Hey ya'll, just bought this 96 trailer today. My wife and I are super excited to get it out and go camping. We are about to move from Anchorage, AK to New Mexico the end of July, so got to get it prepped for the long journey. Thanks in advance for all the technical support/tips.

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Welcome to the forum. Looks like a nice HiLo. We are here to help you in any way that we can. Our forum members are very friendly and experienced. Best of luck in your move to NM. Sam

HI jguy
Welcome to the forum. We made the trip to AK in 2009. Had no problems with the Hi-Lo or pickup. Some suggestions to hopefully prevent problems. If the tires are aprox 5 years old consider new ones with the highest load rating usually a (D). Clean and repack the wheel bearings. Inspect the bearings and races for any rust or pitting and replace if any is found. Consider carrying a extra set of bearings and races as their are so many different sizes that they could be difficult to find on the road and takes many days to get a special order on the road. Run with the least amt of liquid in your tanks. We dumped every time we left a campground and ran with only 5 to 10 gal of fresh water. The road was in much better condition than I expected. Would like a report on the road as we plan to do the trip again in 2012. If you have any other questions get back with us but let us know your past experience with RV's. Are you military? Do your preventative maintenance and you should have no problems. Good luck on the trip.

__________________
Jim L & Faye
2805C
2003 Silvarado diesel crew cab
2017 Silvarado, crew cab 1500 6.2L gas w/ 8 speed tranny
central VA

@ Sam- Thanks for the warm welcome! Will probably be spending lots of time here on the forum since the old girl needs some work.


@ Jim- Thanks for the advice. Not sure how old the tires are, but they definitely need replacing before going anywhere. I am military (Air Force) and my wife and I drove up here in Nov 2007, no camper, just a Jeep Patriot, which has since been replaced with a Nissan Pathfinder. We were also pleasantly surprised with the condition of the road. Everyone that we talked to made it sound like such a big ordeal, but I didn't think it was too bad as long as you are prepared to go without certain services for extended stretches of highway.

This will be the first rv that I have owned. We do enjoy camping, recently in a tent, but with a 2 year old son, we decided to start looking for a pop-up, and then I found this. Love the idea of being able to pack up in the rain and not have to worry about drying out the tent, etc. When I was growing up, my parents had a VERY basic tent trailer, then a pop-up, then a travel trailer, so I grew up camping almost every summer in Maine. When my wife and I were just dating we took a week long trip to Williamsburg, VA, and we love that area.

Thanks again for the tips, I planned on doing the wheel bearings this weekend and currently shopping around for tires. And if you don't hear from me by the end of August, feel free to ask about the trip.

Jason

HI Jason
Be sure and inspect your cables for bad rust spots and broken wires, also no broken pulleys. Bad spots in the cables will usually be where the cables go around a pulley with the top in the up position. Make sure you check the 4 top pulleys on the bottom section, the cables make a 180 degree turn around these pulleys. You may have to take the top wood trim piece off to get to these. On mine I don't, just have to lower the top about 6". Lube the entire cables with WD40 and the pulleys. I am retired AF. If you ever get back here to VA look us up.

__________________
Jim L & Faye
2805C
2003 Silvarado diesel crew cab
2017 Silvarado, crew cab 1500 6.2L gas w/ 8 speed tranny
central VA

Thanks Jim,

Got a chance to spend the afternoon cleaning up the inside of the trailer and getting to know it a little better. The cables look pretty good for the age, from what I know and can tell, but replacing them is on the to-do list. I would much rather put new cables on when I wantto instead of when I need to.

We definitely plan to come back to VA eventually, so thanks a bunch for the offer (wish I could extend the same invitation for when you come to AK, but if you ever get the urge to visit New Mexico, feel free.

Jason