How to drive a motorhome

Five driving features that need to be considered.

Have you noticed that the crowns of the trees overhanging the roadway have the shape of a cut-out corner from below?

I didn’t pay attention to it either until I found myself driving a motorhome. Branches are cut for tall trucks, buses and for us traveling on a camper 3.3 m high, 7.5 m long and 2.4 m wide.

Such dimensions determine some features of management:

Evgeny Byakin
Founder
"Great RV Trip"

1. Height of motorhome

This factor makes the road space three-dimensional. Now you need not only to look at the road below, but also at the wires hanging from above, height signs on bridges, at the ceiling level at the entrance to the parking lot, etc.

2. Large blind spot

The rear-view mirrors have additional small convex mirrors that show the blind spot. There is no way without them, because the car going next to overtaking completely disappears in simple mirrors for a few seconds. Therefore, the gaze focuses on four mirrors instead of two.

3. Reverse gear

Backing down is not a task for the faint of heart. If something is standing exactly in the middle behind the camper, then it is impossible to see it in the mirrors. Someone sets up rear-view cameras, and my wife guides me, watching the maneuver from the rear window :) You also need to keep an eye on the rear upper corners.

4. The turn

I feel like a bus driver when I make a turn at an intersection. I start turning later, rolling out behind the half-moon traffic light, and only then do I start turning the steering wheel so as not to take down the corner sideways and run the rear wheel over the curb.

5.Ground clearance and rear overhang

Our Ford Tioga has high ground clearance. We’ve never had issues with this. However, during steep ascents or descents, there’s a risk of scraping the RV’s undercarriage because the rear overhang extends 2.5 meters beyond the wheels. That’s why we tackle sharp hills not head-on, but at an angle.
In short, geometry meets physics in real life :)
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