Poll: Long drive, did you make it? 1,000+ miles

[jimf909]

[dhaavers]

[llilibel03]

If you are going to camp on BLM land in Utah you need a good map.

I asked a Ranger at Capitol Reef NP about dispersed camping outside the park ( I had seen RVs parked along the road). She pulled out a big atlas and showed me some of the areas I had inquired about. The federal land was interspersed with private land in checkerboard fashion. She warned it was really easy to mistakenly park on private land and then she added ominously, "Utah is gun country." I think she was exaggerating for dramatic effect as a way of discouraging us from camping outside the park.

ps one my bucket list of places to visit is "The Needles" area of Canyonlands NP. The entrance is 60 miles south of the main part of the park. Also "Cathedral Valley" of Capitol Reef which is even more remote. If you're looking to get away from crowds...
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87 syncro tintop
90 gl tin top
85 westy 2.0 tiico automatic (present)

[joetiger]

[kendalwoolf]

Over 2,000 Miles from Missouri to Ohio and back through Tennessee. No problems at all. AC worked great and the new tires and front shocks/suspension worked great.
Engine is a 2 liter ABA with 1.8 digifant head. Good power over the hills in Southern Ohio and in Tennessee.
Gas mileage averaged just over 20mpg.
Some Pictures of the Southern Ohio Forest Rally and The Vanagon.
Camped in the Vanagon every night except the first night. Fun time

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-Kendal-
71 VW Super Beetle, 74 VW Bus, 85 Jetta GLI, 89 Whitestar
86 Vanagon, 1.6TD http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=499268
86 Vanagon, 1.8 Digifant http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=513537
"but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal." Matthew 6:20

[Mikesarge]

Here's my (belated) great basin fishing tour report. roughly 2k miles all-in.

from Portland, Oregon to Lakeview, Oregon (can YOU spot the van?):

here's a hint:

from Lakeview, Oregon to Crosby Lodge, Nevada. This leg saw sustained 50mph wind, snow, icy road conditions, it was not pretty but I gave myself plenty of time, and exercised my viscous coupling on several occasions. Break for morning coffee at a very nice, seemingly brand new BLM campsite near the OR/CA border:

this leg also included driving around a "road closed: do not enter. no tow, no rescue" sign following ~70 miles on rough dirt roads. here's the view after I made it out the other side:

and when I made it to camp:

and, bonus gratuitous shot of a beautiful lahontan cutthroat trout:

I didn't get any photos from the leg to Salt Lake City, activities in the Salt Lake area, or the beautiful Owyhee River canyon I camped in on my way home to Portland. I drove in 20-40 mph wind the ENTIRE TRIP. it was obnoxious to say the least. I towed a 4x8 uhaul with some furniture, and tools I've been storing from my parents' place in Salt Lake back to Portland since I finally have a garage, and the van did great with the trailer on the freeway.

The van did have some issues following an extended washboard section in Nevada. It rattled several interior bits loose. Also, my air conditioning wiring harness blew the 50a fuse, but something happened where a relay melted and made a huge mess.

Though the van did "make it," the trip revealed several weak points in the van I've been ignoring since I took it on, and inspired me to address those before summer camping/road trip season really kicks in.

-I replaced the air conditioning wiring harness since it was toasted in Nevada

-I found one broken ground strap and one very under-sized strap after this trip. I added two new ground straps which made a HUGE difference. runs smoother, lights are brighter, feels stronger over-all

-replaced the busted old-style smallcar header that looked like swiss cheese when I pulled it off. I had no idea how much power this EJ22 really had! it feels downright sporty now!

- I rebuilt the sliding door parts, including repainting the rear portion and adjusting the striker and door alignment. it is much quieter inside, and the door sounds like a porsche door when it latches, it's quite satisfying (this combined with the rear engine layout of the vanagon will have to do until I can afford a real 911).

- I'm now in the process of rebuilding the front-end bushings/ball joints/tie rods. with the sustained cross winds for this entire trip, it was exhausting to keep it on the road. combined with ice and snow, it was downright dangerous at times. I'm hoping this will help make it a bit more sure-footed in the wind and at speed.

[calo1956]

To me a good day is when i can do a 60 mile trip with out some sort of issue! Sometimes ill be happy to get to 7Eleven and back! Those long trips are just a distant memory to me. Owner since 1980...
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Enjoy the ride....
72 bug
80 westfalia

[MsTaboo]

3,000 plus mile trip from SE British Columbia to Madison WI and back.
Checked the oil before we left, put in gas, (repeat gas ups), checked oil when we returned. Still the same.
Sure love the Zetec.

The rattle from the kitchen/sink lid that I thought was fixed started up again while hitting washboard roads.
It's the rivet that holds the hinge to the sink. It's in a tough spot to get behind for squishing the back tighter. Guess I'll drill and replace this time.

Other than that, all was good.

The work I did on replacing the wheel bearings, all the bushings, and adding T3's HD anti-roll bar sure paid off.
Faced some stiff head and side winds going across the prairie, did get blown around a little but much better than before.
The tight winding roads in the Black Hills were fun, felt very planted.
Was nice not listening to the he-haws on the washboard roads in the Badlands.

All in all a very fun trip but leavened with lots of boring freeway miles.

Here's a pic since all posts are better with pictures.

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Currently:
'90 Syncro Westy 3 knob w/Zetec

The information age has morphed into the age of disinformation and willful ignorance. Agnotology!
Help the fight against Truth Decay.
Defend democracy, support Ukraine.

[seventyfo]

This years trip was about 3500 miles from Orlando to Niagara Falls through West Virginia and PA, staying at 4 Mile Creek on Lk Ontario. Then heading over to Schenectady for a couple days and heading north to Ft Ticonderoga, on the NY side of Lake Champlain. We took the ferry over to Vermont, camping at Branbury state park for a couple days and hiking up to Silver Lake, then remote camping in Bingo Brook NFS. Drove from there to Acadia NP staying in Blackwoods Campground for 5 days with a couple drives up Cadillac Mtn and around Mt Desert before heading back to Fl, 17 days in all. Besides a squeaky alternator belt no issues, the 2.2 wbx I rebuilt last year ran awesome.

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85 Vanagon GL Westy GW 2.2 (Rebuilt by YT)


"I don't know you well enough to care about your comments". Watkins Cravey

[erikgundy98]

Portland to Bolder Colorado, by way of Redwoods, Hunnington Beach, Prescott AZ, Grand Canyon, Moab, Arches NP, Vail, and finally Bolder.

Now to camp at lakes around Bolder and do some hiking. Then long road home.

So far, 2660 miles down, with the only casualty being a lost lug nut, and loose wheel. Pulled into gas station on west entrance to GC to see what the horrible noise was. Found the missing lug nut w/4 loose friends. Tightened them up, bought a set up nuts in Navajo Nation and kept right on going! Caught it early enough to keep from ruining the rim.

Went 25mph in between 1st and 2nd gear (Auto Tran) up Vail Pass on I-70. Craziest pass I’ve ever been over.

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'90 Multivan Westfalia

[coqcitywesty]

^^^^^ Pics look great as does the trip itinerary - I am planning a red rock country trip for 2019 (California coast this year) including the usual Utah/AZ suspects and have been wondering how a stock WB 2.1 with an auto will handle the challenging grade changes. From what I am reading, drop it down into 2nd and be patient?? Not to derail the thread, but any/all advice is welcomed and will support my California trip as Lake Tahoe (6000+ feet) is on the itinerary.

[TDCTDI]

July '04, in a '82 diesel Westy with a '92 GTI 1.8 conversion. NC to Kanata Canada & back with no issues except for how frigging hot it was. I've got some pics somewhere of us passing a Lamborghini Jalpa that was suffocating climbing up the Catskills. We'd pass him on the climbs & he would come tearing past us on the downhills.
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Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.


GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!


An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.


Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.

[9.5isCanadian]

3000 miles round trip.

Left Kelowna BC, on April 29th and pointed the van south down Hwy 97 / 395

First day was long, we wanted to clear Washington so pulled into Deschutes River State Park.
Relaxing started right away with Mrs. 9 1/2 not waiting for me to put the darn camera down.

Headed down through Sierra, Trukee with a stop at Lake Tahoe

Down into Death Valley

Chilling in Stove Pipe Wells

Bad Water

Look up on the right of the van, high on the cliff. That's a Sea Level Marker.

Dispersed camping at South Rim

The mrs taking a shift at the wheel. Heading out of Nevada

Moab, always a great time.

Kalispel, finally burning the fire wood we bought in Deschutes.

Don't really remember where this one was taken.

3000 miles and 15 some odd days. One of the best holidays the Mrs and I have been on. The freedom to roam where ever, when ever.

Good times ahead.

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9 1/2 - missing a few pieces.

1987 Getaway Hightop
1980 Sunroof Vanagon
2018 BMW R Nine T
2012 Golf tdi

[erikgundy98]

[E1]

We've gone 53.000 miles so far interrupted by the following breakdowns:

— 7/31/13 - Day 1 -- coolant hose failed at Mile 80 as idiot mechanic left it touching manifold, Minturn, CO, but at least he was expensive and delivered it five weeks late

— 11/13 -- replace radiator hose at campground near Yosemite, CA

— 6/14 -- alternator that came with bus failed, replaced with NAPA brand, Ukiah, CA

— 7/14 -- water pump failed in Hood River, OR

— 5/15 -- water flooded gas from hole in evap tank in Golden, CO, injectors were fouled for 16 months though several mechanics failed to test them despite my requests, including one in Denver wasting over $1,000 on all but that test and telling me it idled poorly for being fully-loaded

— 9/16 -- replace injectors ourselves at racetrack in OH

— 10/16 -- replace starter battery on SC coast

— 10/16 -- replace NAPA alternator that killed starter battery after alternator suicide in SC, no funeral as fellow alternators were busy

— 11/16 -- transmission whining badly on Blue Ridge, limped all around Florida to central Texas where we were convinced we'd drink Lone Star for weeks, continued to San Diego, to Santa Cruz to install awesomely-rebuilt unit by Arizona Transaxle in March

— 3/17 -- replace NAPA alternator with Bosch in Death Valley, CA (no funeral despite the synchronicity)

— 5/17 -- starter wire failed near Blanding, UT after 120-mile backpack, fixed it at burger joint

— 7/17 -- distributor wire failed, soldered and limped it another 6,000 miles

— Today -- ran out of beer
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‘84 Westy, 2.1L with Digijet, 5.43 R+P, GT Gears
"Adding power makes you faster on the straights.
Subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere."
— Colin Chapman

[E1]

[dhaavers]

"Only" 18 days, but just finished our longest trip to date: MN---> UT & back, 3885 miles.

Climbed many passes over 9000 feet; topped out at 11,903 ft heading out (near Del Norte, CO)
& 12,172 ft heading back (Trail Ridge Rd. In RMNP). The new trans got a workout in all gears!

Yes, we made it with no major problems, but as always a few issues popped up:

- windshield wipers needed snugging during rainstorm (as on each of the previous 2 trips...)
- broke one window crank (GW "high clearance"), replaced with spare from glovebox (as on previous trip)
- AC fan switch burned out. NOT an option where we were headed with 100* temperatures,
so wired a "plug & play" workaround from spare parts packed along... worked great!

- With now over 50k miles we've put on in our ownership, experienced our first-ever
suggestion of Vanagon Syndrome on the last half-day before arriving home (loss of
power above ~3k rpm). At first attributed to bad filter &/or gas as it initially cleared
up after replacing fuel filter from spare packed along, but reappeared & we just limped
home maxed at 55mph the last 45 miles...at least we got to take the scenic route!

More details to be posted separately as a trip report...

Cheers!

- Dave
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86 White Wolfsburg Westy Weekender
"The WonderVan"
<EDITED TO PROTECT INNOCENT PIXELS>

[Ride-Fly]

2200 miles. Portland, OR to Yellowstone via Boise. Return leg via Spokane, Leavenworth up to Anacortes, then down south through Seattle.

Only one issue- no start which might’ve been an ignition issue or poor negative ground connection only experienced on the first day after 8 hrs on the road.

[Abscate]

Ms. 9.5 is really a 10’ even in Canadian numbers, but you knew that already
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.ssS!

[mcnajason]

81 aircooled with a engine I built right before the trip.
From Ottawa Canada to Tofino BC. Down to Yosemite, back up to BC. Back and forth across the rockies 5 or 6 times. Then all the way back home to Ottawa. Over 25k. Only one issue I had was the electronic distributor at about 6k in. Swapped it out for the old trusty points dizzy I keep in the ban and no other problems.