Bottom Rail Replacement?

[campthewestcoast]

After years of enjoyment of my 97 21foot towlite, It's time to replace all of the bottom rail of the upper section.
The towlite I have has wood framing side walls and 1" square steel tubing in the roof.
I do have soft spots in different areas of the wall (around the door and front right window).
I plan to do the work myself.
Has anyone done this extensive repair? I looking for any suggestions that my help.

 

[RichR]

Les,
I think there has quite a bit of discussion on the subject here on the Forum. Do a search and see what you come up with. I can't think of any good key words to put in at the moment.

 

[campthewestcoast]

One more note; If I lower the upper section down all the way down to take the pressure off the cables (for towing mode) the door pops open. The bumper stops for the top on the 97 towlite are at the front tounge and back bumper.The newer hi-lo's have the bump stops along the wall sections. I think the spot above the door is flexing. If I keep a little pressure on the cables the door stays closed. Is this a complete wall rebuild? Any ideas?

 

[JackandJanet]

One more note; If I lower the upper section down all the way down to take the pressure off the cables (for towing mode) the door pops open. The bumper stops for the top on the 97 towlite are at the front tounge and back bumper.The newer hi-lo's have the bump stops along the wall sections. I think the spot above the door is flexing. If I keep a little pressure on the cables the door stays closed. Is this a complete wall rebuild? Any ideas?

No, I think it's just a very small bit of "flex" caused by the weight of the top on the lower half supports. My trailer does the same thing. In the up position, the door stays closed just fine. In the lowered position, the catch does not engage.

Even though the top may raise perfectly level, the stresses on the lower frame are different if it is being supported by cables at the sides versus being supported at the corners by bumpers on the bottom.

- Jacki

 

[robobd]

trying to keep the door closed

you may also try to reduce the weight in your cabnets,and put more weight in the front and back(end caps ) to balance out the center . also see if your air unit is tight, made a big difference on my 88

 

[Rolff]

I have the same issue with my '95 21' Towlite. It's embarassing when it swings open on the freeway and possibly dangerous for others. The first time it happened to me was coming down Parleys canyon in !-80 between Salt Lake and Park City. 6% downgrade and Crazy Utahns driving 85. I use a bungie to make sure it never happens again.

 

[campthewestcoast]

Rolff,

We also use the bungie method for holding the door closed on the road.

 

[PopRichie77]

I found with our 95, 21' not to put a lot of weight in the rear cabinet in the bath, also not to store heavy items behind the rear wheel well on the door side. Also keep the black and gray tanks empty while driving, the weight will flex the frame and cause the door to open. By following the above and locking the dead bolt, the door never came open even on rough roads.

 

[JackandJanet]

Maybe I misunderstood (won't be the last time). I thought you were talking about the LOWER door half. That's the one, on my trailer, that does not "latch" with the top down, but it's fine with the top up.

The upper door latches without any problems in both the down and up configurations on my trailer. Since the upper door blocks the lower door with the top down, it's not an issue for me.

I think the weight of the upper half on the supports distorts the lower half frame when the top is down. I've never thought to try to adjust the latch in this position to hold it closed and then see if it works in the raised position. I doubt it would.

- Jack

 

[PopRichie77]

Jack,
The upper door did pop open on our 95 shortly after we got it, I had to drive with the black tank full, also I did not lock the door.
I tried adjusting the latch to keep the bottom door closed when the top was down, didn't work made the latch to tight when the top was up. I put a stick on pad on the top door to keep it from scratching the fiber glass bottom door.

 

[PopRichie77]

campthewestcoast,
check out these pictures, it's found in this post http://www.hilotrailerforum.com/f17/port-side-repair-1994-towlite-513/?highlight=wall+repair
TowLite repair - a set on Flickr
A quick note aluminum siding is removed from the top down, that is if you want to save the siding.

 

[FHILO]

I'm not sure if we are talking about the same thing but on mine with the top down sometimes the bottom door swings open when i open the top door to enter.So i went up front cranked the crank just a bit either up or down then i check the door and continue cranking up or down till the door stays closed,now that's with the hi-lo parked.When hitched up the door stays closed.Only when detached from my truck does this a cure,so it must be a leveling problem.Using the crank as i said seems to put pressure on the lower door keeping it closed,to much and it hits the door frame and wont close.I'M pretty sure on mine a 78 it has to do with a wall and was not meant to be this way... that's my guess,not necessarily an educated one...

 

[bluewindsue]

house door dead bolt

the previous owner of my 87 funchaser
put a house door 1 inch single dead bolt on it
placed so you can lock it from the inside through the screen opening
on the outside you must use a key

great for security
and completely addresses the problem of the door coming open when locked