Getting Ready for the Spring Motorhome Season, Summer Holidays and Road Trips

Ever since the 2020 pandemic, the UK has seen a huge spike in caravan and motorhome popularity. Now that Winter’s over, here’s everything you need to do to check your vehicles are holiday-ready.

Step 1: Clean Inside Your Motorhome

If your caravan or motorhome has been hibernating all Winter, then it will probably benefit from a good once-over with a sponge, but there are other benefits to cleaning your vehicle after it’s been in storage.

By cleaning inside your vehicle, you can get up close and personal with the furniture and appliances that have been untouched for months. This gives you a great opportunity to check that all of your equipment still works properly, and to check for signs of mould or damp.

Step 2: Checking the Lights

Lightbulbs dim over time and electrics can fail. The last thing you want is to set out for a road trip and discover that your lights don’t work when you’re already driving down country roads in the dark.

Your safety, and the safety of other drivers on the road, is paramount. So before you take your motorhome out of storage, make sure to turn on all of the lights and walk around the vehicle to check that they’re on and bright enough. You might also need to give the lights a wipe if any dirt or dust has collected on them.

Whilst you’re checking your lights, you should also give your wipers a clean and check that your horn works too.

Step 3: Checking Under the Bonnet

Motorhomes are seldom used for short trips, so you should always make sure you’re topped up on any essential fluids to make sure your vehicle runs smoothly for the entirety of your journey.

You should always check the engine oil, as well as coolant and windscreen washer levels, topping up as necessary before your trip.

Likewise, batteries left unused might have gone flat or even need replacing.

Step 4: Check your Tyres

Tyres that have been stationary for long stretches of time are more prone to damage through perishing, especially with heavy vehicles like motorhomes. If left idle over Winter, you need to make sure you check your tyres closely before any long journeys.

Things to looks out for in your tyres are: cracks in the rubber, bulging, warping, foreign objects and punctures.

Make sure to check your tyre pressure as well, as this may have decreased over Winter. Low tyre pressure can be extremely dangerous, as it will reduce your grip on the roads and increase your braking distance. Braking will already be harder due to the weight of the vehicle, so it’s safest to make sure that you don’t add any additional strain to the brake systems.

You can help preserve the life of your tyres whilst your vehicles are in storage by elevating your motorhome on jacks whilst they aren’t in use, or by taking them out periodically so they’re not sat idle for so long. If your vehicle isn’t stored inside a garage, you may also want to cover the tyres to protect them from UV degradation as a result of being exposed to the sun for too long.

Step 5: Take it in for a Service or MOT

You are legally required to take your motorhome for an annual MOT Test. Once your vehicle is 3 years old, it will need an MOT annually to make sure that your vehicle continues to be roadworthy.

A service is not the same as an MOT, but they often get booked in together as the service will provide a much more thorough inspection of the vehicle and usually includes repairs to any issues discovered on inspection. We recommend that you book in for a service annually, and the best time to get your motorhome serviced is at the beginning of Spring, before you start to take it out again.

By timing your service and MOT just before the holiday seasons begin, you’ll be able to have a professional assure you of the safety of your vehicle and identify anything which could cause a problem down the line. Especially if the vehicle has sat idle for months and has developed issues you weren’t previously aware of.

If you have a motorhome and you want to make sure it’s roadworthy before you take your family away either for a UK staycation or further afield for the holidays, then please get in touch and we’ll book you in for a motorhome service.