Essential motorhome accessories and upgrades: what we actually run
We have made a habit of upgrading every van we have owned, enough that we have a whole series of videos about it. Here is what has genuinely earned its place, from air suspension to solar, batteries and Starlink, and what we would tell you before you spend a penny.
The short answer
If you upgrade three things on a motorhome, make it air suspension for levelling and ferries, a solar and lithium battery setup for staying off grid, and a proper inverter so that power is actually usable. Starlink is a strong fourth if you need to work or stay connected on the road, as we do.
Everything past that, the audio system, the fridge swap, the better mattress, is a genuine quality-of-life upgrade rather than a must-have. Fit the essentials first and see how you get on.
We have owned eight vans since 2007, and every single one has been upgraded in some way, some of them quite a lot. We have filmed most of it too: Accessories Shopping for our New Van, Installing new Motorhome Accessories, The Best Accessories for your Motorhome, and one video honestly titled "Did I go too far with my Electrical Upgrade?" That last one is the right question to ask before you start, and this guide is our answer to it.
Where to start
The upgrade we make first, every time
For us it has consistently been air suspension. We fitted VB Air Suspension to our Kon-Tiki 874 as one of the first upgrades we made, because on a nine-metre tag-axle it makes a real difference entering and exiting ferries cleanly, where the long wheelbase would otherwise ground out. When we took delivery of our Dethleffs, the first upgrade we did was the same thing again, a VB four-corner full air suspension kit, fitted shortly after collection.
We liked VB Air Suspension enough that we have visited their factory in the Netherlands. If your van is long, heavy or tag-axled, this is the upgrade we would do before anything else. It is not the most exciting one to film, but it is the one that saves you the most stress on the road.
Solar, batteries and the electrical upgrade
The upgrade that keeps growing
Our solar and battery setups have grown steadily over the years, from modest beginnings to a much bigger install on the vans we run now. On one of our recent electrical upgrades we fitted proper Victron gear, three 320 amp-hour lithium batteries and 950 watts of solar on the roof, enough that going off grid stopped being something we had to plan carefully around.
A decent inverter is the part people forget. It is what turns a big battery bank into something you can actually run a kettle or a toaster from, off grid, without reaching for the generator. Ours has been Victron kit on our recent electrical upgrades, and it has not let us down.
We have a video literally called "Did I go too far with my Electrical Upgrade?" It is a fair question. If you mostly stay on hookup, you do not need the biggest solar array and battery bank you can find. Size the upgrade to how you actually camp, not to what looks impressive on a spec sheet.
Starlink and staying connected
Why we run satellite internet
We run Starlink because Steve genuinely needs to work from the van, not just browse from it. Our electric ID Buzz has a Starlink Mini mounted in the windscreen, and our Dethleffs carries a roof-mounted Starlink dish. Between the two we have had a signal in places where a phone would show nothing at all, which has made touring and working from the road far less stressful.
If your use of the van is lighter, weekends away, the odd video call, a good UK or European data SIM will likely do the job for a lot less outlay. We run Starlink because our trips and our work genuinely demand it, not because every motorhome needs one.
Suspension and heating
We have already covered why air suspension is our first upgrade on any new van. Heating is the other upgrade that has genuinely changed how we use our vans through the colder months. We fitted an Autoterm diesel heater to our Dethleffs after one too many cold mornings waiting for the factory wet system to catch up, and it is now our primary heat from October onwards.
We have gone into diesel heaters properly, how they compare with gas and electric, what they cost to run and the one maintenance rule that keeps them alive, in our dedicated diesel heater guide, so we will not repeat it all here.
Comfort and extras
Not essential, but worth knowing about
Past the essentials, a handful of smaller upgrades have made a genuine difference to day-to-day comfort. We swapped the factory three-way fridge for a proper compressor fridge, upgraded the mattresses in the drop-down bed, and had a custom sub, amp and speakers fitted by Blade Ice for evenings parked up. None of these are essential, but they are the sort of upgrade you notice every single trip rather than once a year.
A couple of things are still on our list rather than done: a SOG toilet system and relocating our MPPT solar controller for easier access. We would rather tell you what is outstanding than pretend every van we own is finished, because none of them ever really are.
Motorhome accessories questions we get asked
What accessories do you actually need for a motorhome?
If you only fit three things, we would say a decent battery and solar setup so you can stay off grid comfortably, air suspension if you are running a heavier or longer van, and Starlink if you need to work or stay connected on the road. Everything else, the audio upgrades, the fridge swap, the better mattress, is genuinely nice to have rather than essential.
Is a diesel heater worth it for a motorhome?
For most people, yes. We fitted an Autoterm to our own van and it is now our primary heat from October onwards, warm air in minutes rather than the hour and a half our wet system takes. We have written up the full comparison, cost and the one maintenance rule that keeps it alive in our diesel heater guide.
What is the first upgrade to make on a new motorhome?
For us it has consistently been air suspension. We fitted VB Air Suspension to our Kon-Tiki 874 as one of the first upgrades we made, and we did the same again on our Dethleffs shortly after collection. It makes ferries and tight exits far less stressful and it is the upgrade we would not now go without.
Is Starlink worth it in a motorhome?
For us, yes, because Steve genuinely needs to work while touring, uploading footage and staying reachable from places with no phone signal at all. If you only need internet for browsing and the odd video call, a good data SIM may do the job for less outlay. We run Starlink because our use of the van demands it.
Do you need to upgrade the electrics on a motorhome?
Honestly, maybe. We have a whole video called "Did I go too far with my Electrical Upgrade?" for a reason. If you mostly stay on hookup at campsites, you may not need much more than the factory setup. If you wild camp or use aires regularly, more solar and a bigger lithium bank make a real difference to how relaxed the trip feels.
What's the best motorhome upgrade for comfort, not just power?
A better mattress and a proper compressor fridge, swapped out from the factory three-way unit, make the most day-to-day difference for the least fuss. An upgraded audio system is a lovely-to-have if you spend a lot of evenings parked up. None of these are essential, but they are the ones that quietly improve every single trip.
Written by Steve and Lyndsay Radford. Every upgrade named here is one we have genuinely fitted to our own vans, most of it filmed as we did it. Where a specific product link belongs, we have flagged it rather than guess at one. Roaming Radfords is a trading name of Yowzer Limited.