I've been perusing the net and I can't tell, from the different postings I've been reading, if Hi-Lo is back making new trailers. Anyone know the status of this? I would be interested in taking a look at them if they're back in business.
Pup: 2007 Jayco 1206 w/slide-out + shower
surge brakes, 54w solar panel
TV: 2005 Nissan Xterra 4X4, manual trans
25 years tent camping, 4000+ miles of hiking, lots of biking
The new owner has posted on the hilo yahoo group. They might have a prototype out by this year but still unknown. You can call and ask him i'm sure he would give you a general idea kerolaltd.com he is real nice.
Hi-Lo's claim to fame was alower profile due to it telescoping down when being towed. But they were as heavy as a conventional TT and also more expensive.
"In 2011, after 55 years in business, Hi-Lo Trailer Company has ceased production and is in the process of liquidating its assets. Management claims that Hi-Lo — one of only two existing manufacturers of telescoping trailers — is the latest casualty of the Great Recession of 2008-2009. The company drastically reduced its product offerings to only four models for 2010, in the hope that streamlining could keep them afloat, but to no avail.
We can only speculate that the telescoping trailer design, at a price point higher than that of a conventional trailer of comparable size, lacking slideouts and some of the amenities expected by much of the RVing public, did not find enough favor at a time when consumers were looking for lightweight, but cheap, RVs. Nevertheless, RVCG has always favored the road-hugging telescoping design for its unbeatable safety in towing. That, plus the easy push-button control, unique to Hi-Lo, for raising and lowering the RV made the trailer a good value for the price."
"Historically, Hi-Lo provided the original seed for the formation of RV industry giant Thor Industries when the late Wade Thompson and his partner, Peter Orthwein, bought the company in 1977. It was only in 2003 that Thor resold Hi-Lo to its original owners.
TrailManor, now the only surviving telescoping trailer manufacturer, will undoubtedly benefit from Hi-Lo's demise. In fact, they recently announced expansion of their dealerships to encompass not only the Midwest and both US coasts, but to international markets in New Zealand and Switzerland as well.
Nevertheless, those who enjoyed the telescoping trailer type will mourn the passing of the venerable Hi-Lo Trailer Company and its products." 7-6-2010
All of the assets were sold off then..I don't know if they will ever come back.
My posts shouldn't be taken for factual data. They are purely fictional, for entertainment purposes and should not be constituted as actually related to scientific, technical, engineering, legal, spiritual or practical advice. Amen.
ng2951 wrote: In the high end, collaspible trailers, TrailManor has reopened shop.
Thanks for that link. I just looked at their model Trailmanor 2417 which I believe is new for 2012. Looks promising. Doesn't weigh any more than my pup. Costs about the same as the Lance 1575 that has been discussed on this thread.
What I have not checked out yet are general reviews of the quality of Trailmanor.
Bill Kerola announced last year that they had purchased HiLo and patents, tooling, etc. I don't know if any production has started yet. I'm sure it takes time to get everything going.
Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.
- Soren Kierkegaard
I had the 3326 for years and really liked it. I always like the dual axles since a blowout meant you did not have to stop immediately.
The biggest disadvantage is the price new. Used units you generally get for 1/2 off the new price. We did that when we bought the 3326 as it was almost 2 years old so we were only out $20K. We modified ours by removing the fulltime dinette which gave us additional 3 sqft of living space.
The unit I liked after that was 3124KS. It has a really nice interior and a large internal underbed storage. One thing that is hard to appreciate about TMs is the amount of window space they have. It really a very open feeling to it.
Quality varies, but they are mostly OK.
The biggest problem is what is wrong with most of these telescoping/popup trailers...you have to pop them up to use them. That means every time you move everything has to be down and stowed before you move. TM are pretty quick to set up and I think my record was 5 minutes, but 15 minutes is more the norm.
The other pain is the size of the refer. It is small with not much storage. But that is hardly unique to the TMs.
But all in all, we had a great time with our TM until someone parked their Avalon in our TM and then bent our truck to boot. I am just tickled she missed our cowboy guns.
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