Community Forums

Greedo · 11-24-2020, 09:30 AM

Hi all,

Just joined up so I can ask some questions of my own, though I've been getting advice from this forum since we got our RV 2 years ago.

We're based in the UK, and virtually full-time. We're only out of the RV for a few weeks at a time while we do maintenance at our home base.

We've been around a bit, France and Italy for a few months last year, and a good chunk of this year spent in Spain. We've got plans to see a lot more of Europe, but Brexit is making that a little more difficult.

Here's our RV from earlier this year:

Unicorn Driver · 11-24-2020, 09:31 AM

Nice Daybreak.

Is that Spain or France?

Greedo · 11-24-2020, 09:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unicorn Driver

Nice Daybreak.

Is that Spain or France?

That was taken in Spain a few months ago. We are really missing the sun right now!

Unicorn Driver · 11-24-2020, 10:22 AM

I bet you are missing it.

MSHappyCampers · 11-24-2020, 10:24 AM

Hi ! Welcome to IRV2! We're sure glad you joined us!

Have fun and keep her between the ditches!

Good luck, happy trails, and God bless!

**TonyDi** · 11-24-2020, 05:42 PM

Glad to have you here with us.

Unplanned Tourist · 11-24-2020, 06:02 PM

Nice rig. How do you cross the channel? I'm wondering if the chunnel has enough room, but likely has for transport trucks and buses.

We were in Portugal a couple years ago, and saw a number of big rigs like yours. Easy to get in a pickle by getting on some of those narrow roads!

Do you pull a toad? I haven't seen any over there yet.

Welcome aboard.

Unplanned Tourist · 11-24-2020, 06:04 PM

How is the 8.1 with propane? Did you have the ignition timing re-curved?

**Spdracr39** · 11-24-2020, 07:00 PM

Welcome !!

There are many good folks here to offer help and advice, glad you could join the party

Safe Travels!!

Greedo · 11-25-2020, 06:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unplanned

Nice rig. How do you cross the channel? I'm wondering if the chunnel has enough room, but likely has for transport trucks and buses.

We were in Portugal a couple years ago, and saw a number of big rigs like yours. Easy to get in a pickle by getting on some of those narrow roads!

Do you pull a toad? I haven't seen any over there yet.

Welcome aboard.

We travel via the ferry. As we have an LPG engine conversion, we're not allowed on the tunnel. We pay passenger prices but go on the freight deck with trucks and buses. I do know people who take the train though, and they find it a bit of a squeeze - they're not generally on the freight trains, so have to squeeze in with regular motorhomes, and I'm not sure I fancy doing that!

We've not had too many problems with tight roads. Though we've certainly had to make people reverse along in front of us, and had to reverse along roads a few times. It's part of driving in Europe that sometimes you have to reverse along a country lane, so it's just a case of not panicking.

No toad - my partner drives along behind us with daughter and dog. Towing with an a-frame is illegal in most of Europe, and you'll get fined if you're spotted - especially in Spain. You can tow with a trailer, but I would need to upgrade my driving licence yet again to do so (I've already had to take a rigid truck test). Finally, our vehicle plus trailer is too heavy for our RV, and we'd need to find somewhere to put the trailer on campsites. People do it, but we're not ready yet.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unplanned

How is the 8.1 with propane? Did you have the ignition timing re-curved?

It's slightly noisier, as the new injectors are just under the dog house cover, and you can hear them firing when you're at idle or low speed. Performance is pretty much identical, and it's slightly less economical. We didn't have the kit fitted, the previous owner did, so I don't know how much adaptation is done. There's a piggyback ECU which takes commands from the main ECU and modifies them for LPG. I think it could be re-tuned properly for more performance, especially with the big cylinders as the longer burn of LPG could give a longer power stroke, but that's more than I am ready to do at the moment!

Unicorn Driver · 11-25-2020, 06:48 AM

I used to take the chunnel a lot when I lived in the low countries. It's a great service.

Greedo · 11-25-2020, 06:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unicorn Driver

I used to take the chunnel a lot when I lived in the low countries. It's a great service.

Yeah, it is. We always use it if we're just taking the car for a quick trip to France or Belgium. Much faster, and quite a bit safer at the moment as there's no need to get out of the car!

Unicorn Driver · 11-25-2020, 10:55 AM

First sure on that.

momdoc · 11-26-2020, 06:36 AM

Welcome to the forum.

You are joining a good group of folks here with good information to share. Read the various threads here and ask questions as they come up or add information if you can.

Good luck and enjoy the adventure!