Leaving my unattended Travel Trailer in Quartzsite???

[LostInLife]

Hello All!

I couldn't figure out a better Forum for this question...

I am planning on heading to Quartzsite this coming winter - Yay Full timing!

My issue is this:

I have a son (teenager) in Denver.

I plan on visiting him monthly or every two months, depending on exact costs.

I am hoping to drive up to visit him for one weekend at a time, i would leave Quartzsite early on a Thursday morning, and get back to Quartzsite the following Tuesday afternoon.

Is this safe to do?
Will my home disappear? or get broken onto?

It is a 20ft pull behind Camper Trailer

Thanks,
Don

 

[MrNoodly]

If you camp with or near a group of people you know and who can watch after your trailer, you're less likely to have a problem than if you camp off by yourself.

 

[Blanch]

I’ve done it three years in a row. Camp with a group, you can meet them online if you don’t have a group of fellow campers already. YARC has a camp all winter long in the Quartzsite LTVA. Ask someone to keep an eye on your rig. I make several visits to my mom over the winter. I’m always camped with a group and they watch my stuff.


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[tx2sturgis]

Will the trailer be parked in an RV park?

Or on BLM or LTVA land?

Personally I would not leave it unattended on normal BLM land, but its probably fine at an RV park or in LTVA areas...IF you take a few precautions...hitch locks, wheel locks, close to other campers, etc. Leave a cheap chair or two and a few cheap items scattered around so it looks 'attended', not abandoned. Put your phone number in the door or a window in case a ranger (or park management) needs to call and ask you about it. 

I was aware of a few campers who did something similar, leaving town for several days or a week...the ones I knew about had no problems. 

But anything can happen, so when in doubt, have good full-coverage insurance.

 

[jimindenver]

We have had a shuttle in camp for quite a while as it receives solar while the owner went home.

 

[grummy]

Little trick for trailers which seem to get lifted by crooks these days....

Put in a simple switch that when on, will short to ground both the marker lights and the brake lights.

If Mr. Thief decides to yank your trailer at night, he's gonna be a little ticked off that he has blown two fuses and is running at higher risk of being caught.

Hopefully someone see's it.... it will stand out for sure.

 

[B and C]

Another option is to put it in storage while you are gone. A friend takes his trailer down south early fall and pays for storage until he shows up later. He then leaves it there when he goes home waiting for better weather to get it home. He doesn't tow the trailer in snow.

 

[highdesertranger]

like most here said camp with a group. I would suggest trying the YARC camp. great bunch of folks there. highdesertranger

 

[tx2sturgis]

It's also a good idea to remove or lock-up the safety chains because they can be used to pull a trailer without even using the hitch ball coupler if it's locked.

 

[B and C]

Sure be easy to see where they are taking it by the trail left. That dragging would sure raise suspicions too.

 

[tx2sturgis]

You could also remove the crank handle or lock the mechanism with chains if the tongue jack is manually cranked, or remove the 12v line from the power tongue jack if you have one of those. Either a removable harness or a secret switch or fuse located in a hidden area under the frame or battery compartment. 

A determined well-equipped thief cant be stopped, but several smaller obstacles might stop opportunistic thieves.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Sure be easy to see where they are taking it by the trail left.  That dragging would sure raise suspicions too.

A determined thief with a sturdy pickup truck can wrap the safety chains tightly around the hitch ball or pintle hook of their vehicle, or the bumper (if your coupler is locked or removed) and drag a trailer off. I didn't say it would be neat and tidy, but it can be done. At that level of theft, I also doubt a thief will worry about tail lights or brake lights working.

I cut my safety chains off, with about 3 links remaining and attached to the chain loop on the coupler, and I use heavy duty quick-links to attach the safety chains when towing.

 

[highdesertranger]

Texas that reminds me of a humorous story.

we were demoing an old packing plant this place was huge it was a citrus packing plant. forget how many basket ball courts you could fit inside this place, you could fit several football fields inside with a roof that was about 40 high, in other words this was one big building to demo.

one morning when I got to the job I noticed the lock on the gate had been cut. I opened the gates and went in. our equipment looked fine but I noticed that one of the chillers was missing these things were huge and heavy. they would not fit in a Pick-up bed and the were made out of aluminum and copper.

we called the police. what had happened is the thieves had wrapped a chain around the unit and drug it away like Texas said. well it had dug a groove into the parking lot and the road. it literally left a very obvious trail right out the gate and down the road. the police followed the trail. they came back a few hours latter and told us that the thieves had drug it to a nearby trailer park(big surprise there) and were cutting it up into smaller pieces when they pulled up.

we laughed about that for the next couple of weeks and after that there was night security on site.

highdesertranger

 

[JD GUMBEE]

Even if you do not want to be with one of the groups...there are people around QZ who will let you park it in their yard for a small fee.
Crotchety old retired military even...who love to break out the 50 cal and cut thieves in half.
(^^^Only partially joking about this. LOADS of them live in QZ.)

Another thing to do is locate a storage facility with cameras on it.

They will ALWAYS make a cash deal to park your trailer there.
Behind a fence with barbed wire is a good bet. Especially when camera equipped.

(I could also rent you a mean Rotty...but delivery charges and security deposits would be prohibitive.) LOL

 

[MrNoodly]

I've seen trailers at The Slabs where they jacked up one side, put it on blocks, removed the wheel and either locked the wheel inside the trailer or took it with them. I suppose you could remove both wheels.

But backing up on this entire question, does anyone know how much of a problem thievery actually is in the Quartzsite LTVAs?

 

[LostInLife]

Wow!

A lot of great responses, making me feel a lot better about leaving my Home on wheels out in the desert! LOL

Seriously, Thanks to all of you.

I will look into the YARC group.

-Don

 

[maki2]

I've seen trailers at The Slabs where they jacked up one side, put it on blocks, removed the wheel and either locked the wheel inside the trailer or took it with them. I suppose you could remove both wheels.

But backing up on this entire question, does anyone know how much of a problem thievery actually is in the Quartzsite LTVAs?

The BLM regulations do not allow anyone to remove the wheel or wheels from a vehicle or trailer and go off and leave it for any longer that needed to get a new tire of flat time fixed. Always a good idea to let a ranger know or post a notice in the window saying you are getting the flat fixed with your phone number on it too.

 

[Blanch]

La Posa South hasn’t had any thievery I’ve heard of. La Posa North is close to town and had a few thefts. I’ve seen trailers left unattended for as long as a month at La Posa South. It isn’t uncommon. One neighbor caught a plane to visit a relative and asked us to keep an eye on their camp.




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[blars]

On normal BLM land, the rules prohibit leaving anything unattended for more than 24 hours. I'm not sure about LTVA.

 

[Riverman]

GPS Tracker:

https://www.amazon.com/Tracker-Wate...s=gps+tracker&qid=1556668135&s=gateway&sr=8-5