Fulltiming in a motorhome - a blog
Discussion
Spuffington said:
I'll update tomorrow once I get back from the weighbridge.
Make sure you have as much on board as possible for that mate so you know what's what...
On the weight thing, I haven't heard of any MH'ers being stopped and weighed so it would only be an issue if
1) You were really obviously overweight...groaning in fact or badly loaded
2) You had a serious accident
Busy day today - turned up at the tyre fitters around 10am and had to wait 40mins before they started work on Carrie. Took a while to get Carrie in a position on their forecourt and then trying to get enough height on the jack to get the wheels lifted.
Good news was - rear discs look fine - nicely evenly worn but the nearside does have a bit of a blue-ish tinge in the middle where the pad may have been binding. But I have decided to leave the discs as they are and instead get MG Caravans to give the calipers a bit of a strip/service and replace the pads.
Bad news - the front discs are badly scored and pitted. They'll need replacing. Gggrrr. So I've asked the garage today to quote on that.
On a better note - the tyres are awesome. Fresh from the factory wk35 build so only about 5wks old. Although I went for winters, they felt just as good as the Michelin Agilis Camper which came off it, in spite of the 25degs C temps we had this afternoon!! No noticeable increase in noise and no squirming in the high temps.
Headed straight off from the tyre place to the Weighbridge. Was fearing the worst as I pulled onto the scales. My MGVW is 5,990kg. Together with me at the wheel (81kg), 100% fuel, 10% water (c 25kg), 50% gas (c 30kg) and all of my clothes, food, beer, bedding, tools and all kinds of crap. I weighed in at 5,420kg!
So even if I fill with another 250kg of water & gas on board and any passenger I would have plus their luggage of another 75kg on top of that, I'm at 5,745kg and still have 245kg of payload remaining.
To say I'm relieved is an understatement - particularly as that £300 I'd have had to spend on SVTech will now have to be diverted to front brakes.
Getting there!
Good news was - rear discs look fine - nicely evenly worn but the nearside does have a bit of a blue-ish tinge in the middle where the pad may have been binding. But I have decided to leave the discs as they are and instead get MG Caravans to give the calipers a bit of a strip/service and replace the pads.
Bad news - the front discs are badly scored and pitted. They'll need replacing. Gggrrr. So I've asked the garage today to quote on that.
On a better note - the tyres are awesome. Fresh from the factory wk35 build so only about 5wks old. Although I went for winters, they felt just as good as the Michelin Agilis Camper which came off it, in spite of the 25degs C temps we had this afternoon!! No noticeable increase in noise and no squirming in the high temps.
Headed straight off from the tyre place to the Weighbridge. Was fearing the worst as I pulled onto the scales. My MGVW is 5,990kg. Together with me at the wheel (81kg), 100% fuel, 10% water (c 25kg), 50% gas (c 30kg) and all of my clothes, food, beer, bedding, tools and all kinds of crap. I weighed in at 5,420kg!
So even if I fill with another 250kg of water & gas on board and any passenger I would have plus their luggage of another 75kg on top of that, I'm at 5,745kg and still have 245kg of payload remaining.
To say I'm relieved is an understatement - particularly as that £300 I'd have had to spend on SVTech will now have to be diverted to front brakes.
Getting there!
Edited by Spuffington on Tuesday 17th October 08:39
Great thread. Only on page 5 so far but interesting as I too am separated from wife and kids but after 3 years of renting I am fast becoming broke.
I am considering using the last of my savings on getting a motor home.
My only problem would really be getting rid of 30 odd years of furniture and general stuff.
I am considering using the last of my savings on getting a motor home.
My only problem would really be getting rid of 30 odd years of furniture and general stuff.
croyde said:
Well that kept me involved on a Saturday morning. Top marks OP.
Now could someone explain what all this weight and plating business is all about.
You are driving your MH and you have a pre 97 licence so what have I missed.
Very interesting topic.
I suspect the vehicle was designed and plated to a specific mvgw and probably also lists its max towing weight. It's not related to the driver's license. Now could someone explain what all this weight and plating business is all about.
You are driving your MH and you have a pre 97 licence so what have I missed.
Very interesting topic.
I've looked at this in another way. There are some vehicles that are plated with a mvgw over 7,5t so would be out of reach for a standard UK car license, so you would need to give up some load carrying capability then have it replated under 7,5t despite the fact it might weigh say 6t dry.
So in terms of this particular unit, it is plated at MGVW of 5,990kg plus 750kg towing capacity (mainly due to the autobox since the manual version can handle up to 2,000kg).
My license is pre-97 which grants me C1 so I can drive anything up to 7.5t MGVW. Anyone post-97 would need to do C1 to drive above 3.5t.
I personally have chosen to steer well clear of 3.5t rigs in the past since the build quality is IMO dubious in order to stay under 3.5t and the payload is correspondingly rubbish too. I like to be able to pack all I need (inc water) and not be worried about being overweight. Hence how happy I am that Carrie has passed the test.
My previous van had a stupidly large payload - c 1.5t.
If you're considering fulltiming, payload is particularly important given how much extra stuff you have over just Camping.
My license is pre-97 which grants me C1 so I can drive anything up to 7.5t MGVW. Anyone post-97 would need to do C1 to drive above 3.5t.
I personally have chosen to steer well clear of 3.5t rigs in the past since the build quality is IMO dubious in order to stay under 3.5t and the payload is correspondingly rubbish too. I like to be able to pack all I need (inc water) and not be worried about being overweight. Hence how happy I am that Carrie has passed the test.
My previous van had a stupidly large payload - c 1.5t.
If you're considering fulltiming, payload is particularly important given how much extra stuff you have over just Camping.
Re-plating is in essence a paperwork exercise I believe whereby you can lift the registered weight of the vehicle e.g 3500kg to, say, 3850kg by having the weight plate changed via an authorised agency. As Spuff says it costs around 300 notes to do however I am guessing that not all MH's are able to have this done?
It will then afford you extra payload however if you passed your car test after 1997 you would not be able to drive it as it is now over 3500kg so would need to take a supplementary test.
It will then afford you extra payload however if you passed your car test after 1997 you would not be able to drive it as it is now over 3500kg so would need to take a supplementary test.
If you can it is worth getting it plated as others have said.
As for the legality, I was watching one of those police programmes and they pulled over some guy with a flat bed. The reason for the stop was his leaf springs were inverted by the amount of weight on the back. They faffed around for hours and took him to a weigh bridge. They said the force policy is to only prosecute for 30% over the limit. This guy was 40% over and got a small fine of around £300. So, the sort story is... don't worry about to too much.
Yes, insurance blah blah but again it is highly unlikely, if you are only slightly over, someone is going to notice or care.
As for the legality, I was watching one of those police programmes and they pulled over some guy with a flat bed. The reason for the stop was his leaf springs were inverted by the amount of weight on the back. They faffed around for hours and took him to a weigh bridge. They said the force policy is to only prosecute for 30% over the limit. This guy was 40% over and got a small fine of around £300. So, the sort story is... don't worry about to too much.
Yes, insurance blah blah but again it is highly unlikely, if you are only slightly over, someone is going to notice or care.
Worthy of update time. If I get a chance to load photos onto a Photobucket replacement, I'll pop up a bit of a write-up on the latest trip, but a quick summary here......
Set off up to the Highlands last week. I had my daughter for the Weekend and hand her back at around 4pm so did that and got straight in Carrie and set course for Scotland. Quite tiring driving so late in the day and with only candles for headlights (fine on main beam on country roads though) and did N Essex to Wetherby in one hit for dinner then carried on to Gretna where I overnighted at the Metal Bridge Inn by the side of the M6 - arrived about 10pm. A bit noisey but perfectly located for heading northwards.
On the Monday I headed to Edinburgh Airport to pick up a friend and then we headed to Glencoe via Loch Lomond. Was fairly "interesting" negotiating the northern part of Loch Lomond given how tight it is. I had sworn never to do it again after driving Harry down there in April, but it was the first time my friend had seen the Loch so only right they got a spectacular view. Found a lovely spot to overnight looking straight down Glencoe, opposite the tiny little white house featured in Skyfall. Perfect. Only issue was manouvering off the mound I had parked on - in my excitement at finding the perfect spot, I had forgotten about my rear overhang and grounded out lightly when reversing off quite a steep incline!! No damage apart from a scuff to the underside of the bumper and my pride! Sadly the fridge decided to pack up on gas with only the freezer providing cooling, so we lost all the Food but importantly still had the ability to cool tins of tonic water, beer and bottles of wine & champagne!
Tuesday threw it down with rain and spent the day walking in waterproofs around Kinlochleven then headed to Signal Rock for an overnight in a car park by a river and dinner at the Clachaig Inn.
On Wednesday we headed for Loch Claunie further North and found a beautiful spot by a Loch to wildcamp. On Thursday a beautiful sunrise over the Loch was captured on a timelapse camera and breakfast in the blazing sunshine. Took the opportunity to climb a hill nearby and moved on to the Claunie Inn for sunset and overnighted in their carpark in exchange for dinner in the Restaurant.
Friday we headed south via Invermoriston (beautiful little village overlooking a river and woodland walks) and Fort William to pick up fuel and water (200litres!) from Morrisons and then parked up at the Holly Tree Inn between Ballachulish and Appin for dinner in exchange for overnighting in their car park next to the Loch!
Saturday was the final full day. Had breakfast at Castle Stalker Cafe overlooking Lismore and Appin. Then drove south to Sutherlands Grove Forestry Commission area where we had a beautiful walk in the Woods and drove south via Inverary and Loch Fyne and over Rest & Be Thankful before stopping at Fiskin Point on Loch Lomond to catch sunset and sunrise the following morning.
Sunday, drove back to Edinburgh Airport to drop off friend and then embarked on 7hr drive done in 8hrs (1hr stop at Wetherby) to get home for 8pm.
In total Carrie did 1350miles in 7 days. We avoided any form of campsite for the entire trip. I emptied four toilet cassettes - once at Glencoe Village toilets and once at Invermoriston Village toilets. I only use Elsan Green so no issues with septic tanks etc. Filled with water at Morrisons. The only issue we had with batteries was when the onboard Inverter for the roller blind for the windscreen struggled with low voltage at day five. So we stopped using it for the last two nights, which made the cab a little colder, but no problem. We didn't go particularly light on the batteries - using the Nespresso machine on the Inverter several times a day, the toaster every morning and hairdrier twice during the week. Notwithstanding that, the two leisure batteries were showing 11.5v upon departure south. We used c. 35litres of gas for the trip. Lowest temperature was 3degs C overnight but the van was set at a toasty 18degs during the night and 22.5degs during the day.
Carrie proved a brilliant companion and at no point did we feel like we were roughing it. Quite the opposite - we actually had a Hotel booked for the midweek to break it up a bit but we cancelled that after night two as the van was so comfortable and the scenery so great that we wanted to keep going. Although the grounding out Episode focussed the mind on making sure laybys and parking spots were appropriate, we never felt like the size of the van was a particular hinderance to where we wanted to park overnight, which was my biggest fear.
Carrie ran beautifully. Her rear brake issue seems to have disappeared since I kept an eye on how hot the rear wheels were getting and there was no issue throughout the trip. Fronts will need replacing as I'm getting some judder through the brake pedal but I know that's down to the pitting. She returned about 18mpg over the trip. Only thing I may do is get a third toilet cassette and also a third leisure battery wired in to avoid issues with the front thermal blind over longterm offgrid camping in future. Oh and also get MG Caravan to see how them fitting the new ignitor and burner has led to the fridge now not working on gas!
Otherwise I'm over the moon and can't wait to get back out and use her in anger again. For now, I'm back at the bottom of the garden but with a bunch of new memories created in her and she's beginning to rival Harry for the happy memory bank.
Set off up to the Highlands last week. I had my daughter for the Weekend and hand her back at around 4pm so did that and got straight in Carrie and set course for Scotland. Quite tiring driving so late in the day and with only candles for headlights (fine on main beam on country roads though) and did N Essex to Wetherby in one hit for dinner then carried on to Gretna where I overnighted at the Metal Bridge Inn by the side of the M6 - arrived about 10pm. A bit noisey but perfectly located for heading northwards.
On the Monday I headed to Edinburgh Airport to pick up a friend and then we headed to Glencoe via Loch Lomond. Was fairly "interesting" negotiating the northern part of Loch Lomond given how tight it is. I had sworn never to do it again after driving Harry down there in April, but it was the first time my friend had seen the Loch so only right they got a spectacular view. Found a lovely spot to overnight looking straight down Glencoe, opposite the tiny little white house featured in Skyfall. Perfect. Only issue was manouvering off the mound I had parked on - in my excitement at finding the perfect spot, I had forgotten about my rear overhang and grounded out lightly when reversing off quite a steep incline!! No damage apart from a scuff to the underside of the bumper and my pride! Sadly the fridge decided to pack up on gas with only the freezer providing cooling, so we lost all the Food but importantly still had the ability to cool tins of tonic water, beer and bottles of wine & champagne!
Tuesday threw it down with rain and spent the day walking in waterproofs around Kinlochleven then headed to Signal Rock for an overnight in a car park by a river and dinner at the Clachaig Inn.
On Wednesday we headed for Loch Claunie further North and found a beautiful spot by a Loch to wildcamp. On Thursday a beautiful sunrise over the Loch was captured on a timelapse camera and breakfast in the blazing sunshine. Took the opportunity to climb a hill nearby and moved on to the Claunie Inn for sunset and overnighted in their carpark in exchange for dinner in the Restaurant.
Friday we headed south via Invermoriston (beautiful little village overlooking a river and woodland walks) and Fort William to pick up fuel and water (200litres!) from Morrisons and then parked up at the Holly Tree Inn between Ballachulish and Appin for dinner in exchange for overnighting in their car park next to the Loch!
Saturday was the final full day. Had breakfast at Castle Stalker Cafe overlooking Lismore and Appin. Then drove south to Sutherlands Grove Forestry Commission area where we had a beautiful walk in the Woods and drove south via Inverary and Loch Fyne and over Rest & Be Thankful before stopping at Fiskin Point on Loch Lomond to catch sunset and sunrise the following morning.
Sunday, drove back to Edinburgh Airport to drop off friend and then embarked on 7hr drive done in 8hrs (1hr stop at Wetherby) to get home for 8pm.
In total Carrie did 1350miles in 7 days. We avoided any form of campsite for the entire trip. I emptied four toilet cassettes - once at Glencoe Village toilets and once at Invermoriston Village toilets. I only use Elsan Green so no issues with septic tanks etc. Filled with water at Morrisons. The only issue we had with batteries was when the onboard Inverter for the roller blind for the windscreen struggled with low voltage at day five. So we stopped using it for the last two nights, which made the cab a little colder, but no problem. We didn't go particularly light on the batteries - using the Nespresso machine on the Inverter several times a day, the toaster every morning and hairdrier twice during the week. Notwithstanding that, the two leisure batteries were showing 11.5v upon departure south. We used c. 35litres of gas for the trip. Lowest temperature was 3degs C overnight but the van was set at a toasty 18degs during the night and 22.5degs during the day.
Carrie proved a brilliant companion and at no point did we feel like we were roughing it. Quite the opposite - we actually had a Hotel booked for the midweek to break it up a bit but we cancelled that after night two as the van was so comfortable and the scenery so great that we wanted to keep going. Although the grounding out Episode focussed the mind on making sure laybys and parking spots were appropriate, we never felt like the size of the van was a particular hinderance to where we wanted to park overnight, which was my biggest fear.
Carrie ran beautifully. Her rear brake issue seems to have disappeared since I kept an eye on how hot the rear wheels were getting and there was no issue throughout the trip. Fronts will need replacing as I'm getting some judder through the brake pedal but I know that's down to the pitting. She returned about 18mpg over the trip. Only thing I may do is get a third toilet cassette and also a third leisure battery wired in to avoid issues with the front thermal blind over longterm offgrid camping in future. Oh and also get MG Caravan to see how them fitting the new ignitor and burner has led to the fridge now not working on gas!
Otherwise I'm over the moon and can't wait to get back out and use her in anger again. For now, I'm back at the bottom of the garden but with a bunch of new memories created in her and she's beginning to rival Harry for the happy memory bank.
Good write up Spuff, enjoyed reading that. Regarding batteries, do you have solar panels fitted. We haven’t wild camped to the extent you have, but four days at a festival in August with fry-ups for four each morning, lunch each day and two showers a day made no difference whatsoever to our batteries thanks to having a solar panel on the roof. Might be something to look in to perhaps?
Antony Moxey said:
Good write up Spuff, enjoyed reading that. Regarding batteries, do you have solar panels fitted. We haven’t wild camped to the extent you have, but four days at a festival in August with fry-ups for four each morning, lunch each day and two showers a day made no difference whatsoever to our batteries thanks to having a solar panel on the roof. Might be something to look in to perhaps?
Thanks! Do have a solar panel fitted and was concerned I wasn't getting topped up from it as much as usual but I guess 2-3 things were at play. Firstly the sun was a lot lower and more frequently obscured than usual. Lots of cloud, rain and shade from mountains etc. Secondly, the heating was on most of the time and whilst not blown air, it does use a pump to circulate the warm water for the central heating, so we had a continuous draw which I think meant even if there was charge from the solar Panel, we were using it rather than charging. Thirdly, we didn't do a massive amount of driving so topped up the van battery but never really the hab batteries.
On top of all that, the draw from the hairdrier, nespresso machine and toaster is quite a lot through the inverter, so think those items took their toll. Clearly they are very much luxury items which I'd never have used in Harry. But when in Rome.....!
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