Preparing RV for trip to Europe

[jornvango]

We are planning a trip to Europe and are hoping to ship our truck (2008 Dodge RAM 3500) + truck camper (2014 Livin Lite Camplite 8.6c) from the US to Europe. Ideally, we'll be there for a few years to discover Europe and possibly Asia, so we are looking at the overall cost of shipping our rv vs. buying one in Europe. (I grew up in Belgium and have dual citizenship)

Since our RV is 110V 30AMP, I'm wondering what we need to do to prepare for Europe's 220V. Do converters exist that drop 220V down to 110V which will allow us to plugin the RV on campgrounds?

Additionally, our RV has two propane tanks. Traveling in Mexico and Central America proved no issue in filling up the tanks when needed; however, it appears that the European connectors are different from what we have here in the US. Does someone know what is needed to take with me to Europe that will allow us to fill the propane tanks at local stations?

Thanks!

[RandACampin]

fulltimedaniel wrote:
Well first of good luck and it will be a great trip. Unfortunately there is a lot of advice given here that is just plain inaccurate.

120/240 converters that also change the Hertz from 50 to 60 are common and can be had at fairly reasonable prices. I used them in Asia extensively. I ran expensive refrigeration and kitchen equipment on them as well as other things. I never had a problem.

I am sure your dodge will be fine. Even in Africa and Asia. But the fuel costs are tremendous.

You will be surprised at the variety and breadth of vehicles you will see. In the internet age parts are just an order away and customs clearance on things like that in many countries is pretty simple.

As for propane you may have to just buy European propane tanks. I am not sure they are going to make a US fitting. However I have ran into many many Europeans with their RV's, Vans and motorhomes here and in Mexico and they seem to get propane just fine...

I would also try to get on board an English forum (England) regarding Rv'ing and see if they can offer any advice on the propane tank issue.

Finally the tremendous interest in Expeditioning in the last few years by thousands of folks has resulted in some really good magazines being published. These hold numerous ads for all types of equipment one needs. Additionally there is a big store in London I believe that caters to this. I cant recall the name or find it right now but try this link:

https://www.trekoverland.com/

They have lots of stuff.

Again good luck and press on!

You are the only one giving inaccurate information.

[time2roll]

I know a TC has limited space for equipment but still I would get a 230 volt converter to keep the battery charged and an inverter sized to run what you expect. Small stuff is easy, large stuff may need 2000 watts and 4+ batteries. So if you can do without the air conditioner, electric coffee maker, microwave, electric water heat, hair dryer, then it is easy.

I would also max out the roof with solar.

[m37charlie]

My North American (12/110V) Unimog U500 camper is in Europe right now. We drove to Mongolia last summer. This summer maybe Corsica or Croatia and then ship back to Canada and drive home to Alaska.
You do NOT need to register your vehicle in Europe!!
As far as 220V, look at multivoltage chargers that will charge 220V to 12V house batteries; then run whatever off your inverter (assuming you have one).
There are no campgrounds east of Poland so don't count on "plugging in" anywhere to the east.

Charlie

[fulltimedaniel]

Well first of good luck and it will be a great trip. Unfortunately there is a lot of advice given here that is just plain inaccurate.

120/240 converters that also change the Hertz from 50 to 60 are common and can be had at fairly reasonable prices. I used them in Asia extensively. I ran expensive refrigeration and kitchen equipment on them as well as other things. I never had a problem.

I am sure your dodge will be fine. Even in Africa and Asia. But the fuel costs are tremendous.

You will be surprised at the variety and breadth of vehicles you will see. In the internet age parts are just an order away and customs clearance on things like that in many countries is pretty simple.

As for propane you may have to just buy European propane tanks. I am not sure they are going to make a US fitting. However I have ran into many many Europeans with their RV's, Vans and motorhomes here and in Mexico and they seem to get propane just fine...

I would also try to get on board an English forum (England) regarding Rv'ing and see if they can offer any advice on the propane tank issue.

Finally the tremendous interest in Expeditioning in the last few years by thousands of folks has resulted in some really good magazines being published. These hold numerous ads for all types of equipment one needs. Additionally there is a big store in London I believe that caters to this. I cant recall the name or find it right now but try this link:

https://www.trekoverland.com/

They have lots of stuff.

Again good luck and press on!

[Tom_M1]

Here's a link to a blog about traveling in Europe with a Born Free motorhome:

http://www.ourtravelswithrover.com/

[Searching_Ut]

I did 4 separate tours in Europe during my Air Force Days. We'd take all our household appliances and run them off transformers. It would be easy to wire one in-line to your power cord and power the whole trailer. I wouldn't expect you to have any issues with any electronics on the transformer, but induction type devices such as motors run a little hot on 50hz. I'd check the microwave, and air conditioner specifications and see if they rated 50/60 Hz or just 60 Hz. If they are only rated 60 Hz they might fail on you a little sooner than normal but you'll probably get away with it.

For my gas grill I used "Calor Gas" which were an exchange tank service like you see in America. I bought an adapter over there that allowed me to connect those tanks to my US gas grill. I didn't take an RV over there so I'm not sure how hard it would be to get tanks filled vs the exchange tanks, which I only used in England, not on the continent. To ship a propane tank you have to get it certified as drained and purged which cost as much as buying a new tank when I got over there.

I'm assuming you will have to register your truck in a country in Europe. I believe it will fail in any of the countries I can think of unless you add amber/yellow turn signals in the rear, and possibly a rear fog light depending on where you're registering it. You'll want to check on that before you ship your truck.

Sounds like a fun adventure.

[DrewE]

AllegroD wrote:
I am think a whole house 220-110 converter is going to be difficult, especially to lug around and the hertz diff may cause damage.

Conversion transformers are not impossibly huge. This supposed 5 kW model is listed as weighing 56 pounds and appears slightly more believably rated than some others on Amazon. I suspect it's still quite optimistically specified, and might limit it to 2kVA continuous or less, but it's in the ballpark for a truck camper (particularly if many campgrounds in Europe have only limited power capacity, as I think I recall reading).

I'm not sure why you'd need to lug it around the campground anyway, rather than mounting it in the camper and having a long enough lead to connect it to the campground outlet. I guess if one has a questionable quality transformer it would be safer to not have it in one's living space, though being out in the elements surely is also not a wise idea.

[jornvango]

Correct, especially western Europe is rather small compared to the US and Canada. Our truck averages 12 MPG but it should only take a few full tanks to make the circle from Belgium down into Portugal/Spain and up through Poland into Scandinavia and back down (of course seeing as much as possible along the circle). I grew up in Belgium and have traveled extensively in Europe before moving to the US. Additionally, my wife (who is from South Korea and we met in Texas where she studied) and I have taken a few vacations to see my family in Belgium and have done road trips around Europe (rental car and hotels). We've visited many of the highlights (Italy, London, Paris, Swiss Alps, south France, etc.) so we'll be able to skip those on our RV trip. Well, I won't be skipping the Alps as they are my favorite destination in Europe.
For some reason, I want to drive to Mongolia. Perhaps it's because of the "Long way around" documentary ...

All of my family & friends (with the exception of my wife) are in Belgium and my uncle recently moved to Bulgaria so the support base is good.

Now we are looking to travel by RV for a much longer time. Still debating whether it's a good idea to ship our RV or buy something local. Surprisingly, prices between these 2 are similar. Shipping our RV costs about $3K each way but buying an RV in Europe comes with high taxes (VAT) as well as losing money on the sale at the end of our trip.

Since it's very possible to drive from Europe into Asia and even Africa (either through the Middle East or through Spain -> Morocco), we want to include those parts in our road trip.
Our current setup (Dodge RAM 4X4) proved fine in Mexico and Central America. Yes, the dually is wide driving into towns which we experienced in Central America when visiting colonial towns. We lost a hub cap due to narrow roads. I wouldn't say however that a dually makes the trip impossible; just a little harder but perhaps not worth going through the trouble (and money loss) of selling our truck to buy a single rear wheel.

Certain routes into Asia and Africa will definitely be easier in a true overland vehicle (Unimog, MAN, ...) but those tend to be (very) expensive, although there are several for sale on mobile.de for 'reasonable' prices (in the range of 30-40K EUROs).

Our house battery and fresh water tank size allow us to boondock for 4-5 days straight, plus we have a Yamaha 2000W generator. We are definitely interested in upgrading to 2 or 3 batteries and possibly solar but we have to calculate our electrical needs before we make a decision on how much to purchase.

The only headaches currently seem to be the 220V -> 110V as well as the propane connectors.

[AllegroD]

I am think a whole house 220-110 converter is going to be difficult, especially to lug around and the hertz diff may cause damage.

[DiskDoctr]

westend wrote:
The reference to Asia means almost expedition type travel if venturing off well known routes. Outfit accordingly.

If you are going expedition, the first rule is do not take anything you are not prepared to leave in an emergency.

That includes truck, camper, etc.

If you have a major problem while there, you're only an airport away from home and only out money.

That's a bit extreme, but it really does depend on what your plans are.

Do you still have mates in Europe? An established support base could be valuable- and fun!

It sounds exciting! What are the main places you want to see?

[rhagfo]

westend wrote:

rhagfo wrote:

Veebyes wrote:

azdryheat wrote:
How available are parts for your truck if it should ever break down?

My first thought too. Not too many fuel guzzling N American monster trucks over there. Have you check the price of fuel in Europe? It is not dirt cheap like the US.

I'd be more inclined to buy something there, use it, then sell it.

Food for thought!
Visited daughter at Christmas diesel euro 1.20 per liter. Times 3.875 equals euro 4.65 per gallon. Then the current exchange rate. Works out to about a little over $5.00 per gallon.

Yeah, but one can drive across Europe in almost a day. I'm sure the OP has calculated the shipping and fuel costs, maintenance, repair, etc. or he wouldn't be asking about detailed preparation items.

The reference to Asia means almost expedition type travel if venturing off well known routes. Outfit accordingly.

Good luck on your trip!

While Euorpe has some very good roads the also have some very bad roads, narrow, twisty and slow.

[westend]

rhagfo wrote:

Veebyes wrote:

azdryheat wrote:
How available are parts for your truck if it should ever break down?

My first thought too. Not too many fuel guzzling N American monster trucks over there. Have you check the price of fuel in Europe? It is not dirt cheap like the US.

I'd be more inclined to buy something there, use it, then sell it.

Food for thought!
Visited daughter at Christmas diesel euro 1.20 per liter. Times 3.875 equals euro 4.65 per gallon. Then the current exchange rate. Works out to about a little over $5.00 per gallon.

Yeah, but one can drive across Europe in almost a day. I'm sure the OP has calculated the shipping and fuel costs, maintenance, repair, etc. or he wouldn't be asking about detailed preparation items.

The reference to Asia means almost expedition type travel if venturing off well known routes. Outfit accordingly.

Good luck on your trip!

[rhagfo]

Veebyes wrote:

azdryheat wrote:
How available are parts for your truck if it should ever break down?

My first thought too. Not too many fuel guzzling N American monster trucks over there. Have you check the price of fuel in Europe? It is not dirt cheap like the US.

I'd be more inclined to buy something there, use it, then sell it.

Food for thought!
Visited daughter at Christmas diesel euro 1.20 per liter. Times 3.875 equals euro 4.65 per gallon. Then the current exchange rate. Works out to about a little over $5.00 per gallon.

[Veebyes]

azdryheat wrote:
How available are parts for your truck if it should ever break down?

My first thought too. Not too many fuel guzzling N American monster trucks over there. Have you check the price of fuel in Europe? It is not dirt cheap like the US.

I'd be more inclined to buy something there, use it, then sell it.