It's motorhome season and we've had time for a few more fixes and tricks. We've put a new decal on the campervan and re-submitted it to try to fix the problem with the "clunking" sound. In addition, we have messed up and acquired a new problem ...
Table of contents
New decal text on the motorhome
When we started fixing the camper last autumn, we first planned to redo the entire black and grey plastic wrapping that covers the camper. After more than ten years, it has become very worn. Men when we realised what it would cost, and how much work it would mean for us as well, we decided to leave it alone for a while.
SoPeter wanted to do something fun instead. New stickers! And why not advertise our blog while we are still driving around on the roads? Peter ordered stickers from dekaltext.se. You order online and choose the font and size, and then you get the stickers by post.
How do you put the stickers on your motorhome?
It's not really that difficult to apply the stickers, but you have to take it slowly and carefully and do it the right way. Otherwise there is a risk of bubbles or other errors. You should first remove the text from the protective paper, so you know that it will come off easily. Then tape the text so that it lies straight, and cut it crosswise so that there are shorter pieces to deal with at a time.
You press the text in place with the tool provided. Then carefully remove the protective paper. There is a video on dekaltext.se showing how to do this. Our tip is to watch it before you start! We were a bit nervous, but we have to say it went relatively well.
We now have a new decal text on the camper, which also advertises our blog. We were really happy with the new texts. All in all, everything is far from perfect on the camper - it's worn in several places and text from different times has different styles - but we have fun when we're travelling, and that's the most important thing for us!
Clanging noise in the motorhome
Do you remember that a while ago we told you about a "knocking" sound in the motorhome? The car company (Kihlströms in Spånga) tried to fix it all by cutting one of the leaf springs at both ends. Unfortunately, this did not help at all - when we were out at the weekend, it clanked least as much. In addition, a reader wrote that it may not be good to cut the leaf spring.
Peter returned the motorhome this week as he was not satisfied with the action, and now they tightened a loose spring instead. So far it seems to be working really well. Let's keep our fingers crossed that it stays that way!
And a little accident ...
Finally, we have to admit that we can make a fool of ourselves. In the decade or so that we've been driving a motorhome, we've very rarely used the motorhome's outriggers (and we've been no routines for that). Now, when we have the electric bikes in the garage, we thought that there is a lot of weight at the back and that we would help the motorhome a little. When we stood on Väddö Camping and sea baths we folded the outriggers down and when we went to leave ... we forgot to crank them up.
The support legs broke completely and could not be cranked up or down. Oh no! We couldn't get them off, but so that they wouldn't hang too far down, Peter managed to unscrew the "feet". It still hangs down a bit, and of course we don't have any working support legs either. Yes, we know this was clumsy ... Any tips on what to do now if we want new ones?
Matts Torebring says:
I just had the horrible thought of forgetting the outriggers. On our motorhomes without hydraulic outriggers, we probably never used the manual outriggers. With a caravan it was different. Now when we release the handbrake, our outriggers lift up, but that doesn't help you.
25 June 2020 - 7:40
Helena says:
Yes, it is very convenient that the support legs are raised automatically. Unfortunately, that kind is probably a little too expensive for our wallet ... but then it is important to get a routine so you do not do as we did now!
25 June 2020 - 8:53
Peter says:
The few times we use the outriggers, I usually put the crank so it's a bit in the way on Götaplatsen, so far I haven't forgotten that in any case....
25 June 2020 - 8:38
Peter says:
Fun with autocorrect... the driver's seat became Götaplatsen...
25 June 2020 - 8:39
Helena says:
Haha, autocorrect comes up with mischief sometimes... 😉 But it was a good tip, thanks! If there are new outriggers, we must introduce something like that, I think!
25 June 2020 - 8:54
Hasse says:
Usually put the crank on the accelerator .. we forgot to crank up in Slovenia on one occasion. They went about ten metres, when half the campsite came running. Sounded pretty good. Well, cranked up and they made it. Now we go on some bathing days in Ugglarp.
25 June 2020 - 9:27
Tommy says:
We have just changed our motorhome to hydraulic, but the trick we did to never forget the outriggers, was to put the crank at the feet of the driver's seat. Like over the accelerator, or under.
Then you can block the mistake at the last moment!
31 July 2020 - 16:15
Solan says:
A small consolation, we also forgot the support legs. But they made it. Nowadays we have a post-it note on the steering wheel with a reminder.
I hope you won't have to deal with the clink forever.
Fun with decals, I always check out blog advertising, especially on big adventure cars!
25 June 2020 - 8:43
Helena says:
Smart with a note on the steering wheel! If there are new outriggers, we'll also have to set up such a routine!
25 June 2020 - 8:55
Monet says:
Don't you always use the support legs? This has been our arrival routine with both caravans and motorhomes and I'm very keen to stand up straight. Both for cooking and not rolling out of bed. So it has of course been routine to fix them up when we left too. Perhaps it's because we've had a boat - there's always a lot of work to be done with ropes, fenders, sea stowage, toilet securing, etc. before departure. Sounds like another workshop visit - if you think it's important to have them of course! I'm glad it wasn't worse - scratching is always unpleasant as it could be something serious.
25 June 2020 - 8:51
Helena says:
As with most things in life, "you" certainly do things differently. We have never used ours in over ten years, until now. For us it is also quite unimportant to stand straight. We are used to everything leaning, haha. It's the same in the houseboat. If it's a bit windy, the eggs end up at one end of the frying pan, so it's completely normal for us 😉.
25 June 2020 - 8:58
Lots of other stuff and some concrete says:
So nice with the stickers, I would like to do that too.
It is so easy to forget something when driving away with the motorhome. We have made a red sign with "Support legs" and put it on the steering wheel. Then we have a checklist of everything else that we force ourselves to go through point by point.
25 June 2020 - 8:52
Helena says:
Yes, good with a note!!! As for everything else, I have a checklist in my head, which I go through before departure. But this was not a habit for us, very clumsy ...
25 June 2020 - 8:59
Ama de casa says:
Ooops... As it happens. Isn't there a warning light for having the outriggers down? Or maybe they are completely independent and mechanical. What does an ex-torchman know about such things...?
Hope it gets sorted out quickly!
25 June 2020 - 9:01
Mickey says:
Nice with the stickers!
Ajaj sad but it happens! Support legs are available at Biltema, they may fit. Put the crank on the pedal stand harder to forget then 🙂
25 June 2020 - 9:25
Lennart says:
Hello!
I have had a motorhome since 1990 and have also forgotten the support legs at some point. As mentioned, there are a few different tricks to avoid forgetting...patches, the crank, etc.
Even better is to buy support legs that fold if you forget.....We have a Carthago that is almost ten years old and they were on it when we bought it new.
25 June 2020 - 14:18
Anna / boihusbil.se says:
Many of us do clumsy things. We also forgot the support legs once, one was skewed and the other survived. But we could continue to use them thankfully. Hope you find a routine that works, we never forgot it again anyway. One. often learns from mistakes. Now we have invested in hydraulics and are very happy with it. But it's a big expense, so it took two years to make that decision.
25 June 2020 - 18:12
bmlarstravellingblog says:
We have also travelled without cranking up outriggers once and after that we had to make do without outriggers. Our new motorhome doesn't even have outriggers and hydraulic outriggers are not in our budget, so we have to make do anyway.
Very nice decals. We only got a few small ones for the motorhome.
25 June 2020 - 21:23
Across the board says:
Ouch! .... Damn bad luck. Hope it can be fixed
We have a couple of wrapped little cow patches with the support legs on one and the TV aerial on the other. We put them against the speedometer so we can't drive away without seeing them.
25 June 2020 - 22:35
Richard Kohlström says:
I unscrewed the support legs quite directly and the level wedges once got stuck in a far too soft lawn so they cracked when I had to use a skewer to pry them out of the ground. Spend some time instead looking for a reasonably flat place. I have forgotten, however, to disconnect the power cord so now I carry the cord bag over the steering wheel as a clear reminder.For a while I hid the starter key in the broken blue connector cover.
27 June 2020 - 8:36
Annette says:
So glad you ordered from Mia, she and I have been friends for years. I was a co-rider on one of her Arabian horses and it was she who got me to ride long distance. It turned out beautifully!
30 June 2020 - 9:19
Lena - good for the soul says:
Ouch, so damn sad when you mess up, but easily done! The decals turned out really nice in any case. Looks professional.
Hug Lena
02 July 2020 - 5:42
Glenn Wintvik says:
I have also forgotten the support legs, but we have the type that forgives forgetfulness if you drive forwards. I backed up though!
I have a red note in A4 format with the text Antemm, Cord, Outrigger that I put in the windscreen when we have outriggers down or antenna up.
Glenn Wintvik
http://www.wintvik.se
01 October 2020 - 9:46
Jonas Mellberg says:
Maybe an indicator with a buzzer when you turn the ignition. A simple sensor on the outriggers and 12 volts.
23 November 2020 - 11:26