Deal done, caravan to motorhome

the answer is that you can do what ever suits you....MHing is all about flexibility.

Sites have fresh water so you can wait and fill there if you like, or if you might be stopping for a cuppa on the way, put some in at home.

oh, where do you keep the van, as this might make suggestions more (or less) appropriate.

we keep the van at home, its rarely on the drive for a couple of weeks so we dont drain down (unless a prolonged period of frost) so we always have some water on board.

for filling, we have a couple of food grade hoses that can be joined together if needed, also a 10ltr container and a 'funnel' for ad hoc filling.

re the waste, generally we use the site drive over waste but also have a longish hose which connects to the waste outlet and can be run into a hedge (on a cl) or onto a drain on a serviced pitch. 

we used to have a wastemaster but it is just too cumbersome so have recently got a fiamma roller container which is far more compact and a regular shape for storing in the MH garage.

any questions, please come back.

Same as above. Except we also carry a bucket for grey waste, only got a smallish tank. Top tip.....always use a wash up bowl, and catch bits and grease in this, rather than down waste pipes into tank. Saves a lot of bother, keeps things smelling sweeter. All that comes from our grey waste is hand wash and shower water.

You will be amazed at how much quicker set up and pack up is with a MH, once you have ditched as much clutter as you can! 

Enjoy!

First year we had a motorhome I was obsessive about carrying as little water in the fresh tank, waste tank and toilet because all that extra weight must make a difference. Then I became less worried and traveled with fuller tanks when I found my payload allowance was very generous. Now I don't worry because it never made any difference to fuel consumption, performance or handling. Over time you will get to know how much water you need every day and how long your grey waste tank will last.

 Grey water can be dumped in a drive over drain on larger sites when available but otherwise we use our waste bin, saves carrying an extra bucket. Try not to tip milk or fat down your sink or you get smells back up from the grey waste tank.

Good tip to keep height and width reminder on the sun visor.

All above very good advice, we too have a routine for moving off and a list. We have always kept our vans on the drive packed with clothing and at least two evening and two breakfasts onboard so we were ready to go at anytime. When working we had quite a few favoured sites no more than an hour away from home and many was the time on Friday after work, with fine weather promised, we would just make that impromptu decision to go, and went, so very easy!

We had caravans for 30 years and switched to a Motorhome last year. As we rarely use Club sites and do most of our touring in mainland Europe we tend to have very different ways of doing things than the traditional British caravanner.

Generally we are used to hedged sites and a fairly laid back attitude to waste disposal. Our waste is "grey" water and not food contaminated so it goes in a bucket then in the hedge whenever possible. We fill bottles with tap water and put them in the fridge or use mineral water for drinking.

I have an emergency container for filling the water tank but have never used it. We fill up on the way into a site if needed and empty waste on the way out, again, if needed. Occasionally we fully fill the water tank and have fully filled the waste tank BUT if you do that you will get smells so not recommended.

So, no waste container, no Aquaroll, no nothing really!

Right, among all the advivce above was a mention of weight of water...

notwithstanding this per se, the 196 is a big van, with 6 berths, 6 seat belts and mountings with fold out travel seats, and upto 4 extra people over and above you and your partner.....

all of the above weighs a lot.....a large lot....

the quoted payload is 506......take this with a kilo of salt....

i guess you have chosen a 6 berth van as you have a family to transport?

if they are youngish, its likely you dont have the license to drive over 3.5t and you haven't mentioned upgrading the MTPLM....possibly, because you dont have the license for this??

running a 6 berth van with four (or more) people in it at 3.5t will be extremely difficult....

your partner, four med/small kids and a full tank of water will eat 375kg of the 500 before you even put anything in it..... ramps, hoses, containers for fresh/waste, windbreaks, bikes, food, clothes, books, games, pcs, toiletries, other fluids, etc, etc.....

just the items that fit in my MH garage weigh over 150kg...
not trying to dampen your enthusiasm in any way but i strongly advise that you get the dealer to weigh the van (your actual van) in a known state prior to paying any deposit.....or further monies.

you also need to weigh the OH, the kids, the bikes, the ......everything else that you will put in the van.

then add that lot together (not forgetting the water) and see where you stand.

YOU are responsible for running within the MTPLM and you need to be sure you can do this safely and legally with this van.

i have just moved down to a 3.5t van and made the dealer weigh the van prior to signing, i also weighed everything that i knew was going into the van. we are just a couple, yet we are close(ish) to the limit, fully tanked and kitted (just enough left fot the wine trips....).

please think about doing this before parting with your hard earned, as finding out later you cant run the van at 3.5t down the line will break your heart......and more.

also check the individual axle weights as its likely the rear axle will be overloaded (2000kg) before you hit the 3.5t limit.....this is due to the long overhang on your vehicle and where the storage is (under the rear beds).

this post is placed as genuine advice as running family vans at 3.5t (legally) is incredibly difficult.

good luck.

thats good news....you have options...

the easiest way to proceed is to load up fully (for you two) including water and weigh the van....bearing in mind 'roughly' what extra weight will be loaded when taking the g'kids...

if this total is under 3.5t as plated now, then no problem.

however, it may be that running for two is fine, but you might be pretty close or even over when you make the allowance for the gkids...

if this is the case, (if your dealer wont do it for free.....) you can contact a company called SVtech who specialise in helping customers up/down grade their van MTPLM.

3650kg should be just a 'paper' exercise, 3850kg might need a tyre change...

at least you have the option.....many dont and run (plenty) overweight.

good luck.

hitch, for info, yes you can go back. the 3500 to 3650 scenario is a common one but does not preclude a 'paper' return to 3500 if reqd.

our van (as do most 'light' chassied Carthagos) came plated at 3650. as the van was specced with the 'tougher, higher load rated 16" wheels, it had another plate for 3850.

but as we wanted to keep the van at 3500, we get that plate....fun, eh?

our fully loaded weights (incl full water, gas, fuel, clothes, food, bikes, and everything i could find at home) were 1600 front and 1820 rear.

Doug, its this rear axle weight (max 2000kg on a std 3.5t Fiat/Peugeot chassis) that is vulnerable and is likely to be breached prior to reaching 3500 overall weight, especially with vans with longer rear overhangs and load capacity at the rear.

if this happens then (despite appearing to have plenty of weight left 'overall) then 'something' physical needs to be done to uprate the rear axle.....tyre change and/or chassis mods, but youre a long way off any of this yet, just visit a weighbridge, get both axle weights and work from there.

Hitch, i spoke to Continental re tyre pressures and (incredibly) sent me back their 225/75 16 CP pressure table and recommendations...

Continental tyre pressures as follows.....
Front Axle: 1600 Kg - 3.0 bar/ 43.5 psi
Rear Axle: 1820 Kg - 3.75 bar/ 54.3 psi 

This seemed very low but got them changed for this Devon trip and all seems well.

certainly a mile away from most dealers' efforts of 80 psi all round, hence rock hard ride.

let me know how you get on, good luck.

....and have just seen that the tall fridge/feezer is also behind the rear axle line, all adding to the thought that the rear axle will go overweight well before you reach 3.5t....

BB, tyre pressure is an interesting topic with plenty of bad or incorrect advice including from main dealers. I have posted separately on this but my intention is to use the figures given to me by Continental's experts as you have done.  This will mean the low pressure warning on all the time but it should be a more comfortable ride.

good luck with that, its a shame that these cant be recalibrated simply to the owners reqirements.

i dont have this TPMS so wont get too much bleeping

ive always felt that the tyre manufacturer would have the best understanding of how their product worked under different loads.

i believe Michelin are equally forthcoming with their data, Continental were very speedy to reply and only needed a few bits of information from the tyre wall to return the correct pressure info.

We followed the theory of the easy off motorhome for the three we owned but then began to come to the conclusion that spending time on public transport from the campsite rather offsets it.

yes, some sites can have low water pressure and th fill can take some time....on others, the water seems to gush from the tap and we are full in no time....

glad to see you're making the most of your van, we too have ebikes (as does almost every motorhomer on continental sites) and have done many, many trips on them.

mine's about to click over 10,000 km and with OH having hers for a couple of years more and accompanying me on most of the trips she may have actually done more in total on hers... 

great fun.

We were reborn when we bough th Motorhome last year. Suddenly we felt that we could go anywhere without worrying about the roads being too narrow, too steep, too isolated etc. So much easier to set off and little to do upon arrival.

I could give you a long list of things that we have learned but the main one is not to go out and buy a load of new stuff until you have done a couple of trips. We spent the first year buying things and now, in the second year, have been using eBay to get rid of most of them.

Because it is so easy to move away, the only thing I worry about is to raise the steadies if I have put them down (which we often don't bother with). I put the brace on the floor in front of the driving seat! Can't move off with the EHU plugged in because the engine won't start, the gas is self contained in an under slung tank and the step retracts when the engine is started. Couldn't get much easier!