Party King Varsity Swing ‘N Smoke Varsity PKG VJV-6412 Package Review

PARTY KING IS OUT OF BUSINESS

Party King makes modular systems with many parts and options. There is the grill head (two models, the MVP with three burners, and the Varsity with one burner), the cradle in which it is mounted, and a number of ways to mount them from a swing arm for mounting on your trailer hitch or your RV, “all terrain” carts with four large wheels handy for the beach, a patio pack cart that has smaller casters, a PRO cabinet on wheels that can attach to your trailer hitch.

The model they sent us to test included the

PKA-DLXSS-JV6512 JV Grill Head $299

PKA-JVCRD-1500 Varsity Cradle $145

PKA-VLT-2012 VERSArm LT Swing arm $230

All combined they equal the Varsity Swing ‘N Smoke PKG VJV-6412. This is the smaller Varsity grill head, its cradle, and a swing arm that connects to a trailer hitch. This concept is growing in popularity and we’ve seen a number of models on display at football games. No need to put a hot and greasy BBQ grill inside your car and no need to carry an extra table to sit it on. When you get to the game, just swing it out, connect the propane tank, and fire up!

The array or options is made especially confusing by their non-intuitive names, with the part names and numbers clearly designed for the warehouse manager and not the consumer. Then there’s the Hitch Cuff, VERSArm LT or HD, Twin Valve Manifold or tank talon, made more confusing because they are often spelled differently on different parts of the site. We recommend you talk to them before you finalize your order. For example, if you buy an arm for your hitch, you may want the locking options so the unit cannot be stolen when you are in the stadium.

Most of the screws use a hex wrench that they include with the kit, and much to our delight, they include a hex driver bit for a drill or electric screwdriver. Nice! You will also need an adjustable wrench or socket set. Still, assembly was a serious pain partially because the manual is poorly written. We’ve bolted together grills the size of aircraft carriers in much less time. Tolerances are poor and the front and rear panels cannot be attached if you tighten the bolts that hold the cradle to the grill head during assembly.

The lid latch is small, flimsy and hard to reach. There is no clamp for the flame deflector or cooking grate, so they bounce around on the highway. Our side tables don’t fold up all the way like they show on the website and we’re pretty sure we attached them properly. The hose that connects to the propane tank is only about 2’ long, so if you use a full-size tank and your hitch is higher than normal, you might need to sit the tank on something. It cooking temp doesn’t get very hot, and worse, it blows out on windy days unless the front of the grill is facing into the wind! Don’t know about you, but we often don’t have the option to choose the orientation of a parking space at the game.