We purchased a Hilo 2207 in September of 2008. We spent last summer learning all about camping as we were new to this adventure. We had a great time and are looking forward to this summer when we can head out again. I have been reading the messages on this forum and have gotten a few questions answered but decided to join and ask about a couple things that came up with our camper. When we we getting it cleaned up for the up comng season i noticed a crack in the front cap. It started on the top and came down the front about 8 inches. I also found a similar crack on the back.

Moderator: I copied this next question into a new thread in the appliance forum. Please refer to this link to post answers to the vent fan issue. http://www.hilotrailerforum.com/f29/...wont-work-287/

Also our vent fan for the frig will not come on. I have checked the fuses and the all are OK. Looking for any recommendations on either of these issues.

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Dave & Sue
Hilo 2207T
2003 GMC Sierra

dschulz -

I've not experienced repairing a cracked End Cap yet, but it's my understanding that the factory recommendation is one of two choices. Either patch it, or replace it.

To patch the end cap, drill a small hole on each end of the crack to prevent it from cracking further, and then caulk the crack.

As an alternative to caulking the crack you could look into plastic repair kits. There are different types for different kinds of plastic, most are an epoxy of some sort. If this rain ever stops here, I'm going to use a plastic repair kit I just purchased, and repair a small crack in my black tank. This particular kit was made specifically for this. I thank Sam Shields for telling me about these.

Another metod of patching the crack is "plastic welding". For this, you would call around in your area and find a shop that does this.

Neal

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2001 Hi-Lo 22TL
2010 F150

The end caps can be repaired with a auto fiberglass repair kit then repaint. unless you very proficent with these type of repairs I would take it to a auto body shop they can repair and spot paint. repair cost by a professional should run about $600.00. replacing a end cap is about $1200.00 to $1500.00 depending on shipping cost. You can do as I did and drill the end of the crack and seal with clear silicone. cost about $3.00.
Sam

Neal and Sam thanks for the input. I did contact my dealer and Hilo has agreed to send a new front cap at only the shipping charges and the dealer will put on, but will have to charge some labor. I thought it was not a bad deal to replace it. We are still waiting on them about the back. I am just courious if this is a common occurance, or how to prevent this from happen again.

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Dave & Sue
Hilo 2207T
2003 GMC Sierra

It is not a common occurrences, I damaged my when one of the bars droped at hwy speeds and bounce up and cracked the front cap before I heard it and pulled over. My fault, did not get the bar snaped into the hitch good. Now I use a bungie cord to make sure It never happens again.
Sam

Unfortunatley, based on experience and hearing what my dealer has said the cracks are a common experience in the more recent models such as 2007 which use PCV for the end caps. The older ones used fiberglass as do the 2010s.

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Bruce, formerly 2707T

I have a 2409T and a small crack has started in the right front top where the end cap is formed around the corner. It started at the edge and has worked forward about 1 1/2" it is just short of coming over the corner. I drilled a 1/8" hole at the end of the crack to keep it from going any more. It appears to be PVC so should I just seal it with caulk or PVC glue? Not sure if it is worth replacing the whole front if it is just going to crack again. If drilling the hole and caulk has releaved the stress that caused the crack should I just keep an eye on it?

I think I would just keep an eye on it. If it starts to crack further you may want to consider replacement, but the replacements are made of the same material.

I would do the ( drill a 1/8" hole and caulk).
The caulking I would use is POLYURETHANE (50 year performance)
SIKAFLEX 1a or a Home Depot item-HENKEL/ PL polyurethane
Keep an eye on it.

Les 97 21ft. towlite









'

Stopped by storage lot the other day to see how the trailer was surviving the winter and found out "not so great". Two pretty good cracks are now running up my front end cap. Maybe something hit it---but I suspect the result of this crazy cold winter we are having caused it to crack. Never got the cover on it before the first snows came and froze- so maybe a combination of direct sun on warmer days and then the 14 to 15 below temps. I know there are more posts than just this thread but I will try suggestions here when things warm up (maybe July????).

End of the season I noticed my "uneven tire wear" issue had returned- so straightening the axle either did not work or it got bent again or that was not the issue. Somebody looked into replacing axles at one time if I remember....any advice on that is appreciated. In the meantime- I keep looking to upgrade the TV and I figure I need 16 to 17 hundred lbs over curb weight for GVWR and that is not easy to find unless I go 3/4 ton. I found an f150 "heavy", 2007, which I liked but it turned out it had a bad drive shaft and was being sold by some of the most unscrupulous car salesmen I have ever encountered. Single digit temps back this week. my my my my my!

Rick

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2201 TL

2010 Nissan Titan king cab SE
4x4

Rick, Agree it certainly has been a hard winter. DH checked on our HiLo and he had to adjust the ropes on the cover. We also have some uneven wear our on our tires. Our guess is that it is due to the broken leaf springs. The leaf springs have been replaced. Our tires have aged out. We plan on getting the new tires balanced when we replace them in the spring. Our HiLo is stored five minutes from our house on a piece of property we own. The property is all chain link fenced in. The back of the property is an alley and when the city plows they push a great deal of the snow in front of our gate making it impossible to take it our for inspection in late march. I will have to call the city and ask them to remove the snow. No matter what goes wrong with our HiLo it is all fixable.