New Member - CA High Desert

[ScottH-HILO]

Hi All,

I came across this forum while searching for bunk options/ideas. Seeing pics others have posted required signing up, so here I am. Just spent the last hour combing through posts and have definitely learned a lot.

The trailer is a 2007 23 Classic. Technically not mine but my parents hadn't used it for about 5 years and didn't want to store it anymore, so we brought it out to our property. So far I've found a couple surprise plumbing leaks that developed over the years in storage, but nothing that's caused too much damage. Other than that, the trailer seems to be in pretty good shape and just about everything is working.

We've done a few day trips down to the beach and one overnight at Doheny State beach - first time camping with our kids (2 yo, 4 mo). I was always a minimalist when camping on my own, but appreciated having the trailer with the kids there.

We're definitely pushing the towing capacity with my Ram 1500 w/3.6L, but adjusting the WD hitch to my truck and adding airbags has helped a lot. Pretty happy with the 15 mpg while towing.

We've considered buying our own newer, small bunkhouse trailer but the prices are just insane and I hear so many bad things about quality. Considering just remodeling what we have and maybe adding a bunk setup.

Anyways, I'm glad to have found the site and look forward to learning a lot.

-Scott

 

[Snappy Tom]

Welcome! I am no help to your question about bunk options. (Lol) We use our drop down for storage. I do want to say how much I love our Hilo and hope you love yours too! We had a lot of fun remodeling ours. There are a lot of creative people on here and I’m sure you will get some great ideas. Welcome to the forum!

 

[campthewestcoast]

Congrats on your trailer, I have a 2206 towlite which has the same layout as yours
I’m on my second Hilo and this one I have had for 12 years
Your correct on the way these things are put together with screws not staples ,even thu the trailer didn’t need repairing
I have rebuilt ,upgraded and modified everything on it
Willing to answer any questions or help explain mods
Have a great time with it, Les

 

[campthewestcoast]

Congrats on your trailer, I have a 2206 towlite which has the same layout as yours
I’m on my second Hilo and this one I have had for 12 years
Your correct on the way these things are put together with screws not staples ,even thu the trailer didn’t need repairing
I have rebuilt ,upgraded and modified everything on it
Willing to answer any questions or help explain mods
Have a great time , Les

It’s important to have a large enough charging line from the truck or you’ll run down the house batteries while towing with your refrigerator on 12 volts( which pulls 16 amps) a minimum 30 amp and 8 gauge wire from truck battery to trailer battery
I’m running dual group 27 batteries, 60 amp circuit and 4 gauge thru a Anderson plug

 

[ScottH-HILO]

Congrats on your trailer, I have a 2206 towlite which has the same layout as yours
I’m on my second Hilo and this one I have had for 12 years
Your correct on the way these things are put together with screws not staples ,even thu the trailer didn’t need repairing
I have rebuilt ,upgraded and modified everything on it
Willing to answer any questions or help explain mods
Have a great time with it, Les

Thanks for the welcome, Les. I’m sure questions will come up. That’s good to know about the battery. So far we’ve been doing short trips so I just shut the fridge off while driving.

 

[Elaine and Bill]

We kept our refrigerator on when driving-if an extended trip we dropped the temperature down, not off and never had an issue!

 

[Usagi5678]

Welcome to the forum.

You may already be doing this. Freeze items and put in the freezer with ice packs. Get items cold in ref. at home then pack them in with ice packs. I have used empty juice jugs that have been frozen with filtered water in a cooler. When the ice thaws out you have cold filtered water. Our ref. doesn't have travel capability. Food doesn't spoil on a two hr. ride. We are here if you need and info. or have questions.