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

[pedrokrusher]

Wow!!!
Just... Wow!!!

[dhaavers]

[Abscate]

[Jake de Villiers]

[dobryan]

2017 recap:
March - 2600 miles from MD to Key West and back, no issues
May/June - 5000+ miles from MD to Syncro Solstice and UT national parks with my 80 year old mother. Roadside CV joint replacement in CO.
August - 600 miles towing a 1000 lbs trailer camping in PA, no issues
August - 1800 miles from MD to MO to watch the eclipse, 900 miles on Sat, fishing on Sun and Mon including eclipse, 900 miles back home on Tuesday, no issues

Now time to rest a while.
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Dave O
'87 Westy w/ 2002 Subaru EJ25 and Peloquin TBD

"To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive." Robert Louis Stevenson

MD>Canada>AK>WA>OR>CA>AZ>UT>WY>SD
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=620646

Building a bus for travel in Europe (euroBus)
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=695371

The Western Syncro build
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=746794

[grambo]

Quite a few eclipse travel stories, so here's our stats:

Drive to John Day area via Quincy, CA and back- no issues: ~1500 miles
Year and Engine: Stock 1990 westy with 2.1 engine
Camping for 6 days stream-side in Malheur National Forest with our 3 year old daughter and 9 month old son: Priceless!

Just hit the 100k milestone last fall, and was a little worried about making the trip. Here's to hoping for another 100k (mostly) trouble free!

[dplumtree]

just came back from a 6,300km trip from Calgary, Alberta to Dawson City, Yukon and back.

we stayed at the intown trailer parking lot for ease of sightseeing. you can see how muddy sections of the klondike hwy were.

visited the riverboat graveyard

saw the massive moble dredge now a museum.

and did the mandatory gold panning looking for the motherload.

Van ran great and even easliy passed the massive 5th wheels being pulled by woefully underpowered SUV and trucks.

i highly recommend this trip if you can
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1990 Vanagon full camper

[MsTaboo]

Got back late last night from our Eclipse trip to Unity Oregon. About a 1500 mile trip via the roads we took.
Like all the long distance trips we've taken in the van since the Zetec conversion back in '09 there were no problems, although in the worst heat there was a new squeal coming from one of the wheels so it's time to repack the wheel bearings. A job I've been putting off, it's the last major piece of overhaul on the van; replacing all the bushings and bearings.

Going to Unity for the Oregon Eclipse Camp turned out to be a good choice, fantastic weather and lots of experts with fancy equipment.
Trip back was HOT and SMOKY!
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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.

[h00drat]

We did a 1,200 mile round tripper early this year. Northern Oregon - Northern California and back in a big loop. Didn't even have to open the engine lid. Only issue was with my ignition. Lost my headlights and windshields wipers one night and had to drive an hour or two holding my brights on. Temp fixed it the next day and replaced the ignition switch as soon as we got home.

1987 Wolfsburg Weekender
Stock 2.1 Auto
At the time, around 240k miles (not sure if/when rebuilt or replaced)
_________________
<<Tyler>>
1987.5 Wolfsburg Weekender / CHC / 2.0 ABA
CHC Top Thread
Engine Conversion Thread (2.0 ABA Swap)
ABA Swap - Image Gallery
Auto Trans Rebuild - Image Gallery

[Slimvest]

1250 miles, 9 days and 11 mountain passes. Left from Portland out to Joseph for a wedding. Headed to a spot on the Snake river for the eclipse then on to McCall, ID. North through Lewiston and back down for a couple more nights Enterprise after a night camped on the Grand Ronde. Lots of items to test my (and my wife's) stress levels!

- Coolant dripping from the junction between crossover pipe going to underside of H2O pump and pump. Very slight. Been chasing this off and on since motor was installed 35k ago. Added coolant once.
- Speedo cable came loose (fixed)
- odometer went on the fritz. starting and stopping. time to revisit my prior repair
- van was slow to "wake up" when starting at the high elevations in the AM, but otherwise was fine. lower idle upon initial starting.
- motor died coming into a gas station randomly in La Grande. planning to do a tune up.
- one incident of vanagon syndrome. Prior incident in early Aug made me clean grounds before the trip, so not too sure. Hadn't had the issue for a decade.

Still managed nearly 20mpg running supreme the entire trip with bigger AT tires. First time using premium fuel for an entire trip, but figured with the mountain passes it would be a smart move. Long winded enough??

RJE 2.2 w/ manual trans. Both have about 35k on them. 196k on van.

_________________
'87 GL w/ Reimo top

[bokonon42]

6000 miles this month from SF Bay to Wilmington, NC over to TN for the Eclipse, and then back home. Traveled with my 13 year old son and his 13 year old cousin, and our 2 boston terriers.

My Vanagon had 243k miles and a new WBX engine somewhere in there (have only owned it since Dec) but went through a lot of stuff beforehand including new cooling system, starter, alternator, battery. I brought along replacement fuel filter, pump, wires, plugs, dist cap, just in case.

I was a little worried going thru Mojave desert on the way out as it was mid-day at 115 degrees. No problems at all (aside from no AC)

I was a little worried driving thru the pouring rain in north TX but my wipers held up. My stock headlights were crap (useless).

I got pretty worried in GA when the temp and humidity were out of control (Hotlanta is no joke). I caved in and got a seedy motel for a few hours just to cool down the dogs before continuing later that night.

Hung out with family in Wilmington NC for a few days and then went on to Spring City TN to see the eclipse. Perfect weather, (tho hot of course) and great hospitality of the small town. A ton of traffic getting out of there, but unforgettable experience.

Drove down to Oklahoma and back to the 40 to head back home. It was super sketchy for me around AZ as we drove thru a killer lightning storm (flashes would be so close that they would blind me for a few seconds). I think I shouldn't have done that, especially with the crappy headlights. Also with my broken antenna, would get a ton of rain water on my left foot Van held up great, but I pulled into a rest stop to crash for a few hours and let it pass.

Needed to get some gas before hitting Mojave desert on the way back and found some deserted ghost town gas station to fill up (first error). They had 86/88/90 - i didn't want to do 86, so opted for 88 (probably my second error). anyway, got into Mojave and things were going well, until it started sputtering, it would lose all power, then pick up again and continue. Did that a few times randomly with that tank of gas. Once I got to the next station and filled up, things were fine again. Some scary moments in Mojave tho!

Anyway, the trip was great family fun, lots of stories to go into the history books with mosquitos along the Mississippi, snakes and frogs in TX, that seedy motel in GA, oh yeah and a total solar eclipse. I am thankful for the vanagon (and this community) for providing these experiences for us that we will not soon forget.

Sorry not much for pictures, but have to throw in one from a KOA in Albuquerque. We stayed at a few KOA and they were intersting, but I think we tended to be more rest-stop type of travelers.

oh yeah, and first thing I did upon returning was go to van-cafe and take advantage of their special on the SA LED headlight bundle! And will install my antenna!
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Terry
88 Vanagon Wolfsburg Carat - https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=671319

[campism]

Sounds like a trip the kids won't forget!
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'87 Westy in Wolfram Grey Metallic

[MsTaboo]

[Microbusdeluxe]

First real trip since installing the Zetec. 3,300 miles Bellingham, WA to Green River Lakes, WY for the eclipse and some nice king bolete mushrooms. Then a loop through Idaho searching for trout (got 'em) but finally the smoke got too bad so we beat it for home. Vehicle ran flawlessly. I can cruise at 70 mph and the Zetec just purrs along. Steep hills still require a downshift. Since I had a 112 hp DJ motor in it before the increase in power is not great, but is noticeable. Biggest difference is that it doesn't feel like I'm abusing the motor when pushing it a bit.

So...after driving hard for 8 hours we made it to the final fuel stop in Thorp, WA. Filled up, turned the key...nothing. Did it twice more, still no go. Many curse words, I was on my last T shirt that even I could smell, the smoke was rated "hazardous" and I we really just wanted to get home. Once more try and it fired right up! Pedal to the metal, kept it running while my wife ran in to get the pizza and made it back home.

Next day worked the diagnostics: Battery good, power at switch, check, power through switch (my initial guess), yep, power good at starter motor. But wait, what's this? Nut on big starter terminal a bit loose. Tightened it up a full turn. There it is!

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'69 Squareback RIP
'65 21 window deluxe sold before the price spike, damn it.
'70 rhd bay now a taxi in South Sudan
'81 Westy sold
'89 hightop Westy Joker syncro 16" now with Bostig!

[szegedin7]

Recently completed cross country NY-LA, for the third time.

Left with a crack in the thermostat housing that was clamped down. That got me as far as PA before it started leaking coolant. Super-glued it at a truck stop and that got me 2000 miles, until the punishing heat (what did I do, exactly?) and altitude of Arizona. Waylayed in the Devil's armpit at Winslow, AZ for a couple days, but since I had pre-ordered the part and brought it with me, the local mechanic got me back on the road for a very reasonable price although everyone in town was like "you're at their mercy, city-slicker!" Learned that it's bolted on with some kind of TORX 4.2mm (?) thing, so I was not as prepared with tools as I thought. The guy kindly offered to let me do it myself with his tools, but I decided not to put my life in my own hands.

I learned along the way that my van -- 260,000mi and no rebuild -- LOVES high octane gas and octane booster. Will never travel without it again. Because the hardest part is the mountains. She runs smooth as butter on flat roads at 60, but getting through PennsHELLvania was tough, because it's like a nightmare 300-mile rollercoaster with Bronx traffic that is not fun. Missouri and the Southwest were no better on 40. I love going on the flatter NY-JAX-LA on 95 & 10, but couldn't justify the detour. Some of the Texas and Oklahoma driving was nice, when you can mellow out and just look around at the green pastures and the cows. First time I've done a trip this long with almost no night driving, so I saw everything.

However, one leg from Winslow to LA had to be timed perfectly so that I passed through Needles, CA at 3am when it was "only" 96 degrees. Going through there during the day in 115 degrees was out of the question.

Overall a marvelous trip and lots of nice folks along the way, although I didn't see a Vanagon between NY and Huntington Beach.

[nevyn]

Before leaving California, the harmonic balancer and a couple small things needed replacement, but then I drove straight to New York with no problems other than having to watch my coolant and power steering fluid (since both have slow leaks). Now I'm currently in Tennessee and am having a bit of linkage, or transmission issue, as well as idle timing issue, that I'll be posting questions about shortly... but that was a good 4k or so with no problems!

[boravr]

Just finished a big one, Edmonton, AB -> Yellowstone -> Zion -> Grand Canyon -> Las Vegas -> LA -> San Francisco -> Edmonton. Got back this past Sunday.

7000 km/4300 miles, 15 days - yes, lots of driving/not enough time but we only had two weeks and decided to take full advantage of it. Had a blast!

Van did good, too - not a single breakdown.125,000 miles on original WBX, automatic. We did develop a decent oil leak after 111F Nevada heat/uphill climbs, took it to Maxed Performance in Huntington Beach and two valve cover gaskets and half an hour later we were back in business.

I will try to post a full trip report in the coming days, once all the photos are sorted through.

Yellowstone:

Utah (gorgeous views everywhere):

Zion (we did not plan for it but Salt Lake City -> Grand Canyon North Rim route took us straight through the park and we loved it:

Approaching North Rim, elevation 8000+

Vegas (the van did not like 111+ degree heat, thats for sure):

Finally, California (these pics are from Emma Wood State Park, Ventura County):

Picked up a Fiamma from van-cafe, super friendly folks:

Overall, the memories and experiences are unforgettable, still in awe from the trip.

[dobryan]

^^^. 👍👍👍

And that is why we love these vehicles...
_________________
Dave O
'87 Westy w/ 2002 Subaru EJ25 and Peloquin TBD

"To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive." Robert Louis Stevenson

MD>Canada>AK>WA>OR>CA>AZ>UT>WY>SD
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=620646

Building a bus for travel in Europe (euroBus)
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=695371

The Western Syncro build
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=746794

[E1]

On a 1,500-mile trip now from Durango to Eldora Speedway in Ohio, then Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Halfway now maybe, camped on the Missouri River and blissful in having wacked the last mosquito in the van for tonight.

On this leg that's the biggest trouble so far.

We've done 45,000 miles in 49 months continuously, so technically there's no start nor end to our trips anymore. A parts trailer wouldn't suck.

'84 Westy, 284,000 miles on the gauge but think it's actually well over 350K.
_________________
‘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

[Eric_Taylor]

I just got back from an over 2100 mile trip from Bend Oregon to Yellowstone and back. We stopped in Jackson, WY, Teton, and Ketchum ID along the way. The van is completely stock, but has a motor with around 30,000 on a full top end, and 100k on the bottom, 30k on the tranny, and a recent cooling system overhaul including SS pipes, FAS tranny cooler, and new torque converter.

It was great. I was hesitant to head out if i'm honest, and during the trip I was expecting an issue at any moment. The van completely surprised me and was nothing but ROCK SOLID. I just checked all the fluids, and it was tip tip. I always had the goal of posting a successful trip in this thread and here I am! Awesome trip. Here's a couple pictures.