Introducing myself

Hi All,

Been thinking about buying a Hi Lo since last year. Kind of looked then but was torn about selling our 1988 Trans Van. Made a half hearted attempt at selling it last year but didn't follow through. After recent surgery (from which I'm still recovering) I'm committed! We originally bought the TV for comfort in traveling after a broken hip and femur in 2003. We stayed in hotels when we reached our destination.

When the girls were younger we had two different Apache popups that we camped in because I have never liked the canvas sides. Then we became empty nesters and didn't do much camping and traveled instead. Now the girls have families of their own and we have started some family camping events. Two 50 something's in a TV has been challenging to say the least lol.

Any tips about purchasing and/or owning a Hi Lo would be appreciated as we set out on the next leg of our camping adventures.

Welcome to the forum. We are a biased bunch here. I doubt you'll hear any of us say anything bad about our Hi-Lo's. Your best bet is to go to the reference library here on the forum and read through the brochures and owners manuals and see what you like. Below is a checklist that one of our members came up with. It has the major items you should look. Please feel free to ask any questions. There is a plethora of info on the forum.

This was taken from NDgent's post here on the forum. It is a great go-by list. You can do a search of thinking about buying and find his post to read it first hand.

Basically, start with the visual items –
1. Exterior
• Look for water stains and discoloration on inside walls and around ceiling anywhere vents, skylights, windows, etc. exist.
• Push and prod with your hand on the inside walls for soft spots (which could indicate a water leak and a damaged or rotten interior wall).
• Check for bubbles in the wallpaper (a sign of delimitation or water intrusion)
2. Interior cleanliness of the unit-
• Look for water stains and discoloration on inside walls and around ceiling anywhere vents, skylights, windows, etc. exist.
• Push and prod with your hand on the inside walls for soft spots (which could indicate a water leak and a damaged or rotten interior wall).
• Check for bubbles in the wallpaper (a sign of delimitation or water intrusion)
3. Test appliance functions –
• lights
• fans
• refrigerator
• air conditioner
• heater
• water pump
• range hood
• stovetop
• oven (if equipped)
• microwave (if equipped)
• stereo (if equipped)
4. Lift System-
• Does the unit raise and lower properly
• Check the lift system for hydraulic leaks (puddle under the trailer)
• Check the lift cables to see if they are in good shape and not frayed
• Check the seal between the upper and lower body halves for tears or damage
5. fill the tanks to the top and check for leaks
6. Battery
7. Solar Panel (if equipped)

Thinking about buying a HiLo

Welcome to the forum. You have come to the right place for advice and to have your questions answered.

Thanks for the welcome!

also, if you post what city and state you live in, so our hi-lo buddies can possibly help you when you look at a possible candidate

Please indicate your general location and/or state when you become a site member

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It would be helpfull, if everyone on this site, would "edit their user profile" so that it will post your general area at least, when you post or people look up your username...

it is under USER CP, EDIT YOUR DETAILS, at the bootom of that page, ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, has several blanks you can fill with as much detail or general info. I suggest at least state. I put a little more detail. It is especially helpful information in the for sale/trailer wanted thread.

signature means that line at the bottom of all my posts, and where you live is in the top right corner of my posts...
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Added my location (Michigan). I have one that I have my eye on but he wants $5,500 and the most I can pay (until I sell the Transvan) is $4,000. I told him to keep us in mind if he changes his mind - even if it is later in the season.

Getting a HiLo

I just spent many Hrs searching a lot of sites for a 15ft. HiLo for my friend. I found one in Indianna that I think he will call on. My gut feeling is that they are plentiful used and newer. It is a buyers market. I know you will be a HiLo owner soon.!!

Ready to buy

Sold the Transvan today and now have two weeks to find our hi lo before the previously planned family camping trip in two weeks! Have been keeping an eye on one listed here in Michigan. It is a 31 foot that weighs 5100. Not being very familiar with towing requirements would our Ford F150 be able to tow it? We also would want to purchase a conversion van in the near future to tow it with. Would that be a possibility?

zookeeper said:

Sold the Transvan today and now have two weeks to find our hi lo before the previously planned family camping trip in two weeks! Have been keeping an eye on one listed here in Michigan. It is a 31 foot that weighs 5100. Not being very familiar with towing requirements would our Ford F150 be able to tow it? We also would want to purchase a conversion van in the near future to tow it with. Would that be a possibility?

Click to expand...

You can google tow rating for your year and model of TV and it will tell you what you can pull.

I don't know where you got the weight of a 31 ft Hi-Lo but it is going to weigh over 6,000 lbs.
What year is it?

It is a 1994 and the owner told me the weight but now you have me wondering if I heard him wrong. and to combine two answers to two posts - I just tried googling tow rating for a 1999 f150 but for some reason the oldest one I'm coming up with is a 2000

He probably gave you the axle weight rating. What you want is UVW unloaded vehicle weight, the options are added to that, air conditioner is an option.
Here is the 1999 tow ratings.

My 97 4x4 super cab f150- with 4.6l engine and 3.55 rear end has a max trailer weight rating of 6600 lbs. They didn't change them much between then and 99. That engine with the 3.08 rear end drops to 5100lb.

5.4 l with 3.08 is 6000 and 5.4l with 3.55 is 7700.

may give you a ball park at any rate. T he 2x4 f150s are a bit more.

Rick

Checked out a few of the threads in the TV. Going to have a brake controller put on this morning hopefully if the place can fit us in. Not sure what they have available will see when they open. Any suggestions? A couple of seemingly silly questions but I'm completely clueless about these things. How do you know if your truck has a factory tow package and how do you find the rear axle ratio. We would like to go check out the 31 foot this afternoon and possibly bring it home. It is 3 hours from us and they are leaving Thursday for vacation so it is really our only chance to see it before our family vacation. So if we want something this would probably be it. There is a dearth of hi lo s in our area and immediately after our vacation I am having surgery so it would be another month before we could even look again I really like the pictures but I don't want to buy it and find we can't tow it safely

As for the Tow package, did the truck come with a class 3 or 4 hitch mounted by the factory, if not it doesn't have the factory tow package. A factory tow package includes a larger radiator, a transmission fluid cooler, and the hitch, The axle ratio can be gotten from the axle code on the door sticker. At the bottom of the door sticker You will see the word -axle- under that there will be either a letter and a number or 2 numbers, you can google it or post the code and I will give you the axle ratio. Another method is to crawl under the truck and look at the metal tag that is fastened under one of the rear differential cover bolts. When they install the brake controller be sure they use # 10 wire, fused at 30 amps for the positive line to the trailer and # 10 or heavier for the negative ground wire. Any smaller than this and you will have trouble. A Prodigy is a good brake controller and can be mounted in any angled position. Be sure to check the trailer out good. Don't just buy because you need it in a hurry. Any trailer can have water damage, if it wasn't properly taken care of, which can lead to major repair, costing as much as you paid for the trailer.

It says h9 under the axle. Another dumb question - how do you tell if it is a class 3 or class 4 hitch? Some other numbers I wrote down - 500lb tongue weight, 2 inch ball max 3500 lbs and then on the insert (whatever that is called 5000 lb max. I really like the queen bedroom in the 31 foot it would be nice not to have to put the bed down every night but my husband is concerned about the manuverability of such a long rig and the actual towing ease. Any thoughts?

H9 axle code is a 3.55, limited slip differential. Not the best ratio for that weight trailer. The class should be on a sticker on the hitch. Where did you get those number from? If they are on the hitch, it is too light to pull that trailer. actually you need a Class 4 or 5 trailer hitch. What is your engine size and is it an automatic?
You will need a WD hitch, Weight Distribution hitch, hook up. If your husband has never backed up or pulled a trailer it maybe a problem. Not that he can't learn. Many RV sites require the trailer to be backed in and often it is a sharp turn. Not to be negative, you are jumping into something with no knowledge and are planing a camping trip to soon. There is a learning curve, which takes a little time. I don't know how far you plan on driving on you camping trip, but a long trip right off could present problems. The tires on the trailer should be not more than 4 or 5 years old regardless of how much tread they have on them, trailer tires are made different than car or truck tires and they have a max speed rating of 65 MPH.
No questions are dumb, I have a son that thinks that way and won't ask and he gets himself into trouble a lot and of course if pop gives advice he doesn't listen.

Yes I got the numbers off the hitch. We are only going to be using the f150 temporarily to pull the hilo. The plan is to get a conversion van as the TV. Is the class 4 or 5 needed for any size hilo or just that large of a one? My husband used to pull an Apache when the girls were younger but that was some time ago and we have been using the Transvan for the last 8 years. The camping trip was planned early this year and is the one camping trip we have each year with the girls and their families. I would hate to miss it especially since we would not be able to plan an alternate date. We all look forward to it but we may have to cancel. The campground is about about 2 hours away. The engine size is a 4.6 v8 automatic

Forgot to mention he does pull work trailers but nothing over 12-16 feet