Quartzsite 2012 RV Show Dates Announced

Every January something happens that is hard to believe, unless you have seen it! Heading to the Big Tent at the Quartzsite RV Show. © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved According to the Arizona Highway Department, as many as 750,000 to 1,000,000 people, mostly in recreational vehicles, converge on the sleepy little desert town of Quartzsite, located just 20 miles east of the California border on Interstate 10, for the rock, gem, and mineral shows, plus numerous flea markets and the Quartzsite Sports, Vacation & RV Show. “If you’re looking for anything related to RVs, you’ll find it at the RV show in Quartzsite,” says Kenny King, show promoter. There will be several hundred new and used RVs on display in 2012 and over a dozen service bays will be offering immediate installation, repairs, and service on many of the items that will be exhibited at the show. This phenomenon started over 35 years ago and is now billed as “The Largest Gathering Of RVers in the World”. The inaugural Quartzsite RV Show opened January 28, 1984 at the corner of Highway 95 (now Central) and Business 10 (now Main Street) in Quartzsite, Arizona. With just 60 exhibitors and a small tent, the “new show in town” was still very popular since the majority of the people in Quartzsite were RVers. In 1987 the show, now re-named the Quartzsite Sports, Vacation & RV Show, moved up the street to the Quartzsite Trailer Park which was situated directly across from the major attraction... Read more

RVs Pose Carbon Monoxide Dangers

Carbon monoxide (CO) is an odorless, colorless gas that is toxic and the number one cause of accidental poisoning deaths in the United States. Carbon monoxide can be particularly dangerous in recreational vehicles. The Associated Press recently reported that five people were found dead inside a rented camper at a Tennessee motorcycle festival that raised money for sick children. Investigators said the victims appeared to have been overcome by carbon monoxide fumes that leaked into the camper from a generator. Recreational vehicles are part of a broad spectrum of products called “after-market, modified, or incomplete vehicles,” which also includes limousines, ambulances, conversion vans, and handicapped-accessible vans, reports InjuryBoard.com. These vehicles are either purchased as an incomplete chassis from a major automaker and then assembled into a different finished product or cut apart and modified from their original factory configuration. Unlike original equipment manufacturers (OEM), these non-OEM manufacturers may not be held to the strict design and testing requirements to which original manufacturers are held. In fact, these manufacturers may not even be held to the minimum federal requirements under the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS). RV manufacturers may not properly seal or vent sources of carbon monoxide gas (either from the engine, exhaust, or generator). In other instances, the equipment may be installed, but a manufacturing defect (like a... Read more

Sealy Posturepedic Mattresses Now Available for RVs

Sealy Posturepedic mattresses are going on the road, thanks to an exclusive partnership with Dometic Corp. that will offer Posturepedic recreational vehicle mattresses for the first time, according to a recent news release. “With more than 60 years of designing and building Posturepedic mattresses with support in mind, we’ve realized that a good night sleep extends past the bedroom,” said Jodi Allen, chief marketing officer at Sealy. “Our new partnership with Dometic will bring quality mattresses to RVers no matter what their travel plans and type of RV while they enjoy the open road.” “This is a significant addition to our OEM product line. Sealy has the highest mattress brand awareness in the nation,” said Brad Sargent, vice president of marketing at Dometic. “There’s a lot of choice in the market for RV shoppers out there right now, so a Sealy Posturepedic mattress could easily be the deciding factor in making a purchase.” Founded in 1881, Sealy has been the top mattress brand since 1972 and was in the top ten recognized home product brands in a recent study alongside big names such as Rubbermaid, Tupperware, and La-Z-Boy. Sealy also has the highest customer loyalty and re-purchase rate, with the fastest growing specialty brands for the past three years. “Widespread poor RV mattress quality has long been a black eye on the industry, and RVers know it and talk about it. Too often you hear about people having to add mattress toppers or... Read more

The Iceman Cometh

Are you ready to flock south? A major concentration of snowbirds in Ol' Airy Zonie occurs each winter in the Phoenix area. Pictured above is Usery Mountain Regional Park located north of Mesa. © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved You might know a poet, William Shakespeare, who’s Sonnet 73 says: That time of year thou mayst in me behold When yellow leaves, or none, or few do hang Upon the boughs that shake against the cold Bare ruin’d choirs, where late the sweet birds sang. The Barb makes reference to autumn here in what would become one of his most famous sonnets. Oh, Autumn, that time of year when the earth changes colors before our very eyes, temperatures start to dip, the light begins to fade away, and RV’s are readying for their migration south to Ol’ Airy Zonie, Southern California, Texas, Florida, or another warm southern destination. So in true Shakespearean style, let’s count the fourteen things—as in the fourteen lines of a sonnet—that will help you prepare your home for an extended absence during the winter: Check expiry dates. Well in advance of your departure, check expiry dates for your passport and other travel documents, driver’s license, motor vehicle registration, vehicle insurance, credit cards, and membership cards—and renew if necessary. Home insurance. Check with your insurance agency to determine how extended absences may affect coverage. Determine if your insurer requires regular walk-throughs during your absence and if... Read more

Hurricane Preparedness for RVers

If you RV on the East Coast, through the southern Gulf States to Texas, you’re already aware that Atlantic, Caribbean, and Gulf of Mexico hurricanes and tropical storms are a fact of life from June 1 through November 30 and the height of the hurricane season occurs from late August through early October. Hurricane Wilma in 2005. Hurricane Wilma was a category 5 hurricane and one of the costliest storms in history. Hurricane Wilma's highest sustained winds was at 185 mph. Lowest pressure point measured at 882 mbar. (Credit: hurricane-facts.com) Although less common, they do occur on the Pacific Coast in southern California and Baja California, Mexico. Any day now, as we enter the peak of the hurricane season, you’ll turn on the TV and see a meteorologist pointing to a radar blob in the Gulf of Mexico make two basic meteorological points: There is no need to panic We could all be killed You may wish to follow this simple three-step hurricane preparedness plan: Step 1: Buy enough food and bottled water to last your family for at least seven days Step 2: Load these supplies into your recreational vehicle Step 3: Drive to Wyoming and stay there until after Thanksgiving While you may deem this plan to be somewhat overkill, it begs the question: What should RVers do? Above all else, use common sense and remain calm. Planning and preparation is the key—and that’s where you should start NOW. As an RVer you are already several steps ahead in preparation for a hurricane. Hurricanes... Read more

Adventurer LP Introduces Double-Slide Camper

Yakima, Washington-based Adventurer LP announced Tuesday (September 6) it had begun shipping its all-new Eagle Cap 1160 double-slide truck camper to dealers. The first two dealers to receive the 1160 were George Sutton in Eugene, Oregon, and Lacombe RV in Lacombe, Alberta. According to Adventurer, most of their dealers have the 1160 on order and will be receiving them as soon as they are completed. The Eagle Cap 1160 is a redesigned above-the-rails truck camper that allows for increased interior room in its 102-inch wide-body design and features a rear sofa and dinette in separate slide-outs to provide maximum interior space. The 1160 is also a side entry unit allowing room in the rear of the unit for a large Class A-style rear storage bay. 2012 Eagle Cap Series According to Adventurer, Eagle Cap truck campers feature the company’s exclusive “hybrid aluminum superstructure,” a construction blend of welded aluminum framing and fiberglass shell design (full front and back one-piece fiberglass caps), essentially utilizing the best construction designs in the industry. Another Eagle Cap exclusive is the “EC-MAX,” which is a four-season insulation package, providing R-values of R-17 ceiling, R-11 walls, and R-22-plus in the basement/floor. Eagle Cap also features rear sofa and driver’s side dinette slides providing RVers with the type of room typically only seen in trailers and motorhomes, according to Adventurer. Adventurer LP Eagle Cap 1160 double-slide truck camper.... Read more

Goodyear Innovation: Self-inflating Tires

Say goodbye to loud compressors, leaky hoses, and inaccurate tire gauges. The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, one of the world’s largest tire manufacturers, has developed a system which will allow tires to self-inflate automatically. Goodyear’s so-called Air Maintenance Technology (AMT) is completely self-contained, without any need for external pumps or electronics, reports the tire maker in a recent news release. Using a tire pump and gauge could soon be a thing of the past. (Credit: autoblog.com) Keeping tires properly inflated doesn’t just eliminate the practice of checking a tire’s air pressure and finding a tire pump and gauge that works. It also can mean real savings at the fuel pump. Whether you drive a passenger vehicle or a commercial truck, underinflated tires result in between a 2.5 percent and 3.3 percent decrease in fuel mileage, according to government and industry research. At today’s prices, that translates to about 12 cents per gallon at the pump. Properly inflated tires also result in lower emissions, longer tire life, enhanced safety, and improved vehicle performance. Goodyear’s Air Maintenance Technology (AMT) will enable tires to remain inflated at the optimum pressure without the need for any external pumps or electronics. All components of the AMT system, including the miniaturized pump, will be fully contained within the tire. “While the technology is complex, the idea behind the AMT system is relatively simple... Read more

Meet the GO! by SylvanSport

At SylvanSport, a Brevard, North Carolina-based startup company, Tom Dempsey and his team of designers set out to put the cool back into pop-up campers. Tom Dempsey sits inside a GO camper with a customer's two dogs, Diggidy and Gertie. The GO pop up camper, built by Sylvan Sport, is a highly engineered 800-pound camper that can carry extra outdoor equipment such as canoes and bicycles and be towed by a small car. (Credit: citizen-times.com) As an entrepreneur, Dempsey saw an opportunity to make camping, already a relatively affordable vacation option, more comfortable for a new generation, reported the Asheville Citizen-Times. They came up with the Go, an 800-pound lightweight but solidly constructed platform that turns into a spacious living quarters that you can tow behind a Prius, instead of a huge pickup. The Go is billed as “Mobile Adventure Gear” rather than a trailer, which brings to mind the old-fashioned aluminum box on wheels. “Pop-up campers are part of the entry-level RV world, which hasn’t really changed in the last 40 years,” Demspey said. “We wanted to take the pop-up camper out of the RV world into the REI world.” The Go has proved a hit with enthusiasts eager to drive cross-country to Brevard to pick up their $8,000 campers, ordered online. Dempsey sees “a massive paradigm shift away from SUVs and big trucks to more compact cars, but people still want to play even if they own a Prius, so we hitched our wagon to a trend to more efficient vehicles.” Dempsey... Read more

Tow Ratings Standardization: Comparing Apples to Apples

Have you ever wondered if 10,000 pounds of towing capacity means the same for trucks manufactured by GM, Ford, and Dodge? Towing Capacity Overkill. What could possibly go wrong here? (Credit: tacomaworld.com) You will soon know the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Automotive manufacturers agreed in 2008 to standardize tow ratings as specified in the SAE’s Surface Vehicle Recommended Practice J2807 to take effect by 2013. The industry alliance includes Ford, GM, Chrysler, Toyota, and Honda, along with several leading trailer and hitch makers. Until now, each manufacturer was free to test using proprietary conditions ideally suited to a truck’s towing strengths and decide their own maximum trailer rating. They could pretty much advertise whatever ratings they wanted since there was no “apples to apples” comparison between brands or models. Each company designed its own test, and—surprise, surprise—their trucks always aced the tests. Imagine the EPA didn’t exist, and car companies could just make up fuel-economy figures to boost sales. Kinda like, catch me if you can—on my towing ratings! Makers would boast about the pounds their pickups and SUVs could tow, and their exhaustive testing used to determine the towing capacity. But when a new truck claimed a higher number, the other manufacturers would rewrite their spec sheets with increased towing capacity and, as if by magic, match or beat the new kid on the block. And there was nothing... Read more

Fleetwood RV Introduces the 2012 Bounder

Fleetwood RV, Inc., a Decatur, Indiana, producer of Class A Diesel and Gas motorhomes, and Class C Diesel and Gas motorhomes, announced Wednesday (August 24) the release of the 2012 Bounder—the Company’s most recognized motorhome brand. 2012 Bounder (Credit: Fleetwood RV) “Bounder has been a household name in the RV industry since its debut in 1985 and is best known for its high-function, no frills features,” said John Draheim, President and CEO of Fleetwood RV, Inc. “For 2012, we focused on updating and elevating Bounder so it would appeal to a younger buyer so we added two new floor plans and upgraded the interior décor. This is definitely not your grandfather’s Bounder anymore,” Draheim added. Top features on the 2012 Bounder include: Sony electronics, Sony Blu-Ray surround sound system (optional) Electronic fireplace (available on 33C and 35K only) Exterior entertainment center (available on 35H and 35K only) Standard full-body paint Halogen lighting throughout King bed (optional) 2012 Bounder Interior (Credit: Fleetwood RV) The 2012 Bounder line-up includes four floor plans: 33-foot, dual-slide floor plan with a 40-inch Sony mid-ship LCD TV and Ultraleather transform-a-sofa (33C) 33-foot, full-wall-slide floor plan with a 32-inch Sony mid-ship TV (33U) 35-foot, dual-slide floor plan with a large master suite (35H) 35-foot dual-slide, bath-and-a-half floor plan with a 40-inch Sony mid-ship LCD TV and Ultraleather transform-a-sofa (35K) Fleetwood RV, Inc.... Read more

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