Black Series HQ Tips, Tricks, and Learning.....
- Thread starter kevin_j
- Start date
Thanks Paul. It was because of you that I started looking at the right places. There is always a first
. The quality of wiring is terrible and no labeling or map of how things are wired. I also think many appliances aren’t well protected based on how things are wired. But I have learnt so much about the wiring on my camper.I will install a BP to keep the wall switch as it is and should work much better than the relays as well as save power. Thanks again for your help and taking time to write your suggestions. I truly appreciate it!
IH
nikondude1
New member
Hello HQer's. Let me apologize in advance if this gets long, but I have quite a bit of info to share with you. I'll attempt to upload some pics too.
Kind of a forum newbie, please be kind. So I took delivery of an HQ19 in June of 20' which I found new in Aberdeen, MS. I had it delivered to my home here in Las Vegas, NV, got a good deal with no lead time. Shane at RoA quoted me a much higher price and a 6 month lead time for the same model year. Only drawback was buying sight-unseen. But, since I did a lot of research, I was confident in my choice. We looked locally at some trailers and, honestly, we were very disappointed.
I do NOT regret the purchase at all, but in retrospect, and after observing a few items/issues, I suspect the trailer may have been a demo or used. Read on and see if you agree.
I've done a fair amount of mods and repairs on my rig and wanted to share with you all. There is not a Black Series dealer here in Vegas, so for warranty work I would have to alert one the local service centers, and Black Series should cover the cost. I have not yet taken it to be serviced, I've done the work myself.
Issues,
-Trim and interior panels delaminating, cracking, warping, and falling off. The delaminating has been relatively easy to repair. I found that 3M Hi-Strength 90 works well on trim and panels that have delaminated but not cracked. As far as the warping and cracking, the refrigerator panels warped to the point of cracking and breaking the upper trim on the freezer door. I alerted Black Series and they sent me new refrigerator panels, however, knowing they would warp as well (and they have), I wrapped two aluminum panels cut to fit with carbon fiber wrap, and slid them into the doors. Lots of compliments, and no more warping. As far as some of the panels that are cracking, I've not yet addressed. Any ideas guys?
-Wheels/tires. As delivered, my HQ came with two different kinds of tires. It had the Cooper Discoverer ATS (since discontinued?) on the trailer with two Cooper Discoverer S/T Maxx as spares. Although my shipper said it towed well from Mississippi, and since the spares have a higher load limit and are newer, I decided to purchase two more S/TMaxx's and put those on the trailer. Looks great, tows well. During all this, I noticed nicks, scratches, and gouges in some of the wheels, I talked Black Series out of only one new wheel, and they fought me on it. Could've been the dealer I suppose.
-Microwave did not work, but dealer drop-shipped me a new one, wasn't terribly hard to swap out.
-Retractable steps stopped working one day, popped switch off and pushed wire back on to the rear, easy fix.
-Stereo. The Kenwood stereo speakers were all over the place as far as left/right and front/rear. I rewired so that front was inside, and rear was outside. None of the wires were labeled, so I had to trouble shoot each one for it's location. Not hard to do, but laborious. Did you guys know the Kenwood KDC-BT610U has a shortwave band? Kind of fun out in the boonies to listen to.
-A couple of the nerf bars were scratched. I recoated with a quality wrinkle paint. Turned out well, but a little harder to apply than regular paint.
Regarding the recent recall for the emergency breakaway, I found out what component is getting replaced and ordered it myself. Honestly, it's an easier fix for me than hooking up the trailer and towing it across town to leave for a week or so. I will invoice Black Series for the cost of the part. Anyone else get this recall?
Mods,
-Air conditioner, I can't figure out why a manufacturer would put a black cover on an air conditioning unit. Repainted white with a good quality paint specifically for plastic. Installed a soft start. Looks better, arguably more efficient, runs on smaller generator now.
-Upgraded the charge controller to a Victron MPPT 100 1 30 with Bluetooth. I have the four battery set up for model year 2020. Having enough power is not an issue for me, I don't plan to install more solar panels but, at most, may purchase a portable one for the Anderson plug. I will not be rewiring so my truck will charge the trailer, it would just be overkill for me as the system keeps up very well. Enough said...
-Installed 1 1/2" wheel spacers on the spare wheels, and mounted 2 ea. RotoPax 2 gal. fuel, and RotoPax 2 gal. water containers between carrier and trailer. Mounted two traction boards, and a Hi-Lift jack below the containers.
-The wife sewed a couple of spare tire covers in a faux carbon fiber look marine quality vinyl. Perhaps you can see in my avatar how she coordinated the stripes into the passenger side spare to match the trailer?
-Replaced the bent ARK XO750 Black trailer jack with a new ARK XO500R. The shaft was slightly bent and did not allow me to extend the unit down to the bottom two settings, it otherwise worked okay. Did the dealer bend it, used as a demo? I'll never know. The static load rating is a bit less on the new one, but more than enough for this application. It has a feature that allows me to move the trailer w/o hooking it up. It uses a ratcheting wheel with F/N/Reverse with lock setting. It works well.
-Cameras, installed 4 wireless cameras. One on each side above the rear nerf bars facing rearward to facilitate backing through a tight gate. One centered on the rear spare tire carrier next to the license plate that I relocated slightly toward the driver side. Lastly, one on the underside of the first cross-member of the tongue facing rearward under the trailer. I can see the tires and the whole of the underside of the trailer to monitor any issues.
-Painted brake drums red to match trailer accents. Looks great behind the black wheels with new tires.
-Purchased two 40 lb. propane tanks for the front propane storage. This is most likely overkill, I have found that the 20 lb tanks last quite a while. I will still use them perhaps one at a time. They do fit, but they are a heavy lift into a somewhat tight place from a step ladder.
-Installed rubber caps onto the propane and water outlets for the outdoor kitchen. Seems like they should have these on there already from Black Series, were they missing? Don't want dirt in either one of those connections. I just noticed it is labeled "City Water Connection", that is incorrect.
-Installed square 5" pvc fence post on the underside to store the sewer hose with ventilated caps.
Not really a repair,
-The water tanks, both general and drinking, were nearly full when the trailer was delivered, with nasty brown stinking water. The tanks were flushed extensively and sanitized. The filtration system was cleaned thoroughly and new filters replaced the dark brown ones. Ugh, what the heck did they put in this thing?! All good now.
Thoughts,
-As mentioned at the beginning, and if you powered through this long post, you may also suspect that this "new" trailer may have been used or a demo. i found an onion skin under a cabinet as well, an onion skin in a new trailer? It all kind of points in one direction...? Aside from the bent jack, and other smaller issues, I am still overall very happy with my purchase. The underlying design of the trailer is robust and well thought out, if not executed perfectly. I can deal with small issues as I'm very handy, and it gives me something to tinker with in my retirement.
-After my first excursion, I suspected a heavy tongue weight. I found a crane scale on Amazon rated to approx. 2000 lbs. After checking it for accuracy, I used my Hi-lift to weigh the tongue after replicating my towing conditions and found the tongue weight to be 1,027 lbs. About 100 lbs. over my trucks maximum of 920 lbs. I don't believe any damage was caused, it still towed well, and it seems to be within the 10%-15% (about 14% depending on the actual weight of the trailer) ideal tongue weight. Nevertheless, I relocated some mass, i.e the fuel and water containers, to lessen the tongue weight below my truck's maximum. I am fully aware of the general water tank location and the weight it adds to the tongue when full vs empty and how it will affect the weight ratio on the tongue. It will be monitored accordingly and cargo will be relocated to compensate. Not a huge deal, just something i need to be cognizant of. During research, I discovered my truck, a 2020 GMC AT4 6.2L, has a feature called "Trailer Sway Control". It monitors through wheel speed, steering wheel position, and accelerometers if the truck is being pulled back and forth by a swaying trailer. It measures a few times per second, and will intervene through reduced torque and braking the trailer. This gives me some peace of mind, thank you GM/Chevrolet. Ford also uses something similar, don't know about others.
Question(s),
I have no issues with the polyblock hitch, but was wondering... I've seen other hitches mounted to bottom of tongue, does anyone know if the polyblock can be moved to the underside of the tongue? This will help the trailer tow closer to level.
Has anyone taken their rigs to a public scale to be weighed, I'm curious how accurate the Black Series specs are? I know of a couple of scales near me, I may hook up and find out.
Thanks everyone, hope you found this post informative. I enjoy reading about HQ experiences others have shared.
Kind of a forum newbie, please be kind. So I took delivery of an HQ19 in June of 20' which I found new in Aberdeen, MS. I had it delivered to my home here in Las Vegas, NV, got a good deal with no lead time. Shane at RoA quoted me a much higher price and a 6 month lead time for the same model year. Only drawback was buying sight-unseen. But, since I did a lot of research, I was confident in my choice. We looked locally at some trailers and, honestly, we were very disappointed.
I do NOT regret the purchase at all, but in retrospect, and after observing a few items/issues, I suspect the trailer may have been a demo or used. Read on and see if you agree.
I've done a fair amount of mods and repairs on my rig and wanted to share with you all. There is not a Black Series dealer here in Vegas, so for warranty work I would have to alert one the local service centers, and Black Series should cover the cost. I have not yet taken it to be serviced, I've done the work myself.
Issues,
-Trim and interior panels delaminating, cracking, warping, and falling off. The delaminating has been relatively easy to repair. I found that 3M Hi-Strength 90 works well on trim and panels that have delaminated but not cracked. As far as the warping and cracking, the refrigerator panels warped to the point of cracking and breaking the upper trim on the freezer door. I alerted Black Series and they sent me new refrigerator panels, however, knowing they would warp as well (and they have), I wrapped two aluminum panels cut to fit with carbon fiber wrap, and slid them into the doors. Lots of compliments, and no more warping. As far as some of the panels that are cracking, I've not yet addressed. Any ideas guys?
-Wheels/tires. As delivered, my HQ came with two different kinds of tires. It had the Cooper Discoverer ATS (since discontinued?) on the trailer with two Cooper Discoverer S/T Maxx as spares. Although my shipper said it towed well from Mississippi, and since the spares have a higher load limit and are newer, I decided to purchase two more S/TMaxx's and put those on the trailer. Looks great, tows well. During all this, I noticed nicks, scratches, and gouges in some of the wheels, I talked Black Series out of only one new wheel, and they fought me on it. Could've been the dealer I suppose.
-Microwave did not work, but dealer drop-shipped me a new one, wasn't terribly hard to swap out.
-Retractable steps stopped working one day, popped switch off and pushed wire back on to the rear, easy fix.
-Stereo. The Kenwood stereo speakers were all over the place as far as left/right and front/rear. I rewired so that front was inside, and rear was outside. None of the wires were labeled, so I had to trouble shoot each one for it's location. Not hard to do, but laborious. Did you guys know the Kenwood KDC-BT610U has a shortwave band? Kind of fun out in the boonies to listen to.
-A couple of the nerf bars were scratched. I recoated with a quality wrinkle paint. Turned out well, but a little harder to apply than regular paint.
Regarding the recent recall for the emergency breakaway, I found out what component is getting replaced and ordered it myself. Honestly, it's an easier fix for me than hooking up the trailer and towing it across town to leave for a week or so. I will invoice Black Series for the cost of the part. Anyone else get this recall?
Mods,
-Air conditioner, I can't figure out why a manufacturer would put a black cover on an air conditioning unit. Repainted white with a good quality paint specifically for plastic. Installed a soft start. Looks better, arguably more efficient, runs on smaller generator now.
-Upgraded the charge controller to a Victron MPPT 100 1 30 with Bluetooth. I have the four battery set up for model year 2020. Having enough power is not an issue for me, I don't plan to install more solar panels but, at most, may purchase a portable one for the Anderson plug. I will not be rewiring so my truck will charge the trailer, it would just be overkill for me as the system keeps up very well. Enough said...
-Installed 1 1/2" wheel spacers on the spare wheels, and mounted 2 ea. RotoPax 2 gal. fuel, and RotoPax 2 gal. water containers between carrier and trailer. Mounted two traction boards, and a Hi-Lift jack below the containers.
-The wife sewed a couple of spare tire covers in a faux carbon fiber look marine quality vinyl. Perhaps you can see in my avatar how she coordinated the stripes into the passenger side spare to match the trailer?
-Replaced the bent ARK XO750 Black trailer jack with a new ARK XO500R. The shaft was slightly bent and did not allow me to extend the unit down to the bottom two settings, it otherwise worked okay. Did the dealer bend it, used as a demo? I'll never know. The static load rating is a bit less on the new one, but more than enough for this application. It has a feature that allows me to move the trailer w/o hooking it up. It uses a ratcheting wheel with F/N/Reverse with lock setting. It works well.
-Cameras, installed 4 wireless cameras. One on each side above the rear nerf bars facing rearward to facilitate backing through a tight gate. One centered on the rear spare tire carrier next to the license plate that I relocated slightly toward the driver side. Lastly, one on the underside of the first cross-member of the tongue facing rearward under the trailer. I can see the tires and the whole of the underside of the trailer to monitor any issues.
-Painted brake drums red to match trailer accents. Looks great behind the black wheels with new tires.
-Purchased two 40 lb. propane tanks for the front propane storage. This is most likely overkill, I have found that the 20 lb tanks last quite a while. I will still use them perhaps one at a time. They do fit, but they are a heavy lift into a somewhat tight place from a step ladder.
-Installed rubber caps onto the propane and water outlets for the outdoor kitchen. Seems like they should have these on there already from Black Series, were they missing? Don't want dirt in either one of those connections. I just noticed it is labeled "City Water Connection", that is incorrect.
-Installed square 5" pvc fence post on the underside to store the sewer hose with ventilated caps.
Not really a repair,
-The water tanks, both general and drinking, were nearly full when the trailer was delivered, with nasty brown stinking water. The tanks were flushed extensively and sanitized. The filtration system was cleaned thoroughly and new filters replaced the dark brown ones. Ugh, what the heck did they put in this thing?! All good now.
Thoughts,
-As mentioned at the beginning, and if you powered through this long post, you may also suspect that this "new" trailer may have been used or a demo. i found an onion skin under a cabinet as well, an onion skin in a new trailer? It all kind of points in one direction...? Aside from the bent jack, and other smaller issues, I am still overall very happy with my purchase. The underlying design of the trailer is robust and well thought out, if not executed perfectly. I can deal with small issues as I'm very handy, and it gives me something to tinker with in my retirement.
-After my first excursion, I suspected a heavy tongue weight. I found a crane scale on Amazon rated to approx. 2000 lbs. After checking it for accuracy, I used my Hi-lift to weigh the tongue after replicating my towing conditions and found the tongue weight to be 1,027 lbs. About 100 lbs. over my trucks maximum of 920 lbs. I don't believe any damage was caused, it still towed well, and it seems to be within the 10%-15% (about 14% depending on the actual weight of the trailer) ideal tongue weight. Nevertheless, I relocated some mass, i.e the fuel and water containers, to lessen the tongue weight below my truck's maximum. I am fully aware of the general water tank location and the weight it adds to the tongue when full vs empty and how it will affect the weight ratio on the tongue. It will be monitored accordingly and cargo will be relocated to compensate. Not a huge deal, just something i need to be cognizant of. During research, I discovered my truck, a 2020 GMC AT4 6.2L, has a feature called "Trailer Sway Control". It monitors through wheel speed, steering wheel position, and accelerometers if the truck is being pulled back and forth by a swaying trailer. It measures a few times per second, and will intervene through reduced torque and braking the trailer. This gives me some peace of mind, thank you GM/Chevrolet. Ford also uses something similar, don't know about others.
Question(s),
I have no issues with the polyblock hitch, but was wondering... I've seen other hitches mounted to bottom of tongue, does anyone know if the polyblock can be moved to the underside of the tongue? This will help the trailer tow closer to level.
Has anyone taken their rigs to a public scale to be weighed, I'm curious how accurate the Black Series specs are? I know of a couple of scales near me, I may hook up and find out.
Thanks everyone, hope you found this post informative. I enjoy reading about HQ experiences others have shared.
SuperSolarDude
New member
Excellent work friend. Your wife did an amazing job on the spare tire covers. Very creative indeed. I also love the refrigerator panels. Definitely a good looking mod that will outlast the factory panels. Plus, I think it matches the interior well. When I was looking at the BS trailers, I figured a set of 40# tanks would fit. Looked like the clamps had enough adjustment in them. Was that the case, or did you have to modify any of the hardware? I'm 95% ordering an Xplore trailer, but I keep going back and looking at an HQ19.
I have been looking at the HQ19. Sorry about all the fixes. Every RV that I have ever purchased has had wires labeled. Having non matching tires is pretty odd. Can you continue to share your experience with the trailer when you use it. I am also interested in what tow vehicle you are using. Wondering if the experience in the tow vehicle cab is unpleasant, etc. Some trailers tow a lot better than others. Thanks and best wishes.
BuckinghamBuilt
Active member
Not sure if you're on Facebook but I highly recommend that your join the "Black Series Camper US" group if you have not already as it has a ton of information and the members their are very helpful (Black Series in my opinion, not so much).
The delamination of the wood veneer is a known problem for these rigs and I have seen a few dealers, shops, and members end up wrapping those areas in other materials (i.e., leather).
Now about that polyblock hitch. I have not seen anyone mount it to the underside of the tongue and I don't think its worth the effort. You're better off getting a new hitch on the two vehicle that either has a rise or drop. You seem like someone not afraid to perform some mods so I highly recommend you get rid of the Polyblock (after a few hookups you'll think me) and instead reach out to Caravan Specialists (https://caravanspecialties.com/) and get yourself a McHitch which you'll see that folks sometimes mount them underneath the tongue.
I did not see you mention it but you should also consider having the wheel bearings on your HQ19 checked to make sure they were properly greased, especially before doing any longer road trips.
nikondude1
New member
Thank you.
It wasn't the width/diameter so much as the height, and the straps fit perfectly. The compartment has to be empty, then you kind of walk the left (outside) one in first, and then the right (inside) one. Tilting them to go below the top edge of the compartment. Not light though.
nikondude1
New member
My tow vehicle is a 2020 GMC AT4 6.2L with the trailer tow package. It's rated for 9,200 lbs, the "Max Trailering Package" would get me up to I believe 12,000 lbs. Anyhow, it has some nice towing features like the cameras, and sway control. It tows very well, however, I did notice the heavy tongue weight as mentioned above. I took steps to mitigate the issue since, and will monitor as we travel. The tandem wheels are the way to go if your rig can handle the increased weight, likes to go straight and a bit more stable over rough terrain. Additionally, when I had it delivered, the shipper drove a GMC 3500 HD dually, he said it towed excellent even up to about 75. Don't know about higher than that, and I wouldn't tow that fast anyways.
Thanks.
nikondude1
New member
I haven't had issues with the polyblock, but I have seen the McHitch. Looks like a good setup. I think I'll take a closer look at it now.
If the delamitation issue was just about some panels and trim coming off, I could mostly keep up with those fixes. It's the cracking panels that are embarrassing when you're showing off your new rig to someone and they spot it. If I were to take it in, it seems like it would take forever to address all the instances, and maybe it would just keep occurring. It's pretty dry here in Vegas, 5% humidity yesterday I believe. I wonder if maybe it's an issue for most trailers here? I'll look into something that may cover up the panels, thanks for the input. I do, as my nephew has suggested to me, keep a couple 5 gal. buckets in the trailer with some water in them when it's sitting in the driveway. Helps keep the interior from getting super dry.
I do plan to check the wheel bearings, are the extra ones they provide the same as what's installed?
Something I forgot to mention in my long post, some have stated to zip-tie the shackles for the suspension chains so they don't vibrate off. I looked at mine after reading that and observed that they had already been zip-tied by the factory. Someone there must be paying attention. If they had not been, I probably would use red Loc-Tite on them. I read earlier that someone suggested that. I may still do it, probably a more permanent fix than zip-ties that will eventually get brittle.
Thank you all.
Thanks. Much appreciated. Good to know that a well equipped 1/2 ton can do the job. I have a F150 with the 3.5 and a tow package—roughly same capacity as your truck. Seems like it should be fine.
BuckinghamBuilt
Active member
The wheel bearing are the same as those installed. I have also seen a few folks move to installing Timken wheel bearings.
I just picked up a 2021 HQ12 from an out of state dealer and once I hit the highway to bring it home the trailer was swaying all over the road. I’m towing with a newer Ram 1500 Hemi V8 with max tow and off road package. It was the scariest driving experience I’ve ever had. I crossed a few lanes of traffic to exit and fortunately didn’t get into an accident. Fortunately there was a Camping World at the exit and they were able to get me some sway control. My model happened to come with an electric tongue jack and I was able to take off the jockey wheel and put on an Equal-I-Zer hitch. It’s such a bummer not having the jockey wheel but I couldn’t get it all to fit. (I’m open to suggestions!)
I drove for the next 7 hours on the highway through severe winds and some rain without any sway issues.
I am a little concerned about this setup since the pivot point of the weight distribution arms and the pivot point to the McHitch are not in alignment since the pivot of the mchitch juts out 4 or so inches from where a traditional ball would lie. It worked fine for straight driving on the highway but I’m worried about residential driving with tight turns and backing up at tight angles. I took the bars off as a precaution and because it was late at night and didn’t want to wake people up with the loud creaking noise of the weight distribution hitch arms
Anyone experiment with this? Any reason for concern? I know I can always take off the bars, but I’d prefer not to mess around with it, raising everything on the jack to pull the bars off and whatnot.
Has anyone else found any other sway control solutions for an HQ12 other than having full tanks? My HOA doesn’t allow me to park it at my home so I’ll need to drive the empty rig not infrequently back and forth to the rv storage lot.
Thanks.
Has anyone placed a rear view camera on the HQ12? I’m having trouble figuring out where to draw power from and how to figure out the wiring. Also, it seems there isn’t much room to mount it high and center because of the kitchen window and the rear LED light bar. I guess I can swap the back led light bar with a camera, turn on main power before driving, and hit the back light switch to activate the camera? I was hoping to have a camera that was always on and has a separate screen (eg Furrion S7) so I could see what’s goinon behind me while I’m driving (not just a reverse camera tied into the reverse light wiring). Has anyone actually done this with some success (or failure)? Any ideas on how to salvage the light bar while also having the camera?
Somewhat related, what are you all using to fill holes on the exterior surface? If I remove the LED bar, what can I use to patch the holes left behind?
Thanks again. Excited to start tinkering with this rig. Unfortunately I’ve already had to fix several small and not so small things. I have to say, attention to detail in their work at BS leaves something to be desired.
Somewhat related, what are you all using to fill holes on the exterior surface? If I remove the LED bar, what can I use to patch the holes left behind?
Thanks again. Excited to start tinkering with this rig. Unfortunately I’ve already had to fix several small and not so small things. I have to say, attention to detail in their work at BS leaves something to be desired.
BuckinghamBuilt
Active member
I don't have a HQ12 but but before I purchased my HQ15 I read how poorly the HQ12's towed and outside of having full or empty tanks folks have had good success with telescoping sway control bars. I'd check out etrailer.com or give them a call. It can be an investment as you'll also need to purchase a McHitch (I hightly recommend buying from John Roemer at https://caravanspecialties.com/)