1976 17 ft. hi-lo, wont go all the way down please help

[vmax374]

my dad and i have been working on the lift and lower action of this camper. some of the cables broke and we put new cables and adjusted them. when you raise the camper you have to watch how far it goes up because it doesn't stop and make the squeal noise that it used to. when you lower it stops about 6 inches or so from all the way down. when it stops in the position it's in, the hydraulic piston is all the way in. i'm pretty much baffeled at this point and would appreciate anyone's help, thoughts, or suggestions. thank you very much, robert

 

[RichR]

Are you sure you adjusted the cables properly after replacing them? Did you make the cables the proper length by matching them to the old cables or did you buy the cables already made-up? Something has to be way off to be acting like that.

 

[RCREYES]

my dad and i have been working on the lift and lower action of this camper. some of the cables broke and we put new cables and adjusted them. when you raise the camper you have to watch how far it goes up because it doesn't stop and make the squeal noise that it used to. when you lower it stops about 6 inches or so from all the way down. when it stops in the position it's in, the hydraulic piston is all the way in. i'm pretty much baffeled at this point and would appreciate anyone's help, thoughts, or suggestions. thank you very much, robert

See if this helps you out.

http://www.hilotrailerforum.com/f61/cable-replacement-adjustment-1998-24td-125/

 

[PopRichie77]

One or more of the cables are to short.

 

[vmax374]

1976 hi lo won't go all the way down

thanks for replying to my problem. before we check the cables i wanted to ask a couple more questions. 1. when the cables brok and the top half fell, the safety bar caught it. now, when you pull the cable for the safety bar, the bar doesn't move all the way. could that keep the top from coming all the way down? 2. if we do have to start over with the cables is there any way to find out how long the oem cables were?

thank you again, robert

 

[JackandJanet]

thanks for replying to my problem. before we check the cables i wanted to ask a couple more questions. 1. when the cables brok and the top half fell, the safety bar caught it. now, when you pull the cable for the safety bar, the bar doesn't move all the way. could that keep the top from coming all the way down? 2. if we do have to start over with the cables is there any way to find out how long the oem cables were?

thank you again, robert

Without having the old cables to use as a guide, I don't see how you could determine the correct length. It's possible J&R Repair might have this data for your model though.

What I'd do is get new, untrimmed cables and with the top suspended on jacks, disconnect and replace the ones you have on there now, connecting those cables to the top and feeding them through the pulleys to the underside. Now, lower the top to the bottom supports.

Move the adjusting bolts for the cables all the way back so that when the cables are attached to them, you'll have maximum adjustment capability. Attach the cables as tightly as possible to the adjusting bolts, pulling all the slack you can out of the cables. Then, raise the top and start using the bolts to shorten the cables as needed.

I agree with everyone else - You've got the cables too short.

Alternatively, with the piston all the way in (full up position), I suppose you could do the same thing with the top raised to the seals on jacks.

You really need to start with the top and the hydraulic lifting mechanism in "agreement", and have the adjusting bolts set so you can remove the maximum amount of slack from there.

I'm sorry if I'm not explaining this too well. Maybe someone else can word it better.

- Jack

 

[PopRichie77]

Here is a thought, lower the top as far as it will go, this will retract the cylinder. Now use a jack and lift each corner a small amount and block with wood. Now unscrew each cable adjuster, leave cables loose. Now use the jack and remove the blocks and lower the top all the way down. Then go underneath where the cable adjusters are, pull each one tight and measure the amount that each one is short, add that to each cable and that is the length that you need.
When I replaced the cables on my 95 each one was a different length, so don't just measure one.
The safety bar only blocks the cylinder from detracting, the top is still held up by the cables.

 

[vmax374]

1976 hilo won't go all the way down, cont.

ok, i'll go through it and take your guys advice. i really appreciate the help and will let you know what happens after we've worked on it again. again, thanks. robert

 

[sting32]

thanks for replying to my problem. before we check the cables i wanted to ask a couple more questions. 1. when the cables brok and the top half fell, the safety bar caught it. now, when you pull the cable for the safety bar, the bar doesn't move all the way. could that keep the top from coming all the way down? 2. if we do have to start over with the cables is there any way to find out how long the oem cables were?

thank you again, robert

I hate to have to tell you this, but the safety bar you refer to, is only stopping the hydraulic cylinder from collapsing, if a hydraulic failure happens, and it only catches when TOP is FULLY in the UP position.

Anything that caught when the cables broke, were the guides that track the top up and down, got in a bind... you might have broken the guide bars, on the side of the camper.

This is one of those things it is going to take a whole lot of Reasoning ability to remedy, since we cannot see your problem.

Cables have to be the right length, the hydraulics need to fully go IN and OUT like it should. The top should then go up and down, if cables are adjuste close to the right lenghts.

If that cable is too short, when you go UP you can cause damage, because the top has to stop when Hydraulic ram is just above the safety catch (fully extended). If cables are too short you risk tearing the top past it's sealing point, where top and bottom meet and seal the interior from the outside the best.

at each cable position on the bottom half of camper there is a metal guid track screwed to it, and the top has plastic guides that clamp around this guide to "guide" the top half up and down...

any of these could been affected when you broke a cable.