Motorhome & Caravan Show 2024 | Caravan Vlogs from Mac & Sarah
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 ต.ค. 2024
- Come with me as I explore the 2024 Motorhome & Caravan Show at the NEC in Birmingham. I was just at the show for one day but had a fantastic time discovering all that the show had to offer; from awesome motorhomes to stylish caravans, adventurous roof tents and even some rugged pick up trucks - one of which I got to drive.
I don't cover the new ranges of caravans or motorhomes, there a lots of great TH-camrs who do a fantastic job of that, so instead this is just me having a good old wander and sharing the things that caught my eye, enjoy!
Check out Coach built here: www.coachbuilt...
If you're joining us for the first time and caravan vlogs are your thing, then stick around, we have some great plans for 2024 and of course we'll be sharing everything with you, our wonderful viewers!!
We're so happy you're here and really hope you enjoyed this video, thanks so much for watching!
All the best
Mac, Sarah & Dozer
Why not follow us on Instgram: @towing__home
#caravan #caravanlife #caravaning
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Hi we tow with a Ford Ranger Thunder (Wildtrack) love it we have a 8ft wide twin axle, done Scotland, Cornwall effortless towing, we also camp at weekends, so chuck all the camping stuff in the back, perfect, roof top tent is next to add
Hey Mac, I tow with a t6.1 camper which gives us best of both worlds, loads of places you can’t really go with a caravan, so the camper comes in a treat, but you still have the caravan luxury when you like. DSG 4 motion also helps 👍🏼
We went to the show on Wednesday with the intention of buying a canopy and we had settled on the Dometic 400 that you showed. Very disappointed it wasn’t available until January, but then I saw Dan’s video on the Telta canopy and I think I’m sold on that. Probably wait until the Feb’ show to get a deal.
Our first time at the show since owning a caravan and we were quite disappointed at the amount of stalls. Was hoping to come back with a car full but had about 5 items, my bank account was relieved at least 😅😂.
Glad you had a good day though, didn't see much at the show for Dozer 🐾
Hey Mac. We are in New Zealand and watch your vlogs. Re tow car. Ours is a Ssangyong Rhino, you may call it a Musso. Great vehicle. 3.5 T tow capacity. Great drive and comes with all the mod cons at less price than other brands. Go and have a test drive. Oh we tow a Bessacarr 645 with ours. Cheers.
Fantastic video, the best one of the 2024 show well done
Wow thanks very much, high praise!! Really appreciate it! Thanks for watching 👍
Another great vlog. Great piece on the vans set up for less abled. Nice touch.
Thanks Paul, much appreciated 👍 Coachbuilt are brilliant, every one is bespoke to the clients needs, awesome!
Love the video Mac. It's great when you have no prior plans and all the ad-hoc activity ends up being better than the stuff you pre-planned.
Towcar. Not a lover of big pickups. We use a new Nissan XTrail e-Power e4Force AWD for towing. Supremely stable. It's a petrol engined self charging hybrid charging 2 batteries. Serious quick off the mark and up to speed, very quiet, huge, practical and well equipped. We average 23.6 mpg towing a 1.5ton caravan.
We only have a porch awning / sun canopy now.. It's a Dometic Rally Air Pro 400 with extra side wall kit. It's the same one that Dave and Helen at Caravantastic use. Takes 15 mins to put up and tether including carpet and the same to take down and fold up. Light and takes up no more room than a medium size holdall. Highly recommended. Love to Sarah and Dozer too. Graham and Pam x
Hey Graham & Pam, hope you're both keeping well 🙂 thanks for watching 👍
Oh I do like an X-Trail to be honest, great to hear your thoughts and feedback on your own! In terms of sun canopy, I definitely think we should go for one, especially like the sound of small holdall sized once packed up, that's very handy!!
Thanks again, all the best 🙂
Hi mac /Sarah and dozer
Great video thanks,we have a Basecamp special edition with a rva 1 awning, great caravan we love it and very easy to tow with our Honda crv. Keep up the good work. Dave and kim
Hi Dave and Kim! Great to know you love your Basecamp, I think they're such a great design! Thanks for watching 👍
Hi. We have a KGM ( formerly Ssangyong ) Rexton. Great towcar. It's our 3rd one! Wild card maybe, but well worth a loook.We'd put it against anything else. We've had all sorts before, Ford, Peugeot, Mitsubishis etc for towing different caravans over 20+ years. Love watching your videos with Dozer & we're trying a couple of the sites you've tried after watching. Bargoed Farm for the hot tub! & Concierge Camping in the spring, so thanks again. Also it was great to see you showcase a little of what's available for us who have mobility issues, but still like to caravan as long as possible. Look forward to seeing your new towcar soon. !!
Having tried air, pole, porch awnings we’ve now got a Thule Omnistor awning with Panorama room. Not cheap but a game changer for us. Canopy out and protected from the rain/sun within minutes of landing and fine for short trips without the full room set up. Can be left up until everything ready to leave so again great if it’s wet when packing up. Shout out to our supplier/fitter Rose Awnings of Poole for a fantastic service.
Looks great show. Was a lovely watch thank you
Hi Karen, thanks for watching 👍 the show was fab, I had a great day 🙂
We have the Sunn Camp Swift 390 sun canopy and have used it every trip this year. So easy to put up and very light too. The Isuzu was a beast 😊
Haha it certainly was a beast!! Ah ok yes I seen the Suncamp ones and they look really good and great value too 👍
We have a Dometic sun canopy and we absolutely love it. I think the new ones have a front panel you can put in as well as the sides. Takes about 10 minutes tops to put up and down. What a brilliant piece about the adaptable motor home, great innovation.
Hi Sandra, thanks for watching! Great to hear your feedback on the sun canopy, thanks for that! I think it would be ideal for us when on shorter trips 👍 yes the bespoke motorhome was awesome, a great company!
Me again
Air awning we have been looking at these for next year the guys on caravantastic love there ideal for weekends away
Yea I think they're pretty much ideal 🙂
Great to see you again.. I have a micro camper at the moment so it was great to see what’s new.
Thanks for watching Michelle! Those micro caravans from Trigano were very good I thought 👍
Hi Mac, hope you and Sarah (And Dozer) are well?
My feedback regarding air canopies as follows, not sure if you can remember our set up at EKL but we have the Dometic sunshine air pro 500 and also purchased the side panels that you can use when weather is windy etc. we use this all the time now, so much so we sold our Rally air pro 330 as we simply didn’t use it, we can have the sun canopy up in less than 5 mins and it also quick to take down and put away. You can also get accessories for it like a coat hanger etc, (Sarah commented on ours if you remember) I don’t think I would go back to a full air awning again.
In terms of Tow car we tow with a BMW X3 and find it a perfect tow car but more importantly we get great fuel economy both when towing and also when not. It is also fantastic as an every day car
Hope this helps
Steve & Di
Hi Steve and Di, so nice to hear from you, hope you're well. Yes we remember your awning well and the coat hangers!! Really interesting to hear that you're now all in with the sunshine canopy, sounds super handy.
Thanks for watching, all the best 🙂
Hi mac, I love my pickup for towing, so effortless pulling our twin axle, you know you can pull any caravan that takes your fancy, pretty good on juice, and comfy,
Mine is 2020 Toyota hilux and a challenger x 835
Love the channel
Tom
Ah Tom I would absolutely love a HiLux! Top of my wishlist for sure! Thanks for watching and leaving a comment 👍
Pickups with their long wheelbase are very stable tow cars. Moved from a Amorok v6 to a defender Swb and it’s night and day difference in stability. The v6 amorok with all of that power I believe is the pinnacle of towing pick ups. It was fantastic, completely effortless and very comfortable.
That's good to hear, the Amarok is a great choice 👍 I'd definitely love one and I really appreciate your point about stability. Thanks la for watching, much appreciated
We have the same van as you, and a big Labrador, we tow with a 1.6 ltr diesel Kia Sportage. It doesn’t know the van is there!
Enjoyed your Video Mac.
We have a Swift Basecamp 2 Had it for 3 yrs. I love it It is easy to tow, My husband dose not drive, so I tow it, Easy Don't know it's on the back. We are upgrading to a Basecamp 3 next year, that's how much we love them.
Hi Linda, that's high praise for the Basecamp! Great to hear you love yours, I really do like them a lot!
Thanks for watching 👍
Hi Both, We use Starcamp (Dorema) Quick N Easy Air 385 Sunshade, it’s very light comes in 3 sizes to choose from it’s much easier than an awning to put up, in fact we never use our porch awning anymore. Defiantly recommend.
Ah thanks Joanne, that's really interesting to hear! I'm sure we'd find the same, especially on short trip! Thanks so much for watching 👍
We had an eriba troll GT 555, but we changed to swift as had no room for our 2 little dogs. Ps love your channel
Ah thanks la Andrew, much appreciated 👍 thanks for watching
Hi Mac I tow with a 2 ltr bi- turbo automatic Ford Ranger. It tow’s my twin axle Coachman Laser ( incidentally from Sussex Caravan Centre) with ease.
@@Deanwells-t9h love the ford ranger best pick up on the market well that’s my opinion 😀
Hi Mac and Sarah
We tow with a Ssangyong rexton ultimate great tow car tows 3500 ton.tows our buccaneer no probs
Hi Kevin, thanks for watching 👍 Ah yes, they look like a great pick up too and proper good workhorse!!
I tow with a Ford ranger 3.2 it’s effortles, works hard in the week then towing the caravan at weekends. It’s a brilliant all rounder
I must say, I do really like the Ranger a lot! Do you have the 2 litre biturbo or the 3.2?
@@MacSarah 20 reg 3.2 wildtrak. Pulls like a train, wasn’t so keen on the 2.0 as heard some horror stories about them, did test drive one though and it was nice
Hi Mac missed seeing sarah this week lol 🙄 that truck seems a bit extreme for what you need unless your thinking of getting a twin axle depends what your plans are, if you get the practical caravan magazine they give you ideas of most compatible car to what your towing. Hope you enjoyed your day and didnt spend too much 😂😂😂😂.
See you both soon i hope xx
Hiya Julie! Ah you're right, for our caravan it is a bit over the top, but we love the idea of trying some off road and off grid camping at some point, so it would be ideal for that. Don't worry, Sarah will be back next week in the next video 🙂👌 thanks for watching 👍
Thanks again Mac for your video, love a pickup tow truck, unfortunately wife not so keen, if you did buy a tow truck you could always ask them to nock off the price of a wired camera for your caravan,, hope Sarah and Dozer are well, 👍👍.
Ooh that's a great idea! Yea I think we're settled on a pick up, just a case of choosing the right one lol. Thanks for watching 👍
Hi Mac and Sarah
We tow with a Toyota Hilux 2.8 diesel ( 1.7 tonne caravan) and it is effortless. I use it for work during the week and it copes with everything I ask it to do. It has a canopy fitted and this in itself makes it perfect for caravanning as the load space is huge and you don’t mind throwing wet awnings and other paraphernalia in it !
Being a Toyota it is built to last too ( remember Top Gear ?). Four wheel drive obviously has its advantages if needed too.
MPG when towing is mid twenties, which is to be expected, but solo driving I get low 30’s. Another thing I’d add is that pick ups are classed as “ commercial “ vehicles so VAT is added onto the price ( although you can find used ones WITHOUT VAT).
Hope this helps 👍
Hi Gary, thanks for watching and leaving a comment! Gotta say, a HiLux is at the top of my list!! So great to hear it's the perfect all rounder for you! Thanks for the insight, really appreciate it! 👍
Great video guys! I’ve towed with a Ranger 3.2 for many miles and used to find it okay, a bit bouncy if the bed is empty and a bit gruff on the motorway. I’ve heard the new Ranger BiTurbo is much better at higher speeds and especially the new facelift.
Hey! Thanks for watching 👍 ah the Ranger is one firmly in our sights to be honest. We do like the sound of the biturbo, but we'd probably be looking at a 2020 model onwards rather than the latest facelift. Good to hear you're a fan 👍
Hi Mac, as for the pick up style of tow car, i can't talk with any experience but Caravantastic had a hired one & he hated it! Found it was not for them. So before you choose, check out their vlog. There was also a vlog from The Caravan place - he has one for their business it was a positive vlog but he did warn of tow height, can be high for a van making it higher at the front which makes the van unstable - can be cured with a tow bar dropper but needs to be right! Happy hunting!
Hi David, thanks for the pointers, really appreciate that! Yes the tow ball height is something that crossed my mind, will research more 👍
Thanks for watching 🙂
Thanks Mac. Correction - our sun porch canopy is a Dometic Sunshine Air Pro 400 with an optional side kit. Not the Dometic Rallye Air Pro I mentioned in my earlier post. Apologies for the mistake.
Ah no worries Graham, thanks for getting in touch again with the details 👍
I looked at a pick up for my tow car but went against it in the end because the little sea side camp sites we go to they are to long to fit in a normal space so I bought a vw Touareg brilliant tow car also look at the telta sun canopy you can buy zip in sides and front this is all I use keep up the great videos of your video we have booked back of beyond for next year
Hi Colin, thanks for watching 👍 that's a really good point about small coastal sites and a Toureg is a fine choice of tow car!! Yes I saw the Telta sun canopy at the show and it looked great!!
Thanks again, all the best
A van would make more sense as a tow vehicle imo, they are much more practical unless you need off road capability. The off road motorhomes are a bit of a fad, there are very few places in the UK where you can take them, put a decent set of all seasons on a panel van and you'd be surprised how far you can get.
I tow a Swift Elegance twin axle with my Ford Ranger 3.2 as you said on your test drive you don’t know it’s there😊.
Really interesting to hear, I do really like the Ranger. I've been reading up on the differences between the 2 litre biturbo and the 3.2... hard to say what's right for us to be honest. Cheers for watching 👍
I tow with a Mitsubishi L200 and it is a great tow vehicle, but as with all things there are things to consider. The towing capacity varies between manufacturers because of so many variables. And so does the Payload of the Towing vehicle. Compared to my last towing vehicle, a Skoda Yeti, the L200 truck wins as a towing vehicle, it's good on fuel, and is a really nice drive. Pulls effortlessly which gives you confidence if you need to overtake, or pull up a hill etc .Mine has a Mountain Top Roll (Sliding shutter boot cover) this does limit the things you can get in the back with the Shutter closed, but these are not totally waterproof. The vehicle you drove had a Truckman Cab on the back, and these are quite expensive if not fitted as an optional extra. Also the back of the truck is seperate on most Pickups, so If your planning on keeping the dog in the back, you won't be able to check up on him as you drive if you know what I mean. My Springer Spaniel sits on the back seat, and he can jump up into the truck with no problem. An older dog will probably need a ramp like the one you use with Dozer, which can be a tight fit onto the back seat. Another consideration is when your on site your Pickup and Caravan form quite a long unit, so I more often than not use the motor movers to position the van. We visited Cirencester recently after watching your Video ( Cheers by the way, a fantastic site) and our pitch was a bit tight to reverse back without a faff, so I used the Movers no problems. Sorry for the long comment, if you want any more info pm me. All the best
Hi thanks for watching and for the great comment ( long comments are all good here 👍). Wow that's given us a lot to think about, thank you! It's so helpful to hear this kind of practical feedback from someone who owns a pick up, really appreciate it.
Ah yes, Cirencester is a brilliant site isn't it? We'll definitely visit again sometime 👍
Thanks la again and all the best 🙂
I did that on Thursday with Graham and that car, it was my very first time of towing a decision maker whether to buy a caravan as a single lady. I couldn’t even feel I was towing anything with that car’s power. Graham told me I was very good ☺️So can someone tell me is towing a caravan that easy when having learnt how to accommodate its length behind and turning bends wider? I know there are courses to go on.
Oh really? What a coincidence!! He was a lovely guy wasn't he? I certainly felt the same about the car. The caravan was about the same weight as ours, and that truck handled it with utter ease. With our tow car which is smaller, it definitely feels different. A course would be a great idea! Thanks for watching 👍
Getting the right tow car is vital. Our first one wasn’t great but we love ours now, hardly know the caravan is there. As a single lady you won’t need a big heavy van so you should be fine. Go for it.
I was going to tow our caravan for the first time today but hubby said weather was too windy - not sure if that was an excuse on his behalf 😂😂😂
The D- max is great. Just check your GCM and rear axel weights with your van but I think your van is quite lightweight(ie not an off road van with a heavy chassis) so you’re probably good to go🎉
Hey thanks for watching 👍 oh yes the D-Max would handle our van perfectly! I really liked it a lot 🙂
@@MacSarah yes you looked very comfortable driving it!☺️😀
Sunshine awnings are great I have one, it came with side's and front. Only use the bits you want depending on weather and length of stay. Fit's on the back of takeoff Pop up camper, the price was ridiculous tho to get it here from Holland.
Hi James, thanks for letting us know about your Sunshine awning! I reckon it would be great for us! Thanks so much for watching 👍
Just got rid of our awning and bought the sunshine canopy and air beam fence - just need to save up for the panels now! Very new to caravanning - wow it’s bloody expensive 😱🤦♀️🙄🤣
@@Bessie66 yeah watched some one who worked out the price, £280 a night on a new caravan that you use for 10 year's 😜
We have had an Eriba Troll 540 Gt for 2 years now. We love it to bits and retains the camping feel. However we are disappointed with the build quality of the interior as it’s not a cheap caravan.
As for pick up it’s a lifestyle choice but if it’s going to be your only vehicle will it suit your everyday life like popping to the shops a SUV maybe more practical
Personally I don’t rate a pickup for towing. I had an l200 and I tow regularly. I now use a discovery 4 instead and much prefer it.
With a pick up you have to watch: rear overhang with the trailer or caravan on it can make it more bouncy.
The leaf springs on the back can make the back bouncy.
I’ve heard of some manufacturers being funny about warranty if you use a leaf spring car. Not sure how true this is.
Also pick ups can be lethal if they are empty in the rear.
They arent always fully waterproof in the back.
Also tow bar height can be an issue.
Can be quiet agricultural compared to a decent car
Hi there, thanks so much for your detailed insight, really interesting to hear! I have to say I do also really like the Discovery, I always have! A supreme choice for sure!
Thanks for watching and leaving a comment, much appreciated 👍
@@MacSarah I tow pretty much every day. From a 750kg empty trailer right up to 3.5t and the discovery definitely tows better than a pickup truck but it’s just the running costs.
Some cheap disco 4s about now. We opted for one over a 5 as I just don’t like them as much and for
Some reason they don’t drive quite as nice. A pickup can be too light on the rear end so you can feel the load pushing you in the corners some times
Hi Mac
Pick up truck great for towing so much talk you won’t find anything better
The only issue I had and i had a Ford Ranger a new one and the old one’s are the same they leak water with the shutter system
If you have the box on the back so it’s a closed units then it’s good to go
The other issue is when we went shopping we always had to put the shopping on the back seat
But overall very good
Thanks Lee, that's brilliant to hear! I had heard about the leaky rear cover on the Ranger, I think we'd like the canopy on that back, lots of storage room.
Thanks for watching 👍
There to expensive for the working man cheaper build one
Pick ups are OK for towing but God awful as everyday cars with their agricultural leaf springs in the back. Plus if you’re not carrying weight on the load bed they can be very tail happy in the wet if you’re driving in 2WD as they tend to be RWD.
Hi, thanks for watching 👍 those are good things to look out for, thanks for the insight!