UK to EU

[Verteuil Man]

My Autosleeper has a spare wheel in a wind down cradle under the centre of the van. This was pointed out by the salesman on handover but he said that a recovery service wouldn't change the wheel, they would just recover the vehicle on a truck. Maybe because the van is 4000kg I guess.

Good to know it's there though. I must try winding it down sometime to stop it rusting up and also to have a look at the tyre.

You will probably find that when you have a puncture on a wet windy night the cradle holding the spare wheeled has rusted up and will not budge.

 

[xsparks]

What I was saying was you may never need the items suggested but one day you may. Best to be prepared.

 

[rrowe]

We had a front blowout on a loaded 7.5 tonne horse lorry on the motorway where there was no hard shoulder
Have breakdown insurance so called them
Their policy is not to use the spare wheel and tyre “not safe to extract it on the roadside”
So they supplied a new tyre at double the normal price which took 2 hours to source while we waited
Wonderful!

 

[dawsey]

If it’s been a while, and you plan to go anywhere off the main roads or motorways, a notice on the dashboard prompting you to drive on the right.

It might sound obvious, but the danger comes in the mornings when exiting rural overnight stays onto roads with no traffic.

It’s really easy to default to driving on the left with no visual prompts. Being honest, I must have done it dozens of times in the last 30years. Thankfully, I’ve usually either realised or seen a car in the distance, or had someone ‘remind’ me.

For me at least, I have to be driving on the continent for weeks before defaulting to the right finally becomes second nature.

 

[Tasng4]

forget the meat and dairy thing, they're really not interested, we ve crossed about 10 times, the last time 3 weeks ago, the fridge and freezer were bulging, they dont care.

We also passed several broken down vehicles travelling through Spain and didnt see one with a beacon.

we dont have any emmission stickers, do have Angles Mortes because we are big. bil came through in 4500kgs a class without any.

been travelling through France several times a year for the past 30 years, and never been asked for any of the other stuff, although I do think Hi vis and spare bulbs are a good idea.

For clarity I don't set out to break rules, just do as the French do and only take notice of the sensible ones.

I'm with you on this, when was the last time you saw a French car in the UK with headlamp convertors?

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[jongood]

We had a front blowout on a loaded 7.5 tonne horse lorry on the motorway where there was no hard shoulder
Have breakdown insurance so called them
Their policy is not to use the spare wheel and tyre “not safe to extract it on the roadside”
So they supplied a new tyre at double the normal price which took 2 hours to source while we waited
Wonderful!

Tyrepal. brilliant, forewarned can sometimes make a huge difference

 

[gwyntaxi]

Would you leave your spare wheel behind if you had one?

Definitely NOT.

 

[EuroTrotters]

You will probably find that when you have a puncture on a wet windy night the cradle holding the spare wheeled has rusted up and will not budge.

good point. keep it in good condition.

 

[GAVLAD]

I scan all of my documents - passports, Driv licence, log book, mot, ins cert etc and email them to myself.
Should the unfortunate happen whereby we end up loosing anything, I can at least access the copies to report or produce something if asked.

 

[jongood]

I scan all of my documents - passports, Driv licence, log book, mot, ins cert etc and email them to myself.
Should the unfortunate happen whereby we end up loosing anything, I can at least access the copies to report or produce something if asked.

And have you ever been asked? I've been doing this long time and the times I've had to produce any paperwork are pretty rare.

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[Gus]

Many thanks to everybody - lots of helpful hints and I now feel I've got it pretty much covered!

 

[GAVLAD]

And have you ever been asked? I've been doing this long time and the times I've had to produce any paperwork are pretty rare.

Just once when I couldn’t find my drivers licence. So for me it’s worthwhile doing.

 

[GAVLAD]

Just once when I couldn’t find my drivers licence. So for me it’s worthwhile doing.

And anyway, unless you’ve changed your documents, you’d only have to scan and email them to yourself once so I don’t see it as a big deal.

 

[Thornebt]

1€ and 2€ coins for water etc at Aires might be useful.

 

[Roby2008]

If you have anything on the back of the MH like a bike rack or anything that increases the length of the MH etc, then you need one of these for Italy/ Spain ........

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[Roby2008]

My International Driving Permit has expired. Presumably I don't need one for 2023.

What is the situation with the (not green but white) Green Cards for vehicle insurance?

Bosnia is the only place I have been asked for an insurance Green card - didn´t have so turned and took the scenic route...

 

[InvictaMoto]

And have you ever been asked? I've been doing this long time and the times I've had to produce any paperwork are pretty rare.

Not asked but used at several MotoGP parks on the bike. Rather than get the OEM logbook out in Le Mans' lashing rain, a copy is good enough... then when you leave you have to hand in the ticket that matches the sticker they rather cavalierly stick on the paintwork....