Travel a Distance - Do You Carry Spares?

[gordonaldson]

 

I've just got to add a thread here which some might say why, there's garages, they'll fix it.

Time is the essance to fixing, time to get the parts delivered can be looong.

I carry all the bulbs required times 2.

All the "V" belts are carried for alternator etc.

Fuses, well loads.

Clutch cable yes that as well.

Exhaust system rubber mounts. Plastic tie raps do temporally.

As to Don Madge, Kirky, etc, etc, traveling to Spain, Morroco, Italy, Greece oh lovely want to go there. Is there anything else we should carry??

Well yes what would it cost to carry these?

Discs-well your going to need them sometime anyway.

Pads/shoes-as above.

Front and rear hub bearings, one of each yes. I don't mean new ones go see a breaker, preferably off a quite new van.

Spare tyre-ah we've got one.

Ok duck tape I here one say.

Well these are just examples, but I'm trying to go into the spares that are going to hold us back in our travels.

There is others like drive shafts, alternators, pumps but lets try and narrow the weight down.

Aaaah some say, my pay load is deminishing. Well how about carrying spare drive belts - you've not even got any of these !!!! Sad day

Is there an answer to this thread without the AA/RAC van behind you ?

Yes well that emergency service can only help if the parts are available, like in your van.

So if you travel far, think about the above, like I have(I'm looking into hubs too)..

 

Great People Out There,

Snowing here in Edinburgh,

Aaaaaaaaaaah,

Gordon.

 

 

[Clive]

Most important spare is the mobile phone. Bulbs are required by law in many countries.

But yes, under the passenger seat is full of spares, under the drivers seat is full of tools. Spares for the motorcycles go in a locker.

 

[colin]

I would not try to dissaude anyone from carrying spares, as any good boyscout knows 'be prepared' but would like to point out the following.

You have not mentioned van type, if it is pan european then all the spares you list are 'usualy' commonaly availible, but you never know!

What you haven't listed is any 'caravan' parts, from experience these seem the hardest to source.

[Brian Kirby]

I carry bits of stuff to fix the things I can fix, and an assortment of pliers, spanners and screwdrivers etc.

The van is a LHD Ford Transit base, so as to the rest, why take coals to, er, Newcastile?

[Don Madge]

I carry fuses/bulbs and a spare wheel/road kit for the van and a water pump and fuses for the habitation side.

 

Don

 

 

[Clive]

Oo,

I must admit to ring spanners, socket set, screwdrivers, files small vice, multimeter temperature controlled soldering iron, solder, jubilee clips, flasher unit, switches, and relays, cable, terminals, and so it goes on!

Spare tyres and tubes for the bikes. Could this be why we have a payload problem?

[malc d]

One bit of advice I was given many years ago about carrying spares was to concentrate on those parts which relate to right hand drive vehicles, things like clutch cables or hand brake cables, as all the rest should be available on the continent.

[bigal55]

if you don,t have through vision, a caravan type strap on mirror,try folding your offside mirror in and you will see what i mean,even changing lanes is almost impossible

[fred grant]

fred says come on you guys. if crossing the sahara then it all makes sense, but touring europe. you are not the first to set foot in that new continent my biddies.

alice reckons a spare pair of knickers and a toothbrush - youll get anything else in interaldi (including gas, wheels, candles and steering racks).

 

f

 

 

[panagah]

few spanners and screwdrivers, pliers, and the onligatory selection of jubilee clips. As well of course as the ladies tights, for the emergency belt or bank robbery to pay for the repairs (lol)

[davenewellhome]

Many years ago when we had our first camper van (1979 Bedford CF pop top, rot box) we had spent a lovely ten days on site with the kids. On moving off our pitch we managed ten feet and ther was an ominous bang from below and all forward momentum was gone! Gearbox mainshaft snapped! All the spares I carried and being a qualified mechanic were of no use at all. The site's entertainment manager took wife and kids and dog home, site manager towed me and the van off the pitch to a quiet spot behind the dunny. Three days later, numerous phone calls, and one wasted trip from my sister (because the scrapyard I sent her to couldn't tell the difference between a Sherpa and a CF 8-) ) I finally got a gearbox and made it home. Once home I had to remove the "new" box and from it and the old box make a good one!

 

Carry the basics, bulbs, belts and tape. For everything else make sure you have a good recovery service that can deal with all eventualities.

 

D.

[trooper]

Murphys law, you wont have spares for the bits that break.

[panagah]

from Dave Newall.---Carry the basics, bulbs, belts and tape. For everything else make sure you have a good recovery service that can deal with all eventualities.

 

 

 

Should that not read for everything else there's Mastercard 8-) 8-) 8-)

 

 

 

:$ Thought not? :$ Ill go get me coat.