How easy are huge motor homes to drive?
Discussion
Me and the OH were on holiday a few years ago up in the NW Highlands. There's a little town called Lochinver on the coast with 2 access roads. One is a nice A-road, one is a really tight and twisty single track road with passing places. The thing is, the road is technically a NSL road and is 5 miles shorter if you're coming from Ullapool so sat-nav thinks it's a great idea to go down there.
About half was down the road is where you see them pulled over with a Force 10 argument blazing away in the front
I'd love a go in one though - a friends parents have an American one of some sort and take it to Europe every year for a few months.
About half was down the road is where you see them pulled over with a Force 10 argument blazing away in the front
I'd love a go in one though - a friends parents have an American one of some sort and take it to Europe every year for a few months.
zarjaz1991 said:
As per title....How easy are huge motor homes to drive?
It looks like I've been lumbered with the job of driving a huge motor home for four days in the summer, for family and a handful of their friends.
Pretty much, I'm the one who rarely drinks alcohol and is rarely bothered if I don't while everyone else does. So on that basis, plus the fact that everyone seems s
t scared of the idea, I've been nominated.
I'm only 22 but insurance is apparently sorted.
I'm quite experienced on the driving front and as a well as numerous models of car, I also regularly drive a Transit for work so larger vehicles don't scare me. But I've never actually driven a motor home before so I wondered what they were like to drive, and if there's anything I should particularly be wary of.
Don't know the make and model yet, I'm waiting to find out.
Which company is letting you rent at 22?It looks like I've been lumbered with the job of driving a huge motor home for four days in the summer, for family and a handful of their friends.
Pretty much, I'm the one who rarely drinks alcohol and is rarely bothered if I don't while everyone else does. So on that basis, plus the fact that everyone seems s
t scared of the idea, I've been nominated.I'm only 22 but insurance is apparently sorted.
I'm quite experienced on the driving front and as a well as numerous models of car, I also regularly drive a Transit for work so larger vehicles don't scare me. But I've never actually driven a motor home before so I wondered what they were like to drive, and if there's anything I should particularly be wary of.
Don't know the make and model yet, I'm waiting to find out.
nagsheadwarrior said:
Ps- Missed the bit about the c1 sorry.
If you want to try driving one before the holiday just drop me a p.m my dealerships based in Preston if you want to pop up and test drive one some time when its quiet that's fine.
Thanks. That is very kind and I am greatly honoured....I may well be in touch.If you want to try driving one before the holiday just drop me a p.m my dealerships based in Preston if you want to pop up and test drive one some time when its quiet that's fine.
northwest monkey said:
Me and the OH were on holiday a few years ago up in the NW Highlands. There's a little town called Lochinver on the coast with 2 access roads. One is a nice A-road, one is a really tight and twisty single track road with passing places. The thing is, the road is technically a NSL road and is 5 miles shorter if you're coming from Ullapool so sat-nav thinks it's a great idea to go down there.
About half was down the road is where you see them pulled over with a Force 10 argument blazing away in the front
I'd love a go in one though - a friends parents have an American one of some sort and take it to Europe every year for a few months.
That's a good reminder for me to make sure routes are planned and investigated up front.About half was down the road is where you see them pulled over with a Force 10 argument blazing away in the front
I'd love a go in one though - a friends parents have an American one of some sort and take it to Europe every year for a few months.
I plan to drive the proposed route in my own car first, taking someone with me, so any potential "OOPS" moments can be avoided....
Vaud said:
Then double and triple check the insurance details, policy in hand, etc...
Indeed. I am the most paranoid person in the world about this sort of thing.I believe a short term (couple of months) policy is being taken out, obviously I'll need to be involved in that anyway in order to provide relevant details but my age etc has already been cleared as ok.
No idea what it's costing but there's 7 people going in total and the cost will get split so probably not huge in the grand scheme of things. Quite probably the fuel will be the greater cost.
All quite exciting really.
lamboman100 said:
Drive real slow 100% of the time, brake early 100% of the time, check both mirrors every few seconds 100% of the time.
Yeah all that's definitely gonna happen.I'm acutely aware that I'm going to be trusted, at the age of 22, with someone's very expensive great big motor home,
In total that's going to be about ten people who in one form or another are going to be depending on my driving being up to scratch.
It's probably the biggest driving responsibility I've ever undertaken. If I was to screw up, I'd never be trusted with even a disability scooter again.
We had a large one for a while. I found it as easy as a normal van to drive, with 2 things to bear in mind:
If you're driving down lanes, you can usually see cars etc coming before they see you. Anything wide (a modern mondeo for example) coming toward you and I would just pull over to the left and stop. Let them get past you. Takes 95% of the stress out of it.
The other thing has already been mentioned and it's having someone in the passenger seat helping with visibility on the other side, so you lessen the chance of ditching it on the left (or right, depending on which side you're driving).
If you're driving down lanes, you can usually see cars etc coming before they see you. Anything wide (a modern mondeo for example
) coming toward you and I would just pull over to the left and stop. Let them get past you. Takes 95% of the stress out of it. The other thing has already been mentioned and it's having someone in the passenger seat helping with visibility on the other side, so you lessen the chance of ditching it on the left (or right, depending on which side you're driving).
I drove a 35ft RV in the states, highways were fine as long as you didn't go above 50. Highway 1 was fun with some real twisty bits.
Use your mirrors all the time to make sure you are in your lane and for anything coming up behind you.
For reversing we found it easiest for someone to look out the back window and shout when to stop.
Use your mirrors all the time to make sure you are in your lane and for anything coming up behind you.
For reversing we found it easiest for someone to look out the back window and shout when to stop.
Regular sight round our way is to see folks with big motor homes visiting for the day trying to find somewhere to park it as all the car parks have anti 3.14key height barriers in place.
Then there are those who have hired a narrow boat for a week as a change of scenery trying to get it down the narrow not much more than a ginnel to the boatyard.
Then there are those who have hired a narrow boat for a week as a change of scenery trying to get it down the narrow not much more than a ginnel to the boatyard.
Wacky Racer said:
Depends really how big it is. We used to have a six birth Elddis which was around 24 foot long, but it was a doddle to drive, unless you were going down a narrow lane in Cornwall and a large truck was coming the other way, then it got a bit hairy.
But ours was like a mini, compared to some of these big American jobs.
Be extremely careful reversing, always better to ask someone to get out and watch you, visibility can be a big problem.
I am sure you will be fine, it's not as though it's a 40 ton juggernaut towing a gigantic trailer.
Yeah not seen the vehicle yet, only had a brief description so not sure on length. It's not the biggest but it isn't small either.But ours was like a mini, compared to some of these big American jobs.
Be extremely careful reversing, always better to ask someone to get out and watch you, visibility can be a big problem.
I am sure you will be fine, it's not as though it's a 40 ton juggernaut towing a gigantic trailer.
Will have someone to guide when reversing, hopefully shouldn't be too tricky as I'm generally a very confident "reverser".
Willy Nilly said:
Trouble is you're going to be taking it to places that are set up for smaller 'vans. A bloke used to park his Ford E350 Econoline at work and he said it was a pain at a lot of sites because they're not set up for such a big vehicle an his wasn't that big. I'm pretty sure our DAF LF is/was quite a bit more maneuverable.
Yeah I've asked for this to be checked at whatever site we are going to.dowahdiddyman said:
This, was talking to a couple the other week, there motorhome was huge, cost 250000, and weighed more than 9 tons. So do your homework, cause if you get pulled it will be very expensive and you and your travelling partners will be left stranded.
Yep all this is going to be stringently checked. It won't be confirmed by either myself or the owners until everything is 100% confirmed.Spoke to my parents last night and the next step is for me to go and meet the owners of the camper van. So at that point I will know the spec of the thing.
Owners are family friends in their sixties, and both will be coming on the trip itself.
I don't actually know them myself, though I have heard them spoken of in the past.
Owner basically wants to meet me, get to know me a little, and have me take him out for a spin in my own car so he can see that my driving is up to scratch. Not really sure what criteria that entails, nor how driving a 62 plate Mondeo will show much about my ability to drive a motor home. I suspect that he simply wants to satisfy himself that I don't drive like a nob.
I've offered to borrow a Transit van from work for this purpose, as it will at least prove I can handle a larger vehicle. Waiting to hear on this.
Obviously won't be able to drive the actual motor home at this point as the insurance will not be in place.
Owners are family friends in their sixties, and both will be coming on the trip itself.
I don't actually know them myself, though I have heard them spoken of in the past.
Owner basically wants to meet me, get to know me a little, and have me take him out for a spin in my own car so he can see that my driving is up to scratch. Not really sure what criteria that entails, nor how driving a 62 plate Mondeo will show much about my ability to drive a motor home. I suspect that he simply wants to satisfy himself that I don't drive like a nob.
I've offered to borrow a Transit van from work for this purpose, as it will at least prove I can handle a larger vehicle. Waiting to hear on this.
Obviously won't be able to drive the actual motor home at this point as the insurance will not be in place.
Edited by zarjaz1991 on Saturday 19th April 10:27
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