We purchased MH in march of this year, and shortly afterwards my wife attended a MH manoeuvring course run by one of the caravan clubs, it is completed over a very full day, and very well worth the cost. I now have a co driver ready for our first trip to Europe at the end of August. She has driven in this country since the course, both confidently and competently.

Great video. One other point you didn’t cover is the overhang in the rear of the van and how it affects making turns. Central reservation filter lanes can be interesting, I always make sure traffic is clear both ways before turning right as you can find the rear of the van swinging out and blocking the inside carriageway.

Perfect timing for this video! My wife and I are going to pick up our first Motorhome this very evening. My wife will be driving our car back while I will be driving our Swift Kontiki 640 all the way from Bristol to our home in South Wales. I think I’m more worried about getting it up our street and onto to the drive than driving it on the main roads. Wish us luck!

Hi Kat, great video with good tips. When we got our new van my husband and I went to the local HGV driving school. What a brilliant few hours, it really helped my confidence and pointed out a few bad habits my husband had picked up over the years ( which he previously denied). We have just driven to Croatia, and as he is still waiting for his C1 licence to come back from the DVLA, I drove all the way. Great confidence builder. 😁😁

Great advice, thank you. Earlier this year I had a solar panel fitted to the van roof. I’ve a sticker stating the van hire of 2.8m, but i later forgot to take into account the extra height of the solar panel. I nearly lost the whole lot by forgetting this! Just a reminder to allow for anything extra fitted to your own van height. I’ve allowed a comfortable height now of 3m and changed the sticker accordingly! x

When you have overtaken something, wait till you can see the front of their vehicle in your nearside(kerbside) mirrors before you start to pull back in. A permanently on, rear viewing camera is also helpful if you a nervous overtaker.

Hi Kat. You have a great natural way when you make your vlogs, it’s like you’re chatting to a friend. I have learnt a lot. Haven’t bought a motor home yet. Still checking out my options. Sorry to read that your husband is unwell. Hope he is back driving your ‘bus’ soon.

I occasionally drive a manual charity van after years of driving an automatic with an electronic handbrake - that was fun the first couple of times - kept forgetting to dip the clutch at junctions so some unwanted stops! The width was ok because vans are square but I had to remember the height was much more than the car, nor did we have a sat nav so had to be aware of road limitations. Useful info here Kat!

Hello, I just found your channel and watched my first video. We are in America, Florida. Our motorhome is 42' long. With the car hooked up for towing we are 61' long. We are 12'6" tall and weigh in at 20 tons. We have a Cummins turbo charged professional bus grade diesel engine. We have air brakes and ride on a full air suspension. We use a Garmin RV-890 GPS system. It allows us to put in our height, length, width and weight. It also allows us to put in our tow vehicle. It's dimensions and weight along with our combined length. The Garmin keeps us on roads that are safe for us to travel on. On our first trip it was a Friday evening in Tampa Florida. It was raining and during rush hour in the evening. The dealership took longer than expected setting our car up to be towed then teaching us how to tow it. Talk about being nervous. Like I said, it was raining and very heavy traffic. I was not use to driving anything that size. Both my wife and I took a one day driving course. Merging off of one highway onto another with my wife telling me to be careful remember how much the motorhome and car cost definitely was not helping me. Lol!!! Fortunately everything went well. Two things the driving instructor told us was use your side view mirrors to help you center in your lane. When looking in your mirrors make sure you have the same distance in both mirrors between the sides of your motorhome and your lane markings. The second was tail swing. Tail swing is the distance from the center of your rear tire to the tip of your rear bumper. When making a turn or even pulling away from a petrol pump your tail is going to swing a certain distance outside of your lane. You need to allow for this so you don't hit another vehicle or take out a petrol pump. I hope you enjoy your motorhome and take many fun trips. I hope you become comfortable driving it. My wife is terrified of ours and leaves all the driving to me. Do you have the FMCA, Family Motor Coach Association, where you live? They have a yearly membership fee, but if anything happens to the driver they will make sure your motorhome gets home safe and sound for free. If required, after a hospital stay, they will even air lift you home for free. Happy camping.

Ah thanks ! This popped up at the right time. We are new to driving a motor home & my husband is very confident but not me . I will give it a go & definitely get to grips with it . Brilliant tips 😊

Also, as well as fixing a point on the dashboard for the middle of the lane, more importantly have one for when you are close to the kerb/edge, so you know how far you can pull over with another big beastie approaching you!

Enjoyable vlog and looking forward to seeing your next one now!☺️👍

Thanks Kat any help is much appreciated, as you said in your video it’s trying to get behind the wheel when a certain person wants to drive all the time, as they look really nervous if you try to get behind the wheel. I have done it once last year coming back from Scotland two whole hours and boy was it tiring and I was really hot but the main thing is I did it. Looking forward to another go sometime soon.👍👏🏻

Reversing - remember that the pivot point is the rear wheel for turning into a space. Watch the overhang does not swing out and hit something. Just take your time.... practice off road if you can.... supermarket carpark when closed or industrial estate at the weekend.

Thanks for this video ... Still trying to get use to left hand drive 😄😁😆

Thanks Kat,some very good tips .were off to Scotland Friday ,our first trip !!!!!! looking forward to the experience,,,

Like the idea, Kat, of putting the height and width etc on the sun visor. Will certainly use that!

Thanks for the video kat, i have driven our motorhome some times but very rarely that i do, i am ok driving it but always a bit nervous going around roundabouts due to the length of it and not wanting to clip the kerb i am usually aware of the turning circle so always make a wide turn, i usually follow what the large lorries do.

Thanks Kat! A useful reminder!

Thanks Kat for your honest advice. 👍

This is helpful. Thank you. 🌻

Thanks for the tips, still trying to get my wife to drive.

Don't forget the hangover at the back when turning. The underneath of the van when parking on uneven ground 😜. Enjoy all, thanks Kat very helpful

Great video. Y Husband had an accident whilst on holiday I’m hoping he will be able recouperate enough to drive us back to the French Ferry at Caen but I will have to do some if not all off the driving in several parts to get back home to Scotland. 😩🥴🥺 Your video has given me more confidence.

We have really tall mirrors on our van which is great because you can glance in both mirrors regularly as you pass parked cars to see both the gap you left behind you between yourself and the parked cars and also the gap between your other side and the centre line of the road. Easy then to centre the van and get a good feel of width.

Had my sub VW campervan for just a week so this was well timed thanks. Notice Steve Radford Roaming Radfords is always grounding the tow bar on their beast.

Very useful weldone!

Your a highlite of my day :-) x

Thank you for this video. I collect my motorhome in 2 weeks. I've had them before but my husband used to drive. This motorhome i will be driving. Its only 6m long..... but the biggest vehicle i have ever driven is a small transit. Im worried about the swing..... and tight roads 😫

Ours is a left hand drive. I wouldn't even sit behind the wheel last year and this year I drove around the UK !!!!! Still not happy on the UK motorways... But I'll get there...... Next year I'll try France....

I will do it at the end of this month in our first long trip. Scared

Be aware of your length when going on and off ferries. Seen a few long motorhomes bottoming out.

Love your show btw

at least if you forget the handbrake the calipers or discs get a good polishing the rush is gone for a bit lol

Good video. If you can well afford a posh new motorhome, chances are you can a little cash for a couple of two way radios hand-held [walkie-talkie type]. For some park-ups will involve reversing and it is great if you have a partner outside to guide you into the slot. These big vans look like tanks, but they can be very easily damaged, and usually expensive to fix unless you have the skills yourself. Iif in doubt, buy an automatic transmission version, especially if you are new to driving them. A big van in stop-start city driving can get old very quickly, and the name of the game is fun, sooo, go for an "auto". Most of these RV' types are strictly for good sealed roads. Smaller, 4WD vans can be a lot of fun. less comfort, but you can go to so many out of the way places, and leave the crowds behind.

Thnks

Thanks for your tips. Which reverse camera do you use? I saw that you have a dash mirror, right?

Driving forward is good

Trying to get the wife to give the van a go, like you say she is on the insurance etc., So far she is not keen. I'll show her your clip, hopefully that will help, The big sticking point is we live in France and it is left hand drive.

Fantastic 👏 👍🍾

When I'm driving my motorhome, I notice the camber of the road so much more and sometimes it feels a bit weird, as though I'm listing to the drivers side or the other way

Very useful thank you. You mentioned a good sat nav, I use Google maps .... what would you recommend?

Morning, could you please perhaps answer my questions in your other videos on KZfaq. Many thanks. Martin.

Surprised there is no mention of overhang.

Rev and Speedo dials have an annoying habit of swapping places on the dashboard between car and MH

My wife is insured to drive our motorhome.. but I don't know if my heart could stand it ...

Beware of camber on roads / entrances…the van is higher and can lean over a long way and is at risk of hitting something hard and sharp !

Watch your tail swing, especially when manoeuvring in tight spaces.