J&R Repair, FYI

Emailed J&R Repair Sunday with a description of a part I need. Got a response 2 hrs. later...on Sunday! They even sent pictures of parts for me to identify exactly what I needed. All this for a $25 part. Didn't know there were still businesses with this kind of support. The part was in stock and is on its way.

Those two guys at J&R Repair (Rob & Jim) are wonderful guys!! Just met both of them a few weeks ago in person. They're running a business like it should be run. Excellent customer service and willing to help anyway they can.

I can't say enough good things about these guys. Somehow they're able to provide new parts for my 1988 Fun Maker. When I needed tail lights, the original supplier (Reflect-O-Lite) had gone out of business. Jim salvaged a couple of them off of one of his old campers and swapped lights with me. They were in great condition. This is the kind of customer service that made America great. I'm glad to see it coming back again.

My experience definitely endorses what the above writers have said. I exchanged E-mails with one of the fellows at J & R, regarding potential roof replacement on our '69 Bon Voyage. They were VERY fast responding, and when I wasn't so quick getting back to them, they followed up and asked me if all was well.

Cool thing was that they had already figured a way to do the job, and all they wanted to know was a measurement and how soon they could get started! No hemming, hawing, or other BS... just straight answers.

I like that!

Jim

yes they got right back to me too when i emailed about my issues. its great but i am not anywhere near where they are.
they will be a good resource for us.

1986 Hi Lo

we just bought subject today with alot of water damage, flat tires, dead battery, and in the extended position. We paid for it but can't find tires, battery, and hope the hydraulics work. The fellows you mentioned sound great and would love to get in contact. We need help but love the trailer, and need to get it home, about 10 miles away. Thank you for any info you offer. I'd also love to know where to get a manual on the hydraulics. Thank you, Kathy and Duck.

Kathy,

Please be advised (I'm assuming you are new to Hi-Lo trailers) that these trailers are absolutely not designed to be towed in the raised position. You could literally "blow your top" off! Furthermore, you will need to install a battery to lower the upper half. Any brand of 12 volt deep cycle RV battery will work.

If you need to replace the tires I really recommend tires designed for trailer service. Conventional auto tires will be dangerously overloaded if used on a travel trailer.

Good luck,
Jim

ANY 12V battery will work to provide the voltage to lower the top. You only need a deep cycle battery for continued use. If you have an extra car/truck battery, and it will fit in the battery compartment, use that.

As an alternative, you could remove the existing battery and then connect your tow vehicle's battery to the battery cables in the Hi-Lo with jumper cables (positive to positive, negative to negative of course) and that would supply power to lower the top. The only problem with this is it MIGHT be hard to disconnect the jumper cables with the top down - I could do it on mine, since there's a small door that opens in the battery compartment with the top down, but I don't know about your model. If you try this, make sure someone is holding the cables apart so they can't touch each other or ground out on bare metal. Also, DO NOT have the tow vehicle's ignition ON - you can damage vehicle electronics if you do this.

The reason I suggested removing the existing battery is because it could be internally shorted or so defective it could cause a problem.

Finally, there MAY be a way to lower the top without a battery. In my trailer there is a "manual lowering knob" that is to be turned counter-clockwise until trailer lowers. It's on the hydraulic pump. Yours may have something similar.

- Jack

J & R Repair

We went to Butler, Ohio which is 1,100 miles from our home in South Louisiana, to have some work done on our 2002 Classicc 29 ft HiLo. We got to the shop on Monday afternoon and put the HiLo in the shop. Rob and Jim were really great and had it ready Friday morning for our trip home. After changing the seals between top and bottom with the new rubber type, also installed electric stabilizer jacks, removed the carpet in the living area and found that the vinyl flooring was the same as in the bath area and was in great shape, and a list of other things we wanted to have checked, was done and for a reasonable price. We were totally pleased with the work they did and the kindness they showed toward us. I can't say enough about the work ethics of these two guys. They run a business like it is supposed to be handled. I recommend anyone to go to Butler if they need work done on their HiLo. It was a pleasure to meet Rob and Jim and if we are ever in the area again we will stop by and say hello. If you need parts they will ship it to you and return your calls asap.

SusieandDon said:

We went to Butler, Ohio which is 1,100 miles from our home in South Louisiana, to have some work done on our 2002 Classicc 29 ft HiLo. We got to the shop on Monday afternoon and put the HiLo in the shop. Rob and Jim were really great and had it ready Friday morning for our trip home. After changing the seals between top and bottom with the new rubber type, also installed electric stabilizer jacks, removed the carpet in the living area and found that the vinyl flooring was the same as in the bath area and was in great shape, and a list of other things we wanted to have checked, was done and for a reasonable price. We were totally pleased with the work they did and the kindness they showed toward us. I can't say enough about the work ethics of these two guys. They run a business like it is supposed to be handled. I recommend anyone to go to Butler if they need work done on their HiLo. It was a pleasure to meet Rob and Jim and if we are ever in the area again we will stop by and say hello. If you need parts they will ship it to you and return your calls asap.

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It's nice that you had a good experience. I had an appointment scheduled with them and they weren't there!

I drove into Bellville and talked to a guy that was where they used to build the trailers. He said that there was a guy in town with HiLo written on his building. I thought that I just had the wrong address. I went to him (PJs Patchwork LLC) and I found out that he was the old Plant Manager.

I guess the bad things really worked out there. The man does PERFECT work!

It was a very odd day for me that day.

unanswered email

I wrote an email to JandR repair in Butler Ohio because I kept reading great things about them on this forum.
I never got a response.
I don't know if I offended them or what but seeing as I just this last month bought a HiLo I thought they would be a good place to start to get some advice about repairs.
Still wondering....

henriettahankenson said:

I wrote an email to JandR repair in Butler Ohio because I kept reading great things about them on this forum.
I never got a response.
I don't know if I offended them or what but seeing as I just this last month bought a HiLo I thought they would be a good place to start to get some advice about repairs.
Still wondering....

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Don't mess around. Call Joel at 419-886-0008. He can get all the parts you'll need. J & R get a lot of parts from him.

His website is:

Home - The Official HiLo Trailer Parts & Service

He'll get back with you.

thanks

Thanks so much! Sometimes being a "newbie" is uncomfortable around all you seasoned pros, so I appreciate the heads up. I live in Colorado (by Breckenridge) and need a recommendation for a good repair service for HiLos. Someplace besides Camping World. Help

henriettahankenson said:

Thanks so much! Sometimes being a "newbie" is uncomfortable around all you seasoned pros, so I appreciate the heads up. I live in Colorado (by Breckenridge) and need a recommendation for a good repair service for HiLos. Someplace besides Camping World. Help

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Welcome to the forum.
Many of us have had a great response from J&R so don't count them out. I understand that its just the two of them and know they get many phone calls and emails for advice and during their busiest season they may miss getting back sometimes. I know nothing about Joel and his operation so am not saying anything negative about him. I do know that we need all the good qualified maintenance and parts operations to do the specialized work on these HiLo's. Are you aware that there is a large HiLo club in Colo? You should be able to get help from them as well as here on the forum. If you want the name and ph# of a contact there get back with me.

henriettahankenson said:

Thanks so much! Sometimes being a "newbie" is uncomfortable around all you seasoned pros, so I appreciate the heads up. I live in Colorado (by Breckenridge) and need a recommendation for a good repair service for HiLos. Someplace besides Camping World. Help

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I'm definitely not a pro! I just bought my Hilo in May. I just ran into a bad experience and luck took me somewhere that could make the Hilo new again.

On a side note; I love camping in the Hilo at RMNP!

Don't discount your local "former" Hi-Lo dealer, he can still do repairs on Hi-Lo and get parts. My dealer gets his parts from J&R Repair.