Arizona is one of the best places in the country to RV, and one of the easiest places to have a miserable first trip if you plan it like a trip somewhere else. Heat, weight and paperwork cause most of the trouble. Here are the ten things we tell first-timers before they roll out of Lake Havasu.
1. Pick the season on purpose
Spring (March to May) and fall (September to November) are the real Havasu weather: air in the 70s and 80s, manageable traffic. Summer is 110-plus in the air and 80-plus in the water, and the campgrounds fill with visitors. Winter is quiet and fine for cruising, and it’s when the snowbirds are here, November through April. A first trip in April or October is the easy win.
2. Load the trailer, then weigh it
The brochure dry weight is not what you tow. Water weighs 8.34 pounds per gallon, so a 100-gallon fresh tank is 834 pounds, before propane, batteries, food and gear. Know your trailer’s GVWR and your truck’s payload from the door-jamb sticker, and if the math is close, run it over a scale. Our travel trailer vs. fifth wheel guide has the seven numbers.
3. Read the tire date codes before you leave
Arizona sun ages rubber on the calendar, not the odometer. Find the DOT date code on every sidewall, including the spare. A tire more than five years old is a replacement conversation regardless of tread, and a blowout on I-40 in July is the trip-ender nobody plans for. Check pressures cold, in the morning.
4. Test the air conditioning at midday, not at breakfast
A rooftop unit that works fine at 85 degrees can fail at 115. Run it under sun load before the trip and feel the temperature drop at the vents. One 15,000-BTU unit struggles on a 32-foot coach in a Havasu summer; dual units are the norm here.
5. Start the refrigerator the day before
Absorption refrigerators (Norcold, Dometic) are slow and struggle above about 100 degrees if the compartment airflow is blocked. Run it four hours at ambient before you trust the box temperature, and longer before you load it with food.
6. Look at the roof
Havasu UV is hard on roof sealant, so follow the specific manufacturer’s inspection schedule and approved sealant requirements. Before the trip, have the roof inspected by a qualified professional, or from a ladder yourself if the manufacturer confirms your model’s roof may be accessed and you have the safe access and safety equipment it requires, for cracked seams, separated sealant beads, delamination bubbles and brittle vent gaskets, because a monsoon cell in August finds every gap.
7. Batteries and the generator hate the heat too
Heat kills lead-acid batteries in two to three years here, so test them under load. Run the generator long enough under load to see it hold temperature; at Havasu summer ambient a generator can hit its shutdown temperature doing normal work.
8. Know your length before you book
Some campgrounds and older state-park loops cap site length, so check the limit for the actual site before you book; a shorter rig fits more places than a 40-footer, and the popular lake and river sites book out well ahead in spring. Reserve, don’t roll up.
9. Respect the grades
The climb out of the river valley toward Prescott, Flagstaff or the Grand Canyon is long, and in summer a loaded motorhome or truck-and-trailer can heat-derate on it. Climb early in the day, watch the gauges, and don’t tow at the limit of the ratings in July.
10. Paperwork before pavement
Run the VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls (a motorhome has one VIN, assigned by the chassis maker and repeated on the coach builder’s label, plus a coach serial; check the coach builder’s and appliance makers’ notices too). Make sure the registration is current through the Arizona MVD, the insurance is in force, and the title matches the VIN on the unit if you just bought it.
Our honest limits
This is the checklist, not a certification. We don’t assert a specific unit’s recall status or promise every system works; every used RV on our lot has been looked over, we don’t list one we wouldn’t sell to a friend, and an independent mobile RV inspection, paid by the buyer, is always welcome.
Next step
Shopping for the rig? See the RVs in stock. Financing? How RV loans work in Arizona. Own one you’re done with? We consign it with no fees: tell us what you have. If a pet is coming along, read RVing with pets, and for where to stay see five campgrounds near Lake Havasu compared. Call (928) 453-8833 or text (928) 732-2281.
