Campervan MOT – fixing the Sprinter ‘roll’
Our converted Mercedes Sprinter campervan was due for some annual attention during November. This included tax, insurance, MOT and a well-deserved service for the vehicle that has been both our transport and our home for 8 months of the last year.
We had been experiencing problems with ‘roll’ when we hit a bump, pothole or any uneven ground. Part of this can be attributed to the height of the van, the added weight of water in the tank (100+ litres) and a Sprinter characteristic from what we have read on-line. But we noticed a deterioration when we were in Tarifa bumping in and out of the ‘pig field’. We were also finding problems when driving on open roads – the roll seemed to translate into a steering issue when the van was hit by any wind. We took the van to Essanjay in Poole. There are two branches of this garage – one specialises in motorhomes, but for mechanical attention and servicing we went to the other garage, owned and run by a friend.
The result was that we needed new shock absorbers all round and a replacement steering bush. The suspension was upgraded for campervan usage which should equip it for the extra demands of a motorhome. The cost of these was £270 excluding fitting.
The van had a full mechanical service and was successfully MOTd after the suspension had been installed. Later we had the tracking corrected on the wheels as that was also way out. In total the work, MOT and service cost us £1000 but that’s reasonable bearing in mind the months we spent rent-free living in the van.
We paid road tax for 12 months at a standard £185. It’s worth noting that, regardless of the period of time your vehicle spends outside the UK, it must be taxed unless declared SORN (parked off-road and unused). Throughout the EU the rule is that any vehicle must meet the laws in it’s home country so for a UK-registered van we must all adhere to DVLA standards of tax, MOT and insurance.
So, mechanically, we’re set. We still need to pay some attention to the bodywork of the van. It’s a 10 year old white van that’s done 165000 miles and been resprayed, so the paintwork isn’t perfect. There doesn’t seem to be a definitive treatment we can use for the rust, other than totally treating and repainting big areas which isn’t necessary. We plan to give it a good t-cut and wax, and touch up the rust spots to try to slow the progress. Watch this space though because this isn’t a small job on a long wheel base van!
