Hi-Lo trailer?

I don't think you'd know there was a hi-lo behind a Cummins. I started in a pop up and will not do that again. Granted mine was a tent pop up and a hi lo is much nicer, but the setup and difficult access on the road is a non-starter for me anymore. It's so nice when a kid needs to use the potty to just pull off on a wide spot and the rear door opens up right next to the bathroom. Nice for my wife and I too. Lunches on the road are much easier this way too. To be honest I think pop ups and ultralights are the junk of the RV world, and when the RV world is mostly junk to begin with you don't want to be on the bottom end of that spectrum.

When DW and I wanted to return to RVing last year we started looking at PUPs and decided against them for various reasons, mostly the cranking up and down and set up time. Last fall I found a 2008 Hi-Lo 1908 Towlite at a used car/RV lot and bought it. Set-up is fairly simple, open door, flip a switch and hold another switch down to raise the top. We bought ours for weekend use, no long term camping or distance traveling and it suits us fine. There is not a lot of storage space in our 19 footer, other larger models should have more storage. Ours is also a single axle and once set-up is very stable. I have not seen any of the newer models being built and know nothing of the lift systems for those. Mine tows great behind my F250 CC, V10 no problem! There is a Hi-Lo Camper Owners web site you may want to visit there for specific questions on certain models. Good Luck!!!

There is a wealth of info here including brochures, manuals and friendly advice: http://www.hilotrailerforum.com/ I, too, have considered the Hi-Lo and still see older ones from the 1970s on the market and still viable.

When I started to consider how I would be using my camper, I shuddered at the thought that, on real long trips, I could not sleep in my camper unless I opened it up! Damned if I was going to have to sleep in a hotel.

Having access to the fridge and toilet while on breaks from driving was also a must for me. Some campers have slides that obstruct bathroom and or fridge while in transit.

I'd go for the Trailmanor, about 2k# lighter then a HiLo and more room inside for the same size box.

Have you looked at Trailmanor? They are a hard sided pop-up. Just a thought.

have a 2004 17ft hilo that we love. been cross country and back, new england, georgia mtns, etc. now we just concentrate on our fla. state parks and have done 27 of them. have owned the trailer for 9 yrs and have had no trouble at all. it is built like a tank.

I got 12-14 behind my V8 tundra pulling a 22' hi-lo towlite. The up mechanism is fairly simple though does require maintenance in the form of keeping the cables sprayed with wd-40. The pumps stopped being made awhile ago and I'm not sure if the new hi-lo company is building parts for the old trailers. The 2 piece door got old and so did dust coming in through the seams whether the top was up or down. The air conditioner must be unplugged before dropping the top as well as clearing most everything from the counters.
On the upside, mpg was good for such a large (relatively for me) living space. The quality of the cabinetry and fit/finish was very good. Appliances were all middle of the road which I mean in a good way. They worked well, were reliable, and weren't cheap.

I enjoyed my towlite, and I enjoyed selling it. If mpg was a greater concern, I might have kept the trailer however I didn't like the extra steps of raising the top and using the two piece door. I went back to a stick built conventional trailer, a lance and while the mpg isn't as good, a lot can be said for just opening the door and camping.