'Big Ted' our motorhome

This was 'Big Ted' our motorhome and the accessories we bought for him. We bought him in June 2018 and sold him in May 2024. We had 6 great years for him but decided he was better off with someone else who would use him more than us

'Big Ted' our Frankia A680BD motorhome

Our Frankia A680BD motorhome was coachbuilt on a Fiat Ducato cab and chassis. He had a 3.0litre diesel engine with uprated suspension to give a maximum load of 4500kg so, at that weight, it meant we had restrictions on the maximum speeds we could drive at. In the UK we could drive at 70mph on motorways, the same as ordinary cars, but only drive at a maximum speeds of 60mph on dual carriageways (70mph for cars) and 50mph on single carriageways (60mph for cars).

Reversing camera

He was big, 7.08m long, 2.3m wide and 3.1m high vehicle, but he had a reversing camera with twin lenses, one lens looks down for parking, the other looks out to act as a rear view mirror and we could switch between the two. That means we avoided the 'blind spot' where following vehicles can be obscured by the bulk of our vehicle and made us safer on the road.
Update after our first long European trip in 2018-19: The reversing camera was really useful and would have made driving and parking a lot more difficult without. So pleased we had this!


He came equipped with a 'Strikeback' alarm, which protected all external entry points and lockers and had an immobiliser and internal movement sensor that emitted an ear piercing noise if triggered. We could turn off the internal movement sensor if we wanted, meaning we could use it at night to protect us while sleeping, but we had to remember to turn it off before exiting the vehicle! We made a big 'Alarm On' notice which we fixed inside the door to help us remember.
Update after our first long European trip in 2018-19: We used the alarm almost every night when we were parked and usually when we left him. It gave us a great feeling of security and we are really glad we had it

We did three Youtube video tours of 'Big Ted', some better than others. The one below is our last one, it lasts less than 3 minutes and covers the main points. If you want a longer look, have a look at the second one, 'Our new motorhome', that lasts just over 8 minutes, and one we did before we'd even purchased him as a reminder of what he looked like. The last one below was our second attempt and is a full review, but lasts 41 minutes. Take your pick on which one you watch!

Our short tour video:




Here's the 8 minute one:



And here's the 41 minute one (yes, I probably talked too much!):



We had lots of discussions on what accessories we should buy but here's a list of what we bought:

Safety and security equipment:
We decided on a couple of visual deterrents, which were quite expensive but we decided to go for the best if we're doing it, both these had very good reviews and took surprisingly long to remove under thieving tests:

Wheelclamp: we went for a Milenco M16. Here's a link to it: Milenco M16 wheelclamp
Update after our first long European trip in 2018-19: This was less useful than we thought. We did use it, but only on a couple of occasions. It is one of those things that probably should be used more than we do, but comes down to getting round to using it. On balance it's probably worth having.

Steering wheel lock: the StoplockPro came out as one of the best and most difficult to remove by thieves. Here's a link to it: StoplockPro review
Update after our first long European trip in 2018-19: We used this quite a lot, it's easy to put on and gives a very visible deterrent. We were glad we bought this.




We decided we'd only use the wheelclamp in conjunction with the steering lock, that way there's no possibility of attempting to drive off with the wheelclamp still fitted!

Dash Cam: For our security we fitted a dash cam as we'd heard of so many instances of staged accidents and also to record any instances of aggression from other drivers. We hoped we wouldn't frustrate other drivers by having to drive slower on certain roads, but we didn't want to become victims of any aggressive behaviour either. We went for a relatively budget model, but good enough to record high quality images. It's a NextBase 212 Lite and here's a link to it: NextBase dash cam 212 lite
Update after our first long European trip in 2018-19: We used this all the time and it came in very useful when our door mirror met with the door mirror of a motorhome travelling in the opposite direction. We submitted the footage to the insurance company to prove the other vehicle was too far over. The videos were also nice to look back on when travelling in scenic areas. We think this is a must.

Sat-Nav: For navigation we bought printed maps of Europe as we went, as we didn't think there was any substitute for having a hard copy of where we were going, but for ease we also bought a SatNav. After reviewing many different types we went for the Garmin Camper 770, you can see details of it here: Garmin Camper 770  It has the facility of entering the gross vehicle weight and it's dimensions and didn't take us down unsuitable roads, although we had heard of instances where it does, but that applies to all makes, not just this Garmin (hence the need for having paper maps as well - and knowing where you're going rather than following the SatNav blindly). We were used to Garmin as we have one in our car so know how it works.
Update after our first long European trip in 2018-19: We found this very useful. The vehicle dimensions and weight kept us away from low bridges, routes with a weight limit and displayed the maximum speed applicable to our vehicle. It still took us (or attempted to take us) along narrow routes that, although being wide enough, were one's we wouldn't necessarily have chosen, so we were happy to have kept those paper maps and Google maps handy!

Solar Panel: We had a solar panel fitted to the roof to trickle charge the leisure batteries when not connected to external electricity. The single panel kept the batteries topped up when we wild camped so we think it was a really good addition.
Update after our first long European trip in 2018-19: We found this a great addition. Even in the winter months it kept our leisure batteries topped up, but bear in mind, all our lights were low wattage LED's and the only power we needed was to charge our phones, cameras, laptop and operate our TV, which we did infrequently. On occasions during the winter we got concerned about battery discharge so made sure we charged things on the move from the engine where we could, but overall our confidence levels rose so much through the trip that we felt we didn't need to find electric hook up points. The original solar panel wiring only charged the leisure batteries, not the engine battery and we noticed this discharge quite a lot when left for extended periods. We therefore had it modified to charge both engine and leisure batteries and that was well worthwhile doing.

Refillable LPG bottles: Another retrofit we had done was refillable LPG bottles with an external filler point. Ours was 'Gaslow', but there are several systems. There were a couple of reasons for doing this, the first is so we could top up at the same time as filling up the tank, without having to wait for the bottle to empty, it's therefore much more convenient. The second reason is that we didn't have to worry about changing the gas bottles to different types when travelling into different countries. We still needed different fittings for filling, but these are inexpensive adaptors, easy to carry. The external filling point is a necessity in some countries as they don't allow a cabinet door to be opened during filling, it must be done from the outside
Update after our first long European trip in 2018-19: We found this a really good addition but, in reality we used little gas. Being able to refill at any point without having to wait for a bottle to be empty was a distinct advantage. The only downside we had was that the would only last about 3 days in deepest winter with the heating and water on. This was not really sufficient to go to a ski resort, for example, for a week. We decided to change one to a larger 11kg bottle and that gave us about 5 days of continuous use or, many days in warmer temperatures.

Communications:
This was a difficult one, not for travelling in the UK (if you have a UK SIM card) but mainly in Europe as, although roaming charges were abolished there was a 'fair usage' policy in place and, basically this stated that if, over a four month period, a UK SIM card has been used outside the UK more that in the UK they may stop its usage or charge more (Here's the statement from Three - click on the 'Usage restrictions in our Go Roam in Europe Destinations' : Fair usage policy. Although that's the official ruling it appears it wasn't always enforced. Some users reported being cut off at the four month mark, others had had no problems with a year or more usage abroad, so it seems to very much to depend on how lucky you were. We've decided on three alternatives:
1. UK mobile phone contract: We had one phone on a month contract with UK Three with 4GB, which was later increased to 24GB of data per month, some phone calls and texts and we always knew we could buy a local SIM card.

Tp link Mi-fi

2. Mifi: We had a Mifi unit in the motorhome giving wifi within a 15m radius to all our phones, tablets and laptop. Details of the one we bought are here: Tp-link mifi unit We liked this one as it was really easy to use and had good reviews. We bought four 12GB data only SIM cards, each valid for 12months from initialisation. They were on the UK Three network and worked until all data was used up, where we swapped it out with a new one. If we got cut off under the 'fair use' rules, we could just swap it with another new one and start again for four months. The other option was to buy a local SIM and use that. It was easy to fit a new card, the unit identified and connected within minutes and was already set-up to connect via wifi to all our devices.
Update after our first long European trip in 2018-19: We had no problems at all with our Three mobile network. It worked seamlessly throughout our 6.5 month trip. We also almost always managed to stay within our 4GB monthly allowance, even occasionally using it to post the blog, although I have to say, we used free WiFi whenever we could, which sometimes meant sitting outside a reception area or in a shopping centre on uncomfortable chairs. The MiFi backup worked well, although we only used it occasionally.

Wi-fi booster aerial

3. Wifi booster: We bought a wifi booster so that if we are in a location that has wifi that we can connect to, but we are too far away from a good signal, the booster with amplify the signal allowing us to connect to a transmitter up to a quarter of a mile away. We purchased a unit from Motorhome wifi.  It's a bit fiddly to set up each time as it has to be connected to the laptop to find the wifi and enter its password, but it did seem to work OK

Wi-fi booster receiver

Update after our first long European trip in 2018-19: This we found less useful and we probably wouldn't bother with one if we had our time over again. It was troublesome to use and only worked on very rare occasions. Not really worth the money in our opinion.

TV: We thought long and hard before purchasing a TV as we didn't watch much of it, but we thought a TV with a DVD player built in, a separate USB port and HDMI input might be useful. We borrowed from friends and bought from charity shops a quantity of Box Sets of series we had never seen and had an external drive full of films, so we thought this might be useful for rainy nights in. We bought a 22" unit that just fitted in the cabinet we had fitted as standard, It was a UK manufactured unit made by Cello: link here which operates from mains or 12v-dc and had a remote control. We also bought a light aerial should we have wanted to watch local TV on our travels, but decided against a satellite system
Update after our first long European trip in 2018-19: We used this occasionally and found it quite useful. We found we could tune into local foreign TV stations and, in some cases, change the audio to English by pressing the 'Sound' button and selecting the language. We used DVD's and external drive much more to watch box sets and movies much more (but even then only occasionally). Its power usage is quite low so didn't drain the battery much.

Levelling chocks: We bought some levelling chocks for when we were on an unlevel site, here's a link to them: Levelling chocks
Update after our first long European trip in 2018-19: We used these on almost every site. An absolute must! We would say, however, that the honeycomb inner structure that the wheels sit on (that you can see in the photo) have got quite distorted, probably due to the weight of Big Ted. They were still OK in use but are a bit damaged.

Garden recliners and outdoor table

Chairs and camping table: We also bought a couple of garden recliners with cushions and an outdoor table with adjustable legs for low and high. This, coupled with three of those cheap camping chairs that everyone seems to have allowed us to entertain visitors in comfort.
Update after our first long European trip in 2018-19: These we found very useful although we could only use them on campsites due to 'no camping' rules on Aires



Spare wheel: No spare wheel was supplied with Big Ted, only a spray filler and air compressor, but it did have a sturdy scissor jack and wheel brace, so we purchased a second hand wheel and tyre from an online private advert that was a spare and had never been fitted to a vehicle. Not only was it good insurance against having a flat, it was also a legal requirement in some European countries (Spain, for example).
Update after our first long European trip in 2018-19: We carried it with us, but didn't need it. Were still happy we had it with us though.

Snow chains: We wanted to go skiing, so snow chains were a must for us. We had M-S (mud and snow) tyres fitted which we think are suitable for driving in winter, but were not winter tyres so, in countries where winter tyres are obligatory in winter the M-S tyres were not acceptable. The snowchains we bought are shown in the photo, manufactured by the Italian company Maggigroup and were very robust. Fitting was not that easy, so we bought a cheap waterproof jacket, a pair of 'Marigold' rubber gloves and a pad to kneel on as, when they were needed it was cold with snow, ice, slush and water, not a pleasant time to be hugging a wet, muddy wheel trying to fit chains!

They weren't required very often but they were a 'get out of jail free' card, particularly on a couple of occasions were we got stuck on wet grass!

Update after our first long European trip in 2018-19: We didn't use the chains at all, but we were wimps on our first trip and only went skiing on one day and only drove on clear roads. However, our next trip was through Germany in winter where winter tyres were obligatory, so we purchased Falken Euroall Season VAN11 all season tyres. We had type approval from them for all year use on Big Ted and they did have the 'three peak snowflake' symbol on so were road legal for winter in Germany.

Thermal external windscreen cover: As we went skiing in our motorhome we decided we needed a thermal windscreen cover. We went for an external rather than internal one as an external one is easier we were to fit, helps prevent condensation and provides thermal protection. It's shown here with the bonnet cover (below) fitted, but it can be used on its own and is low enough to cover the windscreen wipers and air intake to help stop wipers freezing and reduce cold air entering. It was also recommended for summer use as it can keep out the hot mediterranean sun. This one was British manufactured by a small family business in Huddersfield called Taylor Made and we were very pleased with it. It had a central section attached by velcro down the sides, which allowed it to be opened to let light in. The sides fitted over the two cab doors to hold it in place, there were some velcro flaps to attach round the door mirrors, a couple of velcro attached straps down the front to be used in windy weather and a couple of magnetic velcro strips to clip the sides to the door in windy weather. We think they'd thought of everything!
Update after our first long European trip in 2018-19: We used the thermal windscreen cover on a few occasions but the bonnet cover only once, just to try it out. The thermal windscreen cover was good, it completely stopped condensation on the inside of the windscreen which made getting away the following morning very easy, it also noticeably kept the cab area much warmer on the cold nights. The only downside was getting the outside dry in the mornings before packing away. We had a sponge and rubber scraper on a pole that was used to get most water off and we then laid it out in the sun to dry before packing away, usually still damp. It was very big and occupies a lot of room when laying it out to dry! If reusing it the following night then it was OK to pack it damp, but if not reused we had to remember to get it out to fully dry.

Bonnet cover: We bought the bonnet cover at the same time as the windscreen cover to help keep the winter weather out. It was also made and supplied by Taylor Made and could be used on it's own, as shown in this photo, or with the windscreen cover shown above. They made two types, the lightweight one shown here that we bought, but also a heavy duty thermal cover that fitted to the floor and covered the front wheels. Our lightweight one was really to stop dust in sandstorms in the summer, but we thought it would also help to stop snow being blown in through the radiator grill and also offer some wind and a bit of thermal protection. The full thermal cover was quite large and heavy and we thought would take up too much space for the times we would use it
Update after our first long European trip in 2018-19: See note above. We only used this once just to try it out. But then we weren't parked up in any driving snow, so the need to put it on wasn't there.