Great pictures Jim! 100% different scenery then my area.

 

No doubt! I learned the hard way that you DON'T brush up against any bush down there. I got nailed more than once (I'm a slow learner) by a cactus or yucca. Up here in CO, there's plenty that could kill you, but it's not the plants.

 

There sure are many hazards in the desert. Having small needle nose pliers go along way getting cactus splines.

 

I'm picking up this thread again to chronicle my travels.

I'm in Quartzsite, AZ today to camp with a group of fellow owners of Northwood Mfg campers. I left home yesterday (01/16/2026) and overnighted at the Black Mesa Casino RV park. I camped there before on my way to the 2025 Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. I checked in yesterday and the registration desk attendant said, "You know we're closed tomorrow?" I said, "Yes, I'm leaving in the morning." He replied, "Everyone has to be out by 4am." I'm not a morning person if I don't have to be. But I can get my butt moving when properly motivated. I wasn't sure if I was going to overnight halfway between Black Mesa and Quartzsite or make it in one day. Having to leave by 4am made it possible for me to get to Quartzsite before dark, so that's what I did. (Black Mesa is nothing special. It's very convenient and at $10 for a dry camping spot (no hookups) and access to potable water, it's a good deal. Just don't park close the truck stop. Ugh!)

At Black Mesa Casino I filled the trailer with 40 gallons of water and then put 50 gallons in the water bladder that is in the bed of the truck. The picture below is my rig at their potable water station. The main reason for the picture is that the trailer looks so shiny. That is so far from the truth. It really needs a bath and I was surprised that there was any shine.


The irony here is that the 50 gallons of water put into the water bladder were wasted due to a leak in one of the fittings. 50 gallons of water leaked out between Black Mesa and Quartzsite. I left a trail the entire way!

My route coincided with the location of a friend from DIYSolarForum.com who has been having some personal difficulties. He's a true legend on that forum. At lunch we talked about everything but solar. I should have got a picture of where I parked in the Bass Pro Shops back parking lot. My rig is 52' and and took up 10 parking spots.

This is the maiden voyage for my new Blue Ox Sway Pro BWX2000, replacing the Andersen WDH which didn't have as much tongue weight capacity as the Blue Ox. Parts of the trip have been very windy. I'll have a review of the Blue Ox that gets posted in a separate thread.

Why am I in Quartzsite? Primarily because I was invited by folks that I camped with last year. Beyond that, I've heard of Quartzsite for a few years and it's like this mythical RV Mecca that you have to have on your bucket list if you own an RV. There's a free RV show in town, plus there's like a billion other RV rigs camped in the area. I brought my Polaris Ranger 900XP and I'm hoping to hit a trail or two around the area, maybe just ride into town. For the folks that I'm camped with (about 50 RVs) I may end up doing a solar presentation or it could just be a Q&A session that allows people to ask the questions they've never felt comfortable asking online. It won't be anything formal, but I did bring some SWAG.

 

Just before sunrise in Quartzsite. Another day in paradise with wonderful temperatures.


I waited to go to the RV Show until after the weekend. It was less of a madhouse that way. The main part of the RV Show is in a big tent. Watch out for the (not so) little old ladies on scooters, they WILL run you over. The RV show is free and parking is free. Don't try to park right at the show or by the nearby flea market. It's easier to drive a couple blocks south, park there and walk to the show.


I had some great conversations with a few of the vendors.

• Blue Ox gave me some advice on my new WDH.
• Performance Trailer Braking talked me through an upgrade from my 6k axles to 7k, including an upgrade to disk brakes and the suspension (maybe a slipper spring?).
• Centramatic would have sold me a set of wheel balancers right then and there, but if I'm going to upgrade the axles, I'll probably upgrade from 6 lug to 8 lug wheels. So that will have to wait.
• RV Lock gave me a new, free keyfob when I showed them my current keyfob that had all the lock/unlock pictures worn off. Sweet! The girl running the booth was pretty cute too.
• I talked with the Sumyok rep about their automated PV tilt mechanism for RV's. Their system can't handle panels the size of mine. Their limit is panels about 250 watts. Cool system though it is going to add a good amount of weight on the roof, easily twice what each panel weighs.
• I bought some tire stem pressure gauges for my spare tires. They're mechanical, not electronic and designed for 80 PSI. $25 for four and I got some good install advice.
• I talked to the zCampers.com rep about their aluminum extrusion parts, specifically their L-Track. I'm exploring better ways to tie down the UTV in the toy hauler. He had parts there for sale, but I need to do some measuring and planning before I start buying parts.
• Battle Born batteries is a big sponsor of the show. Very few people at their booth. I don't expect BB to be in business very long.
• Lion Energy was selling LiFePO4 batteries almost as fast as they could bring them in. Lifetime warranty. A guy camping near me bought two and couldn't get one of them to wake up and take a charge. He took it back and they exchanged it no questions asked.
• Epoch battery was showing a battery that will be released in March. It has a Class T fuse built into the battery and the fuse is user replaceable. This is a pretty big deal, good for the RV market, fantastic for the marine market.

 

Nice! I have never been to Quartzsite... one day I would like too... Unfortunately though for now we are using our camper to live in rather than go camp in... I haver never been to any of the RV shows either... that's on my list sometime too!

I am waiting to see your review of the new hitch. It was you that persuaded me to go with the Anderson set up when I got my truck. My old hitch was pretty beat up and needed to be replaced. Being able to get one with a 3" shank was nice (but $$$) and I have really enjoyed the Anderson so far. But, to be fair, my camper is only 6000 lb and my truck is a 250 (spec'd out as a 350). My camper is about 2/3's the weight of my truck... so the Anderson works great for me. We have been eyeballing some new campers though, however, while ours is small, we love it, and I have put a ton of money into it to get it to where it is now. I'm torn thinking about doing it all again. On one hand, it was be so much fun rebuilding another one, while doing some things different, but I also don't want to think about that $$ to do so any time soon... lol

I need to inspect my campers brakes again. it would be nice to upgrade them, but it's not in the cards for now. I will need to put new tires on later this year too... The set I have on now are actually balanced. I have seen mixed thoughts about balancing camper tires. After using the Centramatics on my truck, it would be nice to have a set on my camper too...

We don't use our fob for our RV Lock much... I need to, but I try to keep my key rings as minimal as possible. I will likely need to replace the key pad cover on the door soon though. It is starting to show it's age and starting to crack... That's cool that they gave you a new fob for free though! Nice score!

It's pretty sad what's happening with Battle Born right now. Both the issues, and their responses to it... they were the gold standard for a long while... but since the issues have only recently been reported, I wonder if they changed something up in their build. The latest tear down video from Will though was pretty brutal! Hopefully they will realize that they re losing this battle and set things straight soon, otherwise, they may not be around much longer...

I opted for Lion Energy batteries when I installed mine about 5.5 years ago. (This is one area I would change if I were to do it all gain though... so many good batteries for so much less available now!) Funny thing, Will also called Lion Energy out years ago about having smaller capacities than advertised. Lion Energy corrected it quick though, and for me, they have done well. I only have 3 though. I bought 2 of them 5.5 years ago, then added the 3rd about 7 months later. I have thought about adding another but I think I am a bit far out now to add a new one into the mix... plus, they are still pretty up there in price.

And that is a nice epoch battery with the T fuse, but I would be curious the price of it. I don't mind installing my own if the price is too far out there.

 

The primary reason for the switch to the Blue Ox WDH, away from the Andersen, was the tongue weight of my trailer was either on the edge of what the Andersen was rated for, or exceeded it by 300 lbs. Otherwise, it was a great hitch. I have a lot of good things to say about it.

 

Gotcha! Mine is rated for 16k trailer weight, or 1,600 lbs tongue weight. Even some of the trailers that we would consider won't even come close to exceeding this. However, if we were to upgrade, I would really want to consider a 5th wheel.... however, I would have to add the prep kit and all to my truck since it doesn't have it... so, we are in no rush!

 

For each of towing and hooking up, you can't beat a fifth wheel!

 

I don't want to derail his thread, but I will add that I would love to get a 5th wheel and I think I would like to convert it to gooseneck. I know that there are lots of warranties that would be denied, etc, etc, etc.... but I cringe at the thought of the size, and the weight of those 5th wheel hitches! But, even if I were to stay with a 5th wheel hitch instead, I have heard that they are so much easier to pull. Not that my current camper is tough... I don't even notice it behind me, and hooking it up is pretty simple with the rear camera... but I have heard it's a completely different experience pull a 5th/gooseneck.

 

Oh definitely, a completely different experience! I have a B&W hitch that breaks down (easily) into 2 pieces for installation, so I can handle it myself (and I'm NOT a strapping young lad!). I would like to have a gooseneck to make it easier to use the bed, but I think it would negate some of the ease of hooking up. We've got a pristine 2019 Reflection that'll be up for sale this fall!

OK, sorry to derail your thread @HRTKD !

 

Cring at the weight of the hitch. They're not heavy at all. Easy enought 2 pieces.





Oh, you have a grocery getter short bed.

The sliders can be big and heavy.

 

You don't need a slider in a short bed, you just need to pay attention. No issues in 15 years towing with no slider in a short bed.

 

Yeah... there is only 1 thing I wish I could go back and change about my order... I wish I would have went with an 8' bed instead. I got talked out of it though, and I didn't know any better...

And I know that plenty of folks tow 5th wheels with short beds... I'd say that probably 90% of the trucks coming through the campground with 5th wheels are short beds... And if we went with a 5th wheel, well, there would be another short bed towing one!

 

One of the Quartzsite fire stations is on my way to my campsite and the firefighters were outside so I stopped by to chat with them.

I asked how many RV fires they respond to. So far, four this month. That's for their station on the north side of Quartzsite.

What were the most common causes of RV fires?
1. Propane issues. Leaks, things left on
2. Electrical. The most common cause within this category is the use of extension cords.
3. Appliances. I didn't ask for more details on this.

For the electrical issues, every RV owner should be testing electrical connections on at least an annual basis. These "Rolling Earthquakes" can shake loose connections. Give each wire/connection a tug to ensure it's still tight. Retighten all the fasteners. I have a reminder on my calendar to retighten the fasteners in my system. For the LiFePO4 battery cells (I built my own battery) I check the fasteners on each cell with a torque wrench.

Over Current Protection devices, in the form of fuses and circuit breakers, need to be in place and sized correctly. Not taking the time to implement OCP is a case of FAFO.

The number of RVs in the Quartzsite area is debatable. Some websites say a million people, some say no more that 250,000 people. Even with the conservative number of 250,000, assume two people per RV and that's 125,000 RVs out there. I got on top of m RV and counted the number of RVs that I could clearly see and came up with 638. I'm 9 miles outside Quartzsite and there are tons of RVs between me and Quartzsite. If you're interested in coming here, it's not like a commercial campground where you're shoulder to shoulder with your neighbor. We're spread out pretty well and it's been very quiet at night.