Towlite 170rk - Hi-Lo camper travel trailer forum

Cullen · 03-14-2017, 08:42 AM

So I drove six hours to get this beast. Then the problems begin.
First top would not go down, upon inspection guide bar and hydraulic piston are bent, appears entire top half along bottom is ate up with corrosion . I didn't inspect it well enough and now own it I'm super with my hands and common sense but just wonder is it gonna cost to much to fix can post pictures
On a bettter note the inside is in great shape and everything else seems to work
Just looking for a general consensus is it worth fixing or not I have $1100 , 12 hours drive time and fuel costs$250 as of now
Also any known dealer/ repair place near va beach va

Thx for any input in advance
Shawn cullen

sam · 03-14-2017, 09:09 PM

Only you can answer this question. Do a search on the forum for others that have done extensive rebuilds. You you have the time and place to repair this? Do you have the money for material and parts? Post pictures so we can better advise you. If it will make you feel any better you are not the first person to buy a damaged HiLo because you didn't take the time or know what to look for.

Cullen · 03-14-2017, 10:59 PM

These are a few pictures of the damaged parts the cables and pulleys all seem okay, I took a trip to northern and I may be wrong but all the materials used to build this camper look generic, in other words it looks like the guide rod is jus a 3/4 pipe with a hole for cotter pin, northern has 16 diffent hydraulic cylinders, I'm thinking I could support top remove damaged parts try to match what I can and have a machine shop fab what I can't. I do have money, not unlimited but what I lack in cash I make up for with diy skills lol.

Thx shawn

hilltool · 03-20-2017, 03:07 PM

If the rest of it is in good condition and you only have 1100.00 in it I would consider doing the repair. However, I would be curious how it got bent.

RichR · 03-20-2017, 04:10 PM

Lack of maintenance is a big cause of the guide rod getting bent. They need to be cleaned and lubed regularly.

JIM L · 03-21-2017, 08:36 PM

Hi Shawn; Welcome to the forum and the fun of owning an RV. In the first picture you are pointing to a short piece of pipe that is welded to the frame. It appears to be broken. On my HiLo the length is about 2 to 2 1/2 inches. The end of the guide rod that I see to the right of your hand goes into this pipe, no attachment of any kind, just floats in the pipe. The guide rod is a solid steel rod, not a pipe. It is also not stainless. In picture 3, the other end of the guide rod goes thru that hole in the cross brace and does not have any roll pin nor nut on the guide rod on the backside of the cross brace and is not suppose to. The roll pin on the front side keeps the rod from slipping back and out of the short pipe on the other end of the rod. The end plate on the hydraulic ram has a hole that the rod goes thru and slides along guide rod as the top is raised or lowered. When the rod gets rusty and coated with road grim, the end plate hole can seize on the guide rod and the hydraulic pressure is strong enough to bend the rod and tare the underside up. My guess is that the end plate sized on the guid rod, bending the rod enough to break off that short pipe dropping the rod and hyd. ram and end plate down causing more jamming that bent the hyd ram. This could have happened in a different order but the results are the same. Check with a good hydraulic shop or a company like Cat or John Deere who repair Hydraulic cylinders all the time to see if yours could be repaired. Your guide rod looks rusted and crudded up. You need to clean the rod up and remove any rust with different grades of emery cloth and then lube it. I will send you a private message with my phone # if you have more questions. JIM

Treeclimber · 03-22-2017, 08:21 AM

What Jim says, with a note. If you choose to replace/rebuild the hyd cylinder, ensure they know that it's filled and tested with TRANS fluid!