a picture would help. Can anyone with a towlite answer this question?

GunnerKylie,

Does your trailer have an awning? I suspect that the metal you are seeing on the door side of the trailer is the C channel that holds the box awning in place.

The attached pictures are the new trim that we installed with a built-in gutter. We had trouble with the box awning collecting water which allowed water to get into the wall resulting in serious water damage. I fixed the water problem using a new trim with a built-in gutter, added 1/4 inch aluminum strips behind the box awning to hold it off the wall so the water won't wick up behind the awing, and lots of enterbond tape.

That was a good Idea I will have to do something like that because come to find out the door side has a lot of water damage to so I will be doing that side to the metal I'm talking about goes from the wall 1x4s into the rail I'm guessing its because the door side has that gap it's not a full rail like the other side I made that rail today with a2x4 and 2 1x4s it worked good I'm making pretty good progress have had a lot of problems because when I braced it up it was even or level on all sides so have had a few hiccups but got it all figured out so my suggestion to anyone tackling this project make sure it's the same height all the way around or nothing will line up properly and it's pretty frustrating but after working on it for three weeks after work and weekends it's finally coming together hopefully have it all done in a month to take it to turner falls Oklahoma beautiful place to go camping for the south ain't the mountains but it will work

We didn't open up the wall. There is aluminum cladding on the inside of the rail, and on the bottom of the rail to protect the wood from the weather and road debris.

Beautiful pictures of the trim strip& repair

Just like I said in a previous post that the trim strip on the awning side is sealed with lap seal caulk. This comes like this from the factory. Our Hi Lo dealer unscrews the trimstrip and reseals it with butyl tape and caulk. This is a huge source of water dammage-serious wall repair. This is another thing that could be corrected in the manufacturing process.

Before I found JR I had a broken cable on my '84 but nowhere to get any so I made a set of my own. It's not to hard. The single most important thing is to but the CORRECT cable. You need HI strength(aircraft type) cable. It has smaller but many more strands of high strength steel. You can get it at H/D along with the necessary hondos(little loops on the end that the upper half bolts go through) cable clamps and eye bolts. As a matter of practice, whenever one aged(25+ years)componet fails, I replace all the other similar componets simultaniously, so I replaced all 4 cabels, even though only one broke. Probably took 2-3 hrs., due to it being my first try. Cables must be destalled(is that a word?) and installed with either the top all the way DOWN or fully supported with blocks at the corners that take ALL the weight. Just be carefull that when you detension the cables by loosening the eye bolt nuts, the cables become very slack. If the nuts get to within 1/4" of the end of the threads and the cables are still tight, STOP and find out why the top is still pulling on the cabels. It must be FULLY supported. Once the cables are loose, you can remove the clamps(there should me at least 2) and remove the cable from the eye bolt. Thread the cable back through the pully on the cylander arm and all other pullys back untill you can remove the bolt that attaches the other end of the cable to the top half. Install the hondo in the new cable, bolt it to the top half and run the cable back through the appropriate pullys to the eye bolt. Do the same for all the other cables. If the top is Down, RETRACT the hydrolic cylander all the way in. If the top is up, EXTEND the cylender all the way out. Pull the cables taught, tighten the cable clamps, making sure the tension is about the same on each. Retighten the nuts on the eye blots. Have a helper (code name:copilot)slowly lift or lower the top while you watch from underneath to be sure everything is OK as it moves. Raise the top and check for proper mating clearances. Adjust the top up by tightening the eyebolt nuts and down by loosening the nuts independantly untill you get it just right. Cycle up and down and check again. CAMP ON !!