17. TOILET ROLL TAMER |
To prevent your toilet roll unravelling while your van is in transit, slip an elastic band over it. When you arrive on site, just slip the band to the side of the holder so it's ready for the trip home.
Maureen Parry
Mold, Scotland
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18. STOP SWINGING DOORS |
Do your kitchen drawers and cupboard doors open when on the move? If so, fit childproof safety catches inside and they will then only be able to open an inch or so if the standard catches fail. The safety catches are cheap, and available from most DIY stores.
Phillip Leeder
Reepham, Norfolk
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19. BETTER ENGINE EFFICIENCY |
If your engine seems sluggish, give it the mechanical equivalent of colonic irrigation: my grandfather recommended a product which cleans your engine of all the muck that gathers there over time; it’s called Redex and you just add it to your fuel (there are formulations for petrol and diesel engines).
It is available from most garages (or phone 0161 491 7391 to find your nearest distributor).
For a total engine clean-out, remove the spark plugs and fill
the cylinders with Redex for a while. You can
also drip it into the carburettor (once the air filter has been removed).
Redex only costs about £7 per bottle and since
I have been using it, I’ve got an extra 1.8mpg out of my old Bedford.
It might not sound a lot, but that’s another 27 miles per tank.
Derek Ames
Bicester, Oxon
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20. A SIMPLE MAP TIDY |
My wife always puts our road atlas on our
A-class’ dashboard where its reflection spoils my vision through the windscreen – and where it slides annoyingly back and forth as we drive around corners.
I have solved the problem by screwing
a plastic tray to the underside of the cab roof (between the two seats). Because the tray is steeply lipped, the map cannot drop out. As a finishing touch, I sprayed it cream so that it matches the underside of the cab roof.
Graham Newton
Swansea, Wales
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21. STAY CLEAN WING MIRRORS |
I have big mirrors on my coachbuilt, and they quickly get dirty when I’m on the road, form air-borne dirt and rainwater spray. A lorry driver friend of mine told me how to cure it: insert a (black)
self-tapping screw in the top of the mirror housing and tie a piece of cotton rag to it. While the vehicle is on the move it will flap about and keep the mirror clear. (You can detach the rags when you are on site site, so they don’t look unsightly.)
John Templeton
Darley Dale, Derbyshire
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22. FIX NOISY SCREEN WIPERS |
When I used the windscreen wipers on my new motorhome, the blades dragged and made an awful scraping noise. It turned out that the wipers were synthetic – and not even very good ones. I replaced them with more expensive rubber versions and the noise disappeared.
Bobby Dawson
Carlisle, Cumberland
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23. ALTERNATIVE REST AREAS |
MANY OF our friends complain about the poor level of motorway services. And I agree. So, to counteract this lack of service, my partner and I keep the store directories of major supermarkets in the glovebox of our van. Most motorway junctions have a store nearby, and their car parks can be
a great place to take a break from driving, have a snack, and refuel – on average charging about 5p a litre less than motorway filling stations.
Julian Brean
Worcester, Worcs
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24. A THIEF DETERRENT |
When on tour, you can deter thieves by using a permanent marker or engraving tool to mark all your major items with your postcode. A suitable note to that effect, placed in one of the side windows, should be enough to make any thief realise the effort and risk of theft would be greater than the reward. Nevertheless, if any items do get stolen, not only will the marks make it easier for the police to prosecute the thieves, but the likelihood of
the stolen goods’ return is increased.
Darryl Goodier
Salford, Lancs
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25. ANOTHER USE FOR FOAM PIPE |
Foam pipe insulation can be used for all sorts of jobs – it’s soft, cheap, lightweight and useful to motorcaravanners. You can use it to protect anything tubular while it’s being transported in your motorhome: bunk ladders, brooms and the like. Just run a blade down the part-cut groove in the pipe and push the item into the slit – the foam then closes around it.
Daniel Levorna
Penzance, Cornwall
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26. KEEP IN TOUCH ON TOUR |
We go ON TOUR a lot with friends who have children the same age as our own and find it easy, cheap (a pair costs around £80), quick and fun to use walkie-talkies to keep in touch while on the road. And, they are less likely to be stolen than expensive mobile phones.
As each family travels in its own motorhome, the drivers can communicate instantly with each other if we need to stop for the loo or check the directions.
On site, the children can take a walkie-talkie and go exploring while the mums and dads have peace of mind, knowing that the kids can easily report back, at any time.
Sue Broadhurst
Tring, Herts
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27. KEEP RIGHT REMINDER |
Having read about the Drivesafe Glove which aims to help drivers stay on the right-hand side of
the road while abroad,
I was prompted to write about my own method. When I arrive on the Continent, I immediately set my watch to European time and put it on my right wrist, instead of my left. And it works!
John Glassey
(via email)
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28. SAFE STORAGE ON THE MOVE |
My wife and I have succeeded in sorting
out secure storage for our gear while we’re
on the move by using
a collapsible plastic washing basket: it measures 480mm (L) x 350mm (W) x 240mm (H) and opens easily with one hand. It weighs practically nothing and folds flat to 50mm.
We bought ours very cheaply, from a local hardware store.
Each basket will swallow an enormous amount of gear although several could be accommodated in a motorcaravan and would fit snugly, for instance, between dinette seats
so your load placement could be organised
with precision.
An added bonus is that being slatted and robust, when folded flat, one of these baskets would fit comfortably in the washroom to double up as a duckboard.
GB Clay
Fleckney, Leics
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29. RATTLE BOTTLE SOLUTION |
I like to have a good range of herbs and spices with me while I’m away in my motorhome but the little glass bottles they come in not only take up valuable space but also rattle around while I’m on the road.
To overcome the problem, I transferred
all my herbs and spices to the plastic canisters which usually contain rolls of 35mm camera film (wash and dry the containers first): they are airtight, very light and can usually be obtained for nothing, from any local photographic processing shop.
Just one Tupperware box now contains all the herbs and spices I need while I’m on tour.
Darryl Goodier
Salford, Lancs
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30. HIDEY HOLE FOR VALUABLES |
Before leaving home, for a three-month touring holiday in France recently, we came up with this simple idea which hides valuable documents and items such as credit cards,
cash and passports.
Just cut a piece of chipboard to a size which will sit behind the lip of one of your van’s shelves. Then fix a screw into the centre of the board so you can lift it (see the picture, above). Place your valuables on the shelf but under the chipboard panel – that and the lip of the shelf will hide everything from view.
Pete Wilson
Birmingham
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