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Airman
Samba Member
Joined: July 19, 2010
Posts: 6
Location: Northern California
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 Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 5:26 am Post subject: Checklist of Dos and Don'ts for first road trip |
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Hello all,
I've been lurking on here a little while and I'm already truly appreciative of the information I've found here (stereo options, brake light issue, loose wing mirror, etc.) I'm the new owner of an 84 Vanagon with 114K on the original engine. I love driving this vehicle and although most of my trips will be 3-4 hours out of the Bay Area, I've decided to drive it to a bike ride across Iowa called Ragbrai (that's a whole different story.) I really like/have faith in my mechanic, who replaced the fuel pump and a few other things when I bought it, simply because they hadn't been replaced and were the items most likely to strand me somewhere if they went.
There are 30-something pages of threads with the term "road trip" in them here. Without going through every one, is there a sort of checklist for things you'd recommend bringing/doing or not bringing/doing from a mechanical or other standpoint? It will wind up being about 3200 miles total.
Any input you have from personal experience or otherwise is totally appreciated! |
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FNGRUVN
Samba Member
Joined: October 27, 2007
Posts: 2237
Location: Fort Collins, CO
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| Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 5:48 am Post subject: |
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I'd throw that old fuel pump under the seat as a spare if I were you. Anything I replace that was still working goes back into the van as a spare.
If you're handy with a wrench, I'd put together a tool kit that would include a multimeter and test light. Find out which bolt heads you have on your CVs and pack the appropriate socket/sockets. Duct tape, baling wire, and some extra electrical wire can come in handy.
Get some sort of towing insurance if you don't already have it.
_________________
"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote." - Benjamin Franklin |
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Airman
Samba Member
Joined: July 19, 2010
Posts: 6
Location: Northern California
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| Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 6:01 am Post subject: |
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| Yes, I'm keeping the fuel pump in there, along with a socket set. Definitely worth making sure the right sockets for CV, etc. Thanks. |
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sanchius 
Samba Member
Joined: May 03, 2007
Posts: 1452
Location: IN
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| Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 6:46 am Post subject: Re: Checklist of Dos and Don'ts for first road trip |
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| Airman wrote: |
Hello all,
There are 30-something pages of threads with the term "road trip" in them here. |
Welcome Airman,
You should have lots of fun on RAGBRAI.
Searching on "roadtrip checklist" gives you just what you need, particularly the May 18, 2009 thread.
I'd recommend a healthy credit card and several multi-hour shakedown runs.
Do change the fuel lines and check the existence & tightness of all your CV bolts. |
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akyrie
Samba Member
Joined: March 24, 2010
Posts: 519
Location: Driftless, Wisco
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| Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 7:11 am Post subject: |
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Careful on the CV's Make sure that you are using the correct allen for each bolt. I noticed after almost completely screwing myself by stripping a star shaped allen, thinking it was like all the rest 6 sided ones. shine a light into the bell house to visually check after you have cleaned them. my .2
A
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Although I got a funny message from the Porsche guys, it read, "what a mighty ship that you must sail"
....has anyone else received that?
82 AHU DK, 1950's Puch-black |
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dobryan
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Joined: March 24, 2006
Posts: 16503
Location: Brookeville, MD
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climberjohn
Samba Member
Joined: January 11, 2005
Posts: 1840
Location: Portland Orygun
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| Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 8:08 am Post subject: |
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Airman,
Welcome to Le Samba, and have a superb trip! A few suggestions . . .
1) This I found helpful:
Essential Tool List (3 pages)
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=238180
2) Triple AAA turbo titanium card for maximum towing range, or some sort of good towing insurance.
3) Roadhaus.com access on your wireless device, or lacking that, a printout of good VW shops in states thru which you will travel.
http://www.roadhaus.com/shops.php
4) Take a solid long freeway drive of at least 1 hour. Listen for any odd noises, leaks, or other funkiness. If it passes this, odds are good it will make a longer trip too.
5) Bottle of emergency distilled adult beverage.
Buon Viaggio,
CJ
_________________
'86 Westy, 2.5 Subaru power
Know your limits. Exceed them often. |
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Ahwahnee
Samba Member
Joined: June 05, 2010
Posts: 9808
Location: Mt Lemmon, AZ
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| Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 9:53 am Post subject: |
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Best travel advice I've ever seen is:
Take half the clothes and twice the money you think you'll need.
Lots of lists out there, I would at least have a spare water pump/alternator belt on board. |
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Airman
Samba Member
Joined: July 19, 2010
Posts: 6
Location: Northern California
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| Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 3:29 pm Post subject: Thanks all! |
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Maybe it gives me false confidence that I've done most of these things already. We've done a few hour+ runs. No issues there. The towing insurance is a great idea. I'll call AAA and upgrade. Fuel lines were really recently replaced. The person I bought it from had two pages of mechanic receipts, so my mechanic and I were able to go through and come up with a work schedule, and there isn't a whole lot on it because so much had already been done. The rubber is all pretty much shot, so noise at highway speed is what it is.
So why does the ipod shuffle play better music when it's played through the vanagon?  |
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shadetreetim
Samba Member
Joined: January 10, 2011
Posts: 1994
Location: Riverside, California
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| Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 7:31 pm Post subject: |
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My wife and I just returned from a 3000 mile trip in our Bluestar. The best trip I can remember. Even when I was waiting on the side of the road for AAA when the fuel pump failed, I was comfortably relaxing on the back seat. 
These waterboxers have a beautiful exhaust note at 3500 RPM. I drove for hours with the iPod off to enjoy it. Enjoy your trip.
_________________
Tim Potts
Doing my best every time I drive it to dispel the myth these Vanagons have to be slow!
'89 Vanagon Bluestar/Country Homes 1.8T & .77 4th
'74 Jeep CJ5 |
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blake28
Samba Member
Joined: September 29, 2005
Posts: 141
Location: Iowa City, IA
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| Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 7:47 pm Post subject: |
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I live in Iowa City and RAGBRAI goes right by here. If you need something when you are in the area shoot me an email. [email protected]
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84 Westy
85 GL |
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tclark
Samba Member
Joined: November 21, 2005
Posts: 926
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| Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 10:34 pm Post subject: |
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check list for local shop checklist road trip roadtrip
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=3877932#3877932
If you simply search "road trip checklist"
that would return just 5 hits with a link to the above form that you can either do you self or hand to a vw shop
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89 Westy with TDI AHU 1.9 manual lots of mods
85 GL 1.9, auto (for sold) |
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vanjoe
Samba Member
Joined: December 25, 2009
Posts: 606
Location: Santa Maria
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| Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 11:34 pm Post subject: |
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Airman here is a link to the Vanagon Rescue squad. I am on the list in my area and there are great people on here throughout the country. Good luck and have a safe fun trip.
http://www.vanagonauts.com/Vanagon-Rescue-Squad74.htm
_________________
1990 VW Vanagon tin top weekender Carat
1998 Mercedes S420
"Why is there never time to do it right the first time, but there is always time to do it twice?"
"Back to the basics!" |
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