Viewing 40 posts - 41 through 80 (of 139 total)
  • Motorhome/caravan/trailer tent
  • Milkie
    Free Member

    If you passed after 97, which test do you need to do to be able to drive one of those big 7+m motorhomes that weigh 4-5T?

    C1 license. I am one of those who can drive bugger all except a car, yet my mother who’s driving is really poor can pretty much drive anything! Crazy!

    C1 isn’t too expensive, but if you want to learn/take the trailer test it gets expensive.

    trail_rat
    Free Member

    C1 isn’t too expensive

    IIRC its about 1200 quid – Kenneththecurtain did it prior to buying a cheap economical run about – in the form of a DAF t244.

    daftvader
    Free Member

    C1 round my way is about £1500 plus the test fee

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    molgrips
    Free Member

    If they can’t get the weights down to make it easy for people to tow

    They are onto this. Each manufacturer has an entry level range and they are now getting lighter to match the lighter weight of cars in the Passat/Mondeo range. Bailey Phoenix, Elddis Explore etc.

    Took my caravan to a festival the other week – Y-Not in Derbyshire, where it always rains.

    Used a tent for the last couple of years and survived, but I tell thee – being able to take a dump first thing in the morning without getting dressed, a fridge full of cold beers, a double bed, sitting on the sofa with the heating on watching people trudging through the mud, when they’d given up and were heading home, having a hot shower, a wardrobe full of dry clothes, fabulous. I’ll still use the tent for certain activities, but for holidays and definitely festivals, it’s the way forward.

    4.5t my gtw though

    wzzzz
    Free Member

    Tents are just too cold, damp and noisy for me. Want a warm dry space to come home to.

    I weighed up a) buying a campervan and b) converting a van

    But I decided I didn’t want to drive round in a massive van 99% of the time not fitting parking spaces etc. Also packing up everyday to go on adventures or the shop I imagine is a massive faff (we are not that well organised to keep everything in place with toddler).

    We have 110bhp 1.2 golf 7 that will easy tow a small caravan (my dad used to tow big caravans with an Austin Allegro).

    So looking at a small caravan + large awning. The Dutch do them well and they are not offensive to look at on the drive:

    circa 1996 Kip Kompact (they do make them new too):

    These have a pop top, the dutch tend to keep them in the garage, so are largely mint condition.

    Or possibly an Eriba (Hymer) Troll or similar if the budget stretches.

    I feel a road trip to Holland coming on, shame about the €/£ rate recently.

    molgrips
    Free Member

    (my dad used to tow big caravans with an Austin Allegro).

    I used that logic at first, however caravans are way heavier than they used to be. Always check weights.

    wzzzz
    Free Member

    I used that logic at first, however caravans are way heavier than they used to be. Always check weights.

    Vw Golf 1.2TSI 2013 plated Gross Vehicle Weight 1730kg, Train weight 3075kg

    Leaves 1345kg for a braked trailer

    Those little Kip Kompact caravans are 730/780kg unladen 900/950kg gross

    OK on a B license (post ’97) as it will be under 3500kg train weight fully loaded.

    trail_rat
    Free Member

    1.2 golf can’t tow 1345kg

    It’s 1100kg max

    And it’s an 1100kg kerb weight.

    daftvader
    Free Member

    I like the micro ones, but with the 2 kids and dog I think they’ll be a bit cramped, even WITH a big awning

    Tiger6791
    Full Member

    Not trying too hard but….

    2 kids (ones a teen now)

    And 2 dogs….

    No problems …

    No hot water though 😀😀😀😂👍

    wzzzz
    Free Member

    1.2 golf can’t tow 1345kg

    It’s 1100kg max

    And it’s an 1100kg kerb weight.

    Where do you get your figures?

    Mine come from the data sticker inside the drivers door of my car.

    anagallis_arvensis
    Full Member

    We tow our little van with a Fabia Estate.

    anagallis_arvensis
    Full Member

    Wzzzz you can get a Kip that has a reinforced floor to carry a motorbike too…thats what I want!!!

    Sports packages

    Also have a look a Tab for small vans.

    daftvader
    Free Member

    Well we’ve been and had a look at a load of cars and and motorhome today. We are now definitely in the caravan camp, and have found the layout we like… now to find a car for me to tow it with!

    wzzzz
    Free Member

    Wzzzz you can get a Kip that has a reinforced floor to carry a motorbike too…thats what I want!!!

    The Kip Shelter is very cool, basically what you get in a T5 van but you don’t have to drive a van round the rest of the time. £10k new so not bad.

    Shelter Basic

    Shame theres no pop top sleeping arrangement for small kids tho.

    anagallis_arvensis
    Full Member

    Shame theres no pop top sleeping arrangement for small kids tho.

    True, we might get one when our boy is old enough to sleep in a tent next to it.

    molgrips
    Free Member

    Well we’ve been and had a look at a load of cars and and motorhome today. We are now definitely in the caravan camp

    Yeah you definitely get more for your money with a caravan, and I prefer the interior space too. Even huge campervan feel cramped with the space taken up by the chassis and the cab.

    If you end up with a caravan then read up on how to load it and set it up. Makes life easier all round.

    daftvader
    Free Member

    @molgrips that’ll be the boss who deals with that! I’m just the donkey! 😂

    a11y
    Full Member

    Good stuff. Done tents and a T5 camper in my past, now have caravan. Great for year-round camping (Aviemore in snow at minus 14 bring our record, so far). Couldn’t justify or afford the cost involved with a sizeable motorhome, and the lifestyle of those doesn’t suit us as a family with 2 x active young kids. Tow it with Transit Custom with bikes inside the back – perfect.

    https://www.flickr.com/gp/a11y_m/6qPN43

    lowey
    Full Member

    Horses for Courses.

    I spent all my formative years going on holiday with the family in a canvas tent. Took my own kids camping also and we loved it. not great when the weather is against you but you have to take the rough with the smooth.

    Kids are grown up now and we wanted to get something a step up. Looked at caravans, and the modern ones are real luxury. However, I really didnt fancy towing. plus my company car cant have a towbar fitted due to loads of batteries in the boot.

    So we look at a motorhome. Took the plunge and we bloody love it! fixed island double bed at the back, electric drop down bed for visitors at the front and a decent sized lounge for 5-6 at the front. I love the convenience of it. I can leave work at 3 and be opening a bottle of red at 6 in the Coniston with the bike on the back. Got it in May and been away most weekends. Next year europe.

    [url=https://flic.kr/p/2gZWnsH]2019-08-18_09-31-42[/url] by Dave Lowe, on Flickr

    squirrelking
    Free Member

    Tiger, when you’re ready to sell give us a heads up, I have a week to come up with a justification and somewhere to store it!

    onehundredthidiot
    Full Member

    My parents had one of those pop top kips. They’re great but some club sights get stroppy because the doors on the wrong side for the “line up on the peg” our t@b is the same so we left the club. Kinda miss coniston site but we’ll survive.

    anagallis_arvensis
    Full Member

    They’re great but some club sights get stroppy because the doors on the wrong side for the “line up on the peg”

    Eh?

    a11y
    Full Member

    My parents had one of those pop top kips. They’re great but some club sights get stroppy because the doors on the wrong side for the “line up on the peg” our t @b is the same so we left the club. Kinda miss coniston site but we’ll survive.

    Unlucky choice of sites then. Complete opposite to our experience, despite having the ultimate pikey combo (Transit plus a German-imported Hobby – all Hobbys have door on ‘wrong’ side though). Never, ever once been an issue on Caravan Club sites for us.

    Henley Four Oaks Caravan Club site:

    anagallis_arvensis
    Full Member

    Our door is on the back, I dont think we’d fit in!!

    a11y
    Full Member

    Our door is on the back, I dont think we’d fit in!!

    That must confuse the hell out of the site wardens!

    And there’s a joke in there about rear doors and Caravan Club but I’m too classy for that.

    Tracey
    Full Member

    Our van door is on the European side and never had a problem on any UK sites.
    This weekend we had to have the peg in the middle of the van. Scottish thing 😉

    Travelling down to Coniston from here so will have to see

    Much prefer to wild camp

    ElShalimo
    Full Member

    @Tracey – are those 2 piece tie-down straps any good?

    We’ve got the long single strap version and it’s not that good.

    Tracey
    Full Member

    Its the long single strap with the tension spring on one end, been out in some very windy stuff and its never budged but its anchored down with some big ex army metal pegs that my dad had.

    https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fiamma-Awning-Tie-Down-Kit-Motorhome-Caravan-Camping-Yellow/391381033566?epid=1305504240&hash=item5b2020a25e:g:p7cAAOSwPFFblokq

    ElShalimo
    Full Member

    @Tracey – thanks. Maybe the pegs are the key to it? I’ll try some different ones.

    Tracey
    Full Member

    The pegs that came with it were rubbish, in that they bent. Ours are more like a marquee peg. It also helps to get quite a bit of pre tension on the spring and that the canopy leg clamps are tight so that the strap doesn’t pull them down.
    We were in the eye of a hail storm in Les Orres and the weight of the hail stones on the canopy forced the legs down but the strap still did the job.

    [url=https://flic.kr/p/2gWWsYu]2019-08-14_01-42-42[/url] by davetheblade, on Flickr

    [url=https://flic.kr/p/2gWXemD]2019-08-14_01-42-08[/url] by davetheblade, on Flickr

    [url=https://flic.kr/p/2gWXcq9]2019-08-14_01-40-47[/url] by davetheblade, on Flickr

    [url=https://flic.kr/p/2gWWp8D]2019-08-14_01-40-15[/url] by davetheblade, on Flickr

    lowey
    Full Member

    Stunning van mate.

    Stunning van mate.

    Cheers 🙂

    daftvader
    Free Member

    Very nice! We’ve found a deal in a new caravan, and I think the boss is sold, I just need to find a new car! 😁

    TheDTs
    Free Member

    Just back from a Weekend in Woolacombe with some very changeable weather and some very strong wind. At no point did I think I would have been better off in a tent..
    We did keep the pride of being the oldest, tattiest caravan on site too. Beige is coming back I tell you. I think our van was a tenth of the cost of most of the others on the site.

    trail_rat
    Free Member

    I think my camper van was a 10th of the price of strs trailer tent.

    I use rather straps and dog lead screws for securing the fiamma out when it might get windy and I’m away from the van.

    Those awnings a tough. We had 4 inches of snow up there after the first night of the strathpuffer. We did sweep it off with the brush mind to avoid it collapsing it.

    Very nice! We’ve found a deal in a new caravan, and I think the boss is sold, I just need to find a new car!

    If you’ve found a deal and are happy, then don’t want to be a pooper, but not sure I’d buy a new van – they depreciate like cars.

    You instantly lose the 20% VAT, plus the drive away loss. Mine’s a 2016 Buccaneer Cruiser – £35k new, with 4wd motor movers and Truma aircon added – circa £3k extras on top. I paid £22.5k for it a few months ago

    molgrips
    Free Member

    What van?

Viewing 40 posts - 41 through 80 (of 139 total)

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