Overlanding a VW Bus Around The World?!

[richparker]

Come on Ben, stop trolling...

You've already said you have found some companies to fund your next vacation, stop poking the hornets nest. It's like you've learned nothing in your last 4 years driving a bus except how to speak Spanish.

Maybe you need a zen yoga retreat in India would help you get a grip on reality.
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Adventure thread
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[chabanais]

Yup... Top Gear took one to the North Pole. Also parts are everywhere.

[HastaAlaska]

[GTV]

For starters, ignore the naysayers. Now here's my tough love-

Obviously I love VW's, but I am well aware of their disadvantages, especially in this day and age. Ever since I started following your journey I've been asking myself what drivetrain I would choose for a Panamerican adventure and I've come to the conclusion that it isn't so much the parts you have, it's having that sense of mechanical sympathy. Knowing how hard you can push a machine. Knowing what that funny sound is and if you can keep going or pull over NOW. Obviously you have been through a trial by fire (starting out with a worn out vehicle, 3rd world countries, little (zero?) mechanical experience), and you have succeeded even though it was all a worse case scenario from the start. But... I don't think you've got that sense of sympathy. Not yet at least. You can do it in a VW but you're going to earn it every step of the way. If you think what you just completed was difficult, it's nothing compared to what you're proposing. So get Toyota. Enjoy the journey. Stop punishing yourself. You don't need a vehicle to be an ice breaker, you can do that on your own. Good luck with whatever you choose, I'll be watching.
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[richparker]

Ben, you're posting in the lions den...and there many truths in his roar...

As the bay window forum chants:
Helix
Helix
Helix
Helix
Helix
Helix
Helix
Helix
Helix
Helix
.......
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’71 Westy build
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[TomWesty]

I'd like to see some of the Nattering Nabobs of Negativism come up with some real solutions. Were it me and I wanted to use a bus it would be a '71 Westy with a mildly modified 1600 dp. Perhaps bumped up to 1776, dual carbs, stock exhaust for low end torque. All news wheel bearings, ball joints, shocks, empi front sway bar. Newly refurbed 002 tranny. Most of all, keep the frigging gear weight and passenger load weight LOW! No bigass plywood boxes on top. Drive it conservatively. Don't beat the shit out of it. Pull regular maintenance. As far as camping mods, you already know what you want and need, cause you've been doing it. People who have never edited audio and video or created content think it just fucking appears out of thin air for them to PIRATE any goddamn time they want for free. Every asshole who's never done it is a critic. I've enjoyed your content, haven't always agreed with your decisions, but I also haven't lived the context they were made in.
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[Xevin]

[HastaAlaska]

[Tom Powell]

[airschooled]

Boesen, that kind of trip doesn't draw crowds, subscribers, or even regular samba readers.

I'm on a trip like it now. I had ten pages of people excited for me to start; now I'm six thousand miles in and nobody reads it anymore because there's no drama. It's just me in my backyard, which happens to be anywhere in North America. But my lack of breakdowns, drama, whimsical rambling about life/nature, and mechanical issues means nobody pays attention... Which is not what you want when you're trying to monetize an adventure through media monetization.

I'm not bagging on te TV show aspect, but a flawless trip draws about as much attention as when grandma used to bring out the slide projector to show us pictures of our second cousins thrice removed from Topeka.

Robbie
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[Pinetops]

[Eighty horses]

It seems like the answer has already been stated, multiple times. A highly modified, air-cooled VW would be the only VW approach.

Even then, things will break. And parts will be hard and in some cases, impossible, to find on that side of the world. So that means no matter how mechanically sympathetic you are, or how skilled, or how much people here chime in to help, you will be stuck - at best, hoping for parts to be shipping from western Europe or North America.

It seems like you would be setting yourself up to fail and have a more frustrating adventure than last time. It is not the advice you want, but I think it might be good advice all the same.

[skills@eurocarsplus]

[Bulli Klinik]

I agree with the suggestion of the 71 Westy. Stock parts will get you far and are relatively easy to find. A thick wall 1835, blue-printed motor built on a new case with a sump and an oil cooler. I'd keep the stock carb for simplicity. Stock air cleaner with a pre-filter. Maybe reinforce some of the suspension points.

I don't think you need one of those over-built, ridiculously expensive rigs to drive around the World, nor do you need a Raby or Skills blessed motor to do it. Build it right. Do the maintenance. Keep the engine cool and lubed and it will likely last the entire trip...if you drive it with respect.

It's about 23,000 miles around the world as the crow flies. Maybe 3-4 times that on the roads? If your builder can't put a fresh motor together that will last for the trip, they shouldn't be building motors.
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Mike K
Bulli Klinik
Colorado Springs

[Clara]

[Globespotter]

The problem here is not the bus - it is the driver/'mechanic'.

The right person could (and has) driven a VW bus anywhere.

Unfortunately, Ben is not where he needs to be in terms of really understanding a VW bus and being one with it. It's a tool to him, and I don't get the impression he is really a VW guy in the true sense of the word.

It takes a lot of time to get there under less difficult conditions. You don't jump off the high diving board without a lot of practice, else you risk breaking your neck.

Yah, I get it - VW Buses are cool. We know. But we drive (and fix them) because we love them, not because people think they are cool.

I agree a different vehicle is appropriate for Ben for this trip, or he needs to buy a VW bus and just use it for a few years for trips other than around the world.

Ben, this crowd is passionate about VW buses and you need to understand that when asking for advice.

Honestly, a properly maintained, driven and fixed regularly by the owner VW bus can go anywhere anytime without so much drama.

If not, then it is has not been inspected, maintained, driven, fixed or understood properly.

Man, I'm starting to sound like Skills
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1977 Westfalia - October 2015 - Current
1971 Super Beetle - May 2012 - Current
1979 Westfalia - 1986-1991
1971 Super Beetle - 1977-1980

1971 SB Survivor Story: https://globespotter.com/
Road Trip Thread: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=511800&highlight=
My 77 Westy Thread: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=647114&highlight=

http://vw-mplate.com/mcode.php?lang=EN&id=30990
https://vw-type2-id.xyz/mplate/72067382

[Amskeptic]

[busdaddy]

[Hikelite]

What a thread.


If set aside OP, and look to the question more generally, are there any modifications that would be recommended for this sort of adventure?

I'm restoring my 68 in anticipation of driving it "around the world" too.

I had not really considered any suspension mods as the Bus has always gone everyplace I asked it to including some I shouldn't have asked

This topic has a lot of other 'discussion' happening, but I came to the thread hoping to find a little info. Would I be better served with a new thread?

I'm not asking for advice on the camper/rv type mods. I am interested in mechanical upgrades I should consider.

Since I have a 68, I have considered upgrading to 71 style brakes, but I'm still leaning towards staying stock there too.
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My 1968 Campmobile

[Brian]

Easy, talk to Bursch
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