1969 Traveler hilo Help request & data

[69hilo2]

1969 hilo

This is really about my working on the hilo. This morning on the way into work I bought a new battery for the hilo. RaRa. Saved up money all week and then borrowed some from the wife and the dog. Don't tell the dog, please. Got a nice deep cycle marine 715 cranking amp battery also claims 23amps output for 200 hours. Ok, whatever just raise and lower it when I want and I'll be happy. Well after wiring and checking and finishing wiring. I'm happy to report that all of the inside stuff worked. All of the 12 volt lights inside and the water pump (yes it's a pump system, not a pressure system). Ra Ra. Then tried the raise lower switch and got the sounds that I think that I like. Tomorrow, if not raining I'll work on the cable that goes from the hilo to the truck. After I finish that I'll try to lower the top down and raise it again.
Getting close. More later.

Later Tim & Nancy & a dog that wants to go camping.

 

[PappaP]

Battery charger

Not sure if you have a Harbor Freight store in Fla? But this is a method that many use for maintaining a charged battery and with a coupon you can get it for around $6 so definitely a lot cheaper out of the pocket. Just keep my battery in the garage and keep this float charger on the battery when not in use. Hope this helps

Automatic Battery Charger - 12V

 

[69hilo2]

HF

Well PappaP last time I was at HF was about 2 hours ago. Happy to say that we have one about 1 mile away.
Picked up a pack of those square headed bits to use on the screws on the outside of the camper.

For everyone's information the bit that works best is the number 2 square bit. HF sells a pack with 3 - #1 and 3 - #2 for around $3.99 of course take your coupons and get 20% off and a free vom or flashlight.
Love that store. Also my well used tools are craftsman. I'd like to think that I know when to spend the money and on what. Yes some hf tools are cheap and I would not own them. Right tool right job.
Now that I've cooled down it's time to go out and take some more pics of the work that I'm doing on the outside of the hilo.

Later Tim

 

[Wrascal]

you're getting there

just a reminder of what happened to me - my original water pump worked, but it didn't pump water. Did you try that or just listen to it churning merrily along?

Another thought is if you've got a new, fully charged battery in it, then you shouldn't need the vehicles charge line to raise/lower the top.

 

[69hilo2]

Water

wrascal
On the water supply, to check it out I just washed my hands in it as it came out of the faucet. It seemed like real water to me.
You are also correct on a new fresh battery not needing an help to raise or lower the top.
PappaP
Forgot to say that my wife and I were looking at the solar stuff at HF when we were there. My wife even said that sounds good. Will be looking into on another day.

Later Tim & Nancy

 

[69hilo2]

On with the work

Well hope this gives some info and such to anyone else having a 1969 Traveler or anything close.
Wiring -- Well I think that several of you folks have seen what remains of the towing cable. Looks like it's been cut up redone several times. NOT going to work for me Period... So did what several folks said not to do. I removed a lot of screws and took the bottom front panel off the front top. I hoped to see where the wires went in and this and that. Well got to see the this and that. Learned a few things. Like ok there is a better way to do things.

First if you only want to change out the towing cable. What is the best way to do it on this hilo. Find the aluminum plate that has 4 screws and the towing cable goes into. Remove the 4 screws and the plate. Now carefully work on pulling down the wire group. If you are lucky you can work it down and see the factory wire nut clamps. Ok, there is a small metal wire that's around the towing cable. That's what gives support and holds the wire in place. Remove and cut out the old towing cable wire. Put your replacement coiled towing cable in through the aluminum plate and the put a wire or something around the towing cable so it will not go back out through the plate. Then use crimp style wire nuts and lock the wires into place. Remember to take pics at all times. Remember there are 2 red wires clamping on to one towing cable wire. One red wire goes to the passenger side to the hilo and 4 other wires go to the drivers side.
NOTICE this can be done without opening everything up like I did. But I learned a few things about how everything is inside that area and should be in the other areas.
I'm going to post my limit of 5 pics with this post and then I'll post a few more with general comments about our 1969 hilo.

Later Tim & Nancy and a dog that wants to go camping.

pics
1st -- wiring as it was
2nd -- front with lower panel off showing whats in there
3rd -- the wires, note one red wire going off.
4th -- wires and the wire cable clamps, note double red wires
5th -- inside showing the wires. This area is part of some corner damage from some past owner.

 

[69hilo2]

General notes

Ok, looking at the second picture from above there should be two blocks of plywood in each lower corner. The block should be about 4 1/4 inches by 4 1/4 inches by 1 inch thick. The factory wood block before wood rot was made up of a piece of 3/4 inch plywood with a piece of 1/4 inch paneling glued to it. These are important backing pieces where the 2 screws get screwed into that hold the awning rods. Both of my support wood blocks had so much water damage that screws would not hold in them so in that parts I'm happy that I opened things up. Not looking forward to putting the aluminum panel back on but should only be a pain with out any major problems. Going to use lots of caulk. Also if you need to do this you have to pull the rubber strips so you can see and remove a few more screws, see pic #2 above post. Well it's raining so my wife and I put a tarp over things. I hope to finish this wiring and siding project off Saturday morning. Then work on lowering the top.
Next project is the front brake area. Got it to move a little. More oil, more oil some love and hope to get it moving. It does not have a pin/bolt in it yet so it should (I think) move without too much of a problem, might remove the bolt that goes to the shock to help free things up. Going to dig out a can of brake fluid and put it in Friday or Saturday. Maybe Sunday take it for a ride around the block. Then keep on working on the little stuff. Need a new tire and wheel. I want and will have a spare, period.

Later Tim & Nancy & Ulysses

 

[PappaP]

Well PappaP last time I was at HF was about 2 hours ago. Happy to say that we have one about 1 mile away.
Picked up a pack of those square headed bits to use on the screws on the outside of the camper.

For everyone's information the bit that works best is the number 2 square bit. HF sells a pack with 3 - #1 and 3 - #2 for around $3.99 of course take your coupons and get 20% off and a free vom or flashlight.
Love that store. Also my well used tools are craftsman. I'd like to think that I know when to spend the money and on what. Yes some hf tools are cheap and I would not own them. Right tool right job.
Now that I've cooled down it's time to go out and take some more pics of the work that I'm doing on the outside of the hilo.

Later Tim

I agree on the cheapness of some of the harbor freight tools. If it is something that I may only use once or twice then I will pay the cheap price at HF. But for the mainstay of my work wrenches and tools they are also craftsman. I can remember I bought a breaker bar from HF to aid in removing wheel bearing nuts and when I tried to stand on it with my foot for a little extra leverage the breaker bar broke in half, and I only weigh around 210lbs wet. So at that point I went to Sears and bought a craftsman breaker bar. I also bought a set of those security bits from HF that has all the different style square and star bits needed for screw heads. Can't beat the price when its only a few bucks at HF compared to around 4 times the cost at another hardware store.

 

[sam-HILO]

Beefing up awnings supports

This might make you feel better. Many of us have had to add metal strips to give our screw area more support at the awning area. A back post was done on this by Sam shields.

 

[69hilo2]

security bit set

PappaP
I also bought that security bit set. That said it seems that only one item is missing from all of the holes. The #2 square bit, LOL. Bought that other set because it has three #2 bits in it. The complete security bit set is a better buy overall but not if you have one and all you need is #2 bits.
HF good for somethings and not so good for others. But for me close by, free stuff, low prices and normally 20% off.
Sam
Sorry to hear that other folks have had to do that. I'll look for the thread another on another day. It will be simple now that I have the panel off.

Well going to work on the towing wire cable and then get everything back together hopefully by late Saturday afternoon. Might try to drive it around the block on Sunday. We will see.

Later Tim & Nancy & Big "U" the dog

 

[Wrascal]

Are you sure?

"On the water supply, to check it out I just washed my hands in it as it came out of the faucet. It seemed like real water to me."

 

[69hilo2]

wrascel

wrascel
If you get the chance this weekend when it's raining hard, step out into it as it might feel about the same.

Work outside on the hilo around here is stopped by the rain and work else where. So might review another hilo manual and try to wire up the ends of the cable that goes between the truck and the hilo. Yes I'll try to take a few pics as it goes.

Later Tim

 

[69hilo2]

wires

Well went out at night as you can see things light up better. In one of the pics it shows the wires as they come out of our hilo. Well if my wife and I wrote it down right we have the following.
1st red going to two red wires --- this is for the amber running lights.
2nd green going to a yellow wire --- this is for the left brake light/signal light
3rd white going to a white --- inside lights
4th black going to black --- right brake/signal light

Well that's what we got now to make things work. Next to check the cable ends wiring.
Happy to say that the cheap HF tester that I got plugged into the adapter that I have that goes from the big round plug to a flat four plug. Next happy was that everything tested correctly. Now to work on from there over the weekend when I get some time.

Later Tim & Nancy

 

[69hilo2]

Working

Working on the hilo is slow as I spent the weekend doing drywall mud work to get things ready to paint. Two nice holes one 5x8inch and the other small 2inch rounds holes that was repaired poorly. Still all in all with the redoing of bad work and holes used almost half of a 5 gallon pail of mud. The painting was easy after that. Hope to finish the first round by Wednesday.

hilo well if I ever get home and have some energy left I'll back the truck up and twist a test mock up of wires. If it all works then I'll get some crimp wire nuts and crimp it all. Then put the wiring back and put the front panel back on. I'll take pics as I go.

Have a great day

Tim & Nancy & a dog that wants to go camping.

 

[69hilo2]

update

Well it's been a while since I adding anything to this thread. So the Bottom line is last Sunday afternoon got everything to where I wanted it. Hooked everything up. Have working lights -- brake - left - right -- running. RaRa. I'll do a post on that later and link it in. 2nd pic is of how everything looked after I put the panel back up.
So drove everything around the block a few times. See pictures. Everything still needs a lot of work but what can I say.
More Later..

Later Tim & Nancy and the dog that wants to go camping.

 

[69hilo2]

link in

This is a link in to the brake and bearings checking that I did.

http://www.hilotrailerforum.com/f24/1969-hilo-traveler-brake-check-pics-3294/

Later Tim

 

[69hilo2]

Running lights

Small update. -- Well on our 1969 Traveler hilo we have 7 red and 7 yellow running lights. It came with 3 red lenses and 2 yellow lenses. So got the hilo missing a few lenses. Stopped at several places in the area and did the internet search thing and found some replacements set ups starting at $9.95 and $5.75 s&h for each of the lenses that I had to replace. Total of around $100 plus s&h. Well that did not work with the pocket change that I have. So went to a place called R&R trailers in my area (they make trailers) and found a replacement setup. So bought a total of 16 setups, 8 red and 8 yellow for about 1/3 of what getting replacement Grote lenses would have cost. So now doing the change out on the complete light set up. Have a few done, a few at a time. My wife and I will get it done. Wish that the pocket could have handled switching to led, but. The lights were priced at $2.99 each, worked a small deal. Need to open one mounting hole up and normally drill a new hole for the wire to come through the base to get these setups to work.

Later Tim

 

[69hilo2]

Wheel bearings

Well as I noted in another thread and post that I took things apart and checked the wheel bearings. Just did not like what I saw on how everything was. Been trying to get the time to take things apart again and double check things. Got a little time yesterday and today and got one side of the hilo up and took the tire off and the hub apart. I think that I was right about the large bearings not being correct. I'm going to the R&R trailer shop tomorrow on my way into work and hand them the hub and bearing and ask them to look at it.
My notes on the parts so far for my 1969 Traveler hilo are that the large inside seal is a National 44C 265 - S6C.
Small bearing is a Timken 09067
Don't know anything about the other parts yet. Still working on that.
Does anyone know if there is a listing of bearing numbers (etc) for each year hilo that came out or ??

Later Tim

 

[RichR]

If you can find the axle make and model number you should be able to look it up. Some axles have a tag on them with the info. It could be a Dexter. There are only a couple of different sizes of bearing sets used by most HiLo trailers.

Trailer Bearing Kits

 

[69hilo2]

link

RichR
Thanks for that great link. Of course the bearing is not the same as anything listed.

Now to figure out more about the axle. Where is that tag or info located??

Of course I remember another item at the R&R trailer shop. An axle hub, if I remember right from both, our hilo and what I saw at the shop it's four nuts and bolts and you switch out the axle hub from the main axle. Another interesting thing to think about.

Later Tim