2008 HI-Lo 15t rebuild

[myhousehaswheels]

Hi everyone!

My name is Mike, I'm 23, and over the summer of 2020 I rebuilt a 2008 15t. It had extensive amounts of water damage and it was in pretty bad shape. I stripped it down to the frame and made it my own. I documented the whole thing and I have been turning it into a video series. My main goal for this was to turn it into a traveling podcast studio, so thats what I did. Currently on the road, typing this from a home depot parking lot (which became my second home during the build lol).

I have a question about the 15t cable system. I cant seem to find anything on here about it for my model specifically. How do I adjust the cables? The front is not even and it is allowing water to get through my seals when I drive in the rain. Which is no bueno. If anybody knows how to fix this let me know!

Great to see there is a thriving Hi-Lo community, I'm glad to be a part of it!

Here is the Episode 1 link: https://youtu.be/dHewN4SYYe0

Enjoy,
Mike

 

[JackandJanet]

Hello, Mike, and welcome. I'm approving your thread even though the video you link to in it has language we'd rather not have on this "family oriented" forum. If you could tone it down in the future, we'd all appreciate it.

To all other members, the video has a good description of what can go wrong with our trailers if they are not maintained. It also shows the lengths you have to go through to get rid of this damage and would be a good "primer" for potential new owners, as well as a warning to those of us who are not so new about what can go wrong.

Mike - your question about the cables: In front of the street-side wheel, you should see four bolts sticking out of the side of the frame under the trailer. They will have two nuts apiece on them (the outer nut acts as a a lock nut). You can tighten the inner nuts on the two front bolts to raise the front of the trailer. It's a 1:1 measurement - moving the bolt out 1/2" will shorten the corresponding cable 1/2" and that will raise the corresponding corner about the same. (The corner actually moves up a bit more since the cable does not attach right at the corner). You should lower the top onto 4-2x4s of equal length supported by the "outriggers" on the bottom half to give you slack in the cables when you make this adjustment.

But, don't try to raise the top too high. You just want the bulb seal on the edge of the top half to make good contact with the lip on the lower half when the top is up. NO MORE THAN THAT. And, DO NOT tow the trailer with the top up! The top should be fully down on the outriggers whenever the trailer is moved. Your post makes me think you may have towed it with the top up.

There is a wealth of information in this forum, that can help you. Please take the time to look through it.

- Jack

 

[myhousehaswheels]

I bleep out all the cursing but I understand, my content isn't necessarily kid friendly. I wasn't super aware of the audience we have here so my apologies.

Thanks for the tip. And yes, I have driven with it up before but I also snapped my frame once while I was rebuilding it so that might have played a role in it as well.

 

[JackandJanet]

You bleeped MOST of it, but not all. It's not that we're a bunch of "prudes" - we aren't, but we DO try to keep the forum on a fairly high plane. Thanks for understanding.

The way the top is constructed, I think it can twist or otherwise deform if it's up when being moved. And, since it's held up only by four cables that can cut into the lower edge of the top when there's stress placed on them (even though there's an aluminum reinforcement there), it needs to be down on the outriggers when being moved. Several of us have had cables that have cut into the lower edge of the top - either by trying to raise it too high (in my case) or possibly by moving the trailer with the top up. I have a thread in the forum where I discuss that repair.

The other thing that can be damaged by moving with the top up are the guide blocks that slide up and down the guide rails on the sides of the lower half. Those are somewhat difficult to remove and replace if they are broken, due to the limited access.

Several other members have threads where they discuss a complete rebuild that you may find helpful. I think, though, that your video and those you talk about posting in the future will be most valuable to all of us.

There's no real "seal" between the two halves when the top is down except for the bulb seal inside the top that should be resting against the sides of the lower edge. I have not had water come in between there while traveling, but my bulb seal is in good shape. Possibly, yours has deteriorated? J&R in Ohio has the replacement bulb seal, but I suspect it can be found elsewhere. And, other members have discussed fastening a garage door sweep along the lower edge to keep out dirt and bugs.

- Jack

 

[myhousehaswheels]

Hey Jack,
So I looked underneath my camper and could not find the four bolts you were talking about. Are they grouped together or are they spaced out along the frame? I am very confused because the 15t seems to have been put together differently than all the other models and I also don't want to damage the system.
Thanks,
Mike

 

[Usagi5678]

Welcome to the forum.

Enjoyed your utube. It is a shame you didn't sign onto the forum before you did your rebuild. Perhaps someone with a 15Towlite will take a picture of the adjuster bolts between tires. Mine are on the drivers side. Post more utube rebuild.

 

[JackandJanet]

Mike, I suspect you looked in the wrong place because my instructions were not clear. Here is a link to the Owner's Manual for the 2008 models: https://www.hilotrailerforum.com/f49/2008-classic-owners-manual-4163/ The adjusting bolts are shown on page 26. Don't be worried that it is not specific to your 15 ft model. All the different HiLos of that year came with the same Owner's Manual and it is "generic". In fact, an Owner's manual from a different year would likely be the same too - HiLos did not change too much through the years.

I don't believe the 15T was designed differently than the larger models, except that like the 17 and 19T, it had a single axle and there are no tip-outs.

Additionally, there is a set of "Video" Owner's Manuals that was created in the early part of the century. You can find the link to them in this thread: https://www.hilotrailerforum.com/f49/hilo-video-owners-manuals-youtube-1233/ when you drill down to Post #3. Don't be put off by the "advertising look" of the first one - there is a lot of valuable information in almost all of them. They can clear up some misunderstandings you may not know you have.

- Jack

 

[RICHARD1943]

I had to take a wheel off to access the adjusting bolts when I replaced one broken cable. I did print out and follow the information posted on this forum about replacing all cables at once, though that went with the new owner.

I did learn, too late, that I should have been lubricating the cables by removing inside trim instead of from underneath. Too late I saw that my cable broke at/near the top. I purchased my replacement cable from JR. I also told the new owner that the other cables should be replaced. preferably at home and not in a campground somewhere.

 

[JackandJanet]

Yes, the adjusting bolts, might be sort of hidden behind the street-side wheel on a 15 ft model, but they should be accessible without taking the wheel off. You'll have to lie on the ground though.

And, yes, the upper part of the cables and the cable pulleys at the top of the lower half can only be accessed by taking the interior trim strip off of the inside top edge of the lower half. It's just held on by screws and is pretty easy to remove and replace, except (on my trailer) for the one in the bathroom area. I have to use a right-angle screwdriver to get to the four screws (all Phillips head) that hold that strip in place.

- Jack

 

[myhousehaswheels]

Build series episode 4

Hey everyone! I documented my entire build process of my 2008 Hi-Lo 15t. Episode 4 is live, and linked below. Before you watch, I feel like I should say that this content isn't geared towards children, there is definitely adult humor in it, FYI. If you're not into that, don't watch it. Also, I know I did a lot of stuff wrong, so it might hurt some Hi-Lo fanatics to watch lol. Anyway, have a great day, hope you enjoy!

https://youtu.be/TPLF01fYvG4

-Mike

 

[JackandJanet]

Mike, I've moved your two threads to this one thread in this area, because I think this is the place for something this extensive. By following your two links to the youtubes you referenced, I found the missing bits between Ep1 and Ep4. It's a little disjointed, but it really shows the scope of the project you took on.

The mistakes you made show how it's possible to recover from mishaps like that, so I'm glad you've included them.

This is a valuable thread, because it demonstrates that a HiLo in most ANY condition is salvageable, and, when you're finished with the repairs, you have a trailer that's much better than the original. I'm glad you're sharing it with us.

- Jack