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richparker Samba Member
Joined: November 24, 2011 Posts: 6982 Location: Durango, CO
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Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2016 9:03 pm Post subject: Re: Overlanding a VW Bus Around The World?! |
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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. _________________ __________
’71 Westy build
Adventure thread
’65 Deluxe Build
’63 Deluxe Build |
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chabanais Samba Member
Joined: July 27, 2002 Posts: 4866
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Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2016 9:04 pm Post subject: Re: Overlanding a VW Bus Around The World?! |
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Yup... Top Gear took one to the North Pole. Also parts are everywhere.
Brian wrote: |
The Toyota Hilux is probably the best designed vehicle to exist. There is a good reason that every other country utilizes them. |
_________________ "I spud therefore I yam." |
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HastaAlaska Samba Member
Joined: November 22, 2012 Posts: 1420 Location: Off Grid
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Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2016 9:11 pm Post subject: Re: Overlanding a VW Bus Around The World?! |
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richparker wrote: |
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. |
I'm trolling.
That's too funny. I'm asking for advice on upgrade options on VW how is this trolling? _________________ Around The World in a VW - Follow the Docuseries
2011 - PRESENT
Hasta Alaska Series - https://kombilife.com/hasta-alaska/
World Overland Series - https://kombilife.com/world-overland-travel-series/
Latest Adventures - https://www.youtube.com/@kombilife |
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GTV Samba Member
Joined: March 27, 2004 Posts: 2084 Location: Si'ahl
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Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2016 9:40 pm Post subject: Re: Overlanding a VW Bus Around The World?! |
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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. _________________ EMPI Power Rules! |
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richparker Samba Member
Joined: November 24, 2011 Posts: 6982 Location: Durango, CO
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Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2016 10:13 pm Post subject: Re: Overlanding a VW Bus Around The World?! |
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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
....... _________________ __________
’71 Westy build
Adventure thread
’65 Deluxe Build
’63 Deluxe Build |
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TomWesty Samba Member
Joined: November 23, 2007 Posts: 3482 Location: Wyoming,USA
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Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2016 10:20 pm Post subject: Re: Overlanding a VW Bus Around The World?! |
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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. _________________ If you haven't bled on them, you haven't worked on them.
Visit: www.tomcoryell.com and check out my music! |
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Xevin Samba Member
Joined: January 08, 2014 Posts: 7628
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Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2016 10:21 pm Post subject: Re: Overlanding a VW Bus Around The World?! |
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HastaAlaska wrote: |
richparker wrote: |
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. |
I'm trolling.
That's too funny. I'm asking for advice on upgrade options on VW how is this trolling? |
Oh buddy. Now you want a reliable caravan to get you through the next 4 years in somewhere Asia. Well, when you stopped in Portland last year you could of had your pick. With people that would have kicked in some pesos, pounds, and dollars. For the record. The thing you need most is a bunch of honest
Friends. Honest friends looks like this from the outside circle.
But in the inside Circle, friends break balls,
[img][/img] _________________ Keep on Busin'
67rustavenger wrote: |
GFY's Xevin and VW_Jimbo! |
Clatter wrote: |
Damn that Xevin... |
skills@eurocarsplus wrote: |
I respect Xevin and he's a turd |
SGKent wrote: |
My God! Xevin and I 100% agree |
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HastaAlaska Samba Member
Joined: November 22, 2012 Posts: 1420 Location: Off Grid
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Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2016 10:29 pm Post subject: Re: Overlanding a VW Bus Around The World?! |
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TomWesty wrote: |
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. |
THANK YOU for Stepping up Tom. It nice to see there is some nice community support here on TS _________________ Around The World in a VW - Follow the Docuseries
2011 - PRESENT
Hasta Alaska Series - https://kombilife.com/hasta-alaska/
World Overland Series - https://kombilife.com/world-overland-travel-series/
Latest Adventures - https://www.youtube.com/@kombilife |
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Tom Powell Samba Member
Joined: December 01, 2005 Posts: 4855 Location: Kaneohe
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Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2016 12:30 am Post subject: Re: Overlanding a VW Bus Around The World?! |
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HastaAlaska wrote: |
... I am driving principally to connect with people. The Bus is the best tool for that ... |
But VW bay window is basically unreliable due to age and unavailability of parts in Asia. There are many used Toyota engines and parts available in Asia. VW bus parts are imported from England and the US.
You'll connect with more people if you ride a water buffalo than you will driving a VW.
Aloha
tp |
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airschooled Air-Schooled
Joined: April 04, 2012 Posts: 12722 Location: on a bike ride somewhere
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Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2016 6:26 am Post subject: Re: Overlanding a VW Bus Around The World?! |
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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 _________________ Learn how your vintage VW works. And why it doesn't!
One-on-one tech help for your Volkswagen:
www.airschooled.com |
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Pinetops Samba Member
Joined: March 24, 2007 Posts: 2987
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Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2016 6:34 am Post subject: Re: Overlanding a VW Bus Around The World?! |
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This thing is awesome. _________________ "A rolling bus gathers no rust." |
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Eighty horses Samba Member
Joined: June 18, 2012 Posts: 32
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Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2016 7:40 am Post subject: Re: Overlanding a VW Bus Around The World?! |
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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. |
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skills@eurocarsplus Samba Peckerhead
Joined: January 01, 2007 Posts: 16878 Location: sticksville, ct.
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Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2016 8:06 am Post subject: Re: Overlanding a VW Bus Around The World?! |
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TomWesty wrote: |
I'd like to see some of the Nattering Nabobs of Negativism come up with some real solutions.. |
real solutions? I have visions of a pretty bad ass lifted non vw powered westy...but the guy has zero money.
if he wants a bulletproof build, drop me off a solid 79 westy and 100K....that will get the project started.
were it any one of us here, Robbie, Busdaddy, TP, RP, etc etc we'd be stoked for the idea, and more than willing to help as we are all bus people to the core...
all of trouble you have had on your vacation are so self inflicted due to the worse decision making skills on the planet. so you have to ask, are you really that clueless or are you after the drama?
it's all fun and games till your RTV'd fuel injector pops out in the middle of the night in some shithole country and you wake up dead...I mean you have not taken your vehicle seriously, so how is that we can take you seriously? we can't.
why I may seem to be attacking you is because some well respected members have told me how you had treated them when they tried to help you. you are a brilliant videographer but a shitty bus owner and your ethics as a person are questionable at best. I think most of the forum can agree on that. _________________
gprudenciop wrote: |
my reason for switching to subaru is my german car was turning chinese so i said fuck it and went japanese....... |
Jake Raby wrote: |
Thanks for the correction. I used to be a nice guy, then I ruined it by exposing myself to the public. |
Brian wrote: |
Also the fact that people are agreeing with Skills, it's a turn of events for samba history |
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Bulli Klinik Samba Member
Joined: January 16, 2005 Posts: 2079 Location: Bulli Klinik, Colorado Springs
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Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2016 9:22 am Post subject: Re: Overlanding a VW Bus Around The World?! |
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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. _________________ I've never met a Bus I didn't like.
Mike K
Bulli Klinik
Colorado Springs |
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Clara Samba Member
Joined: June 14, 2003 Posts: 12400
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Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2016 9:38 am Post subject: Re: Overlanding a VW Bus Around The World?! |
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Eighty horses wrote: |
It seems like the answer has already been stated, multiple times. A highly modified, air-cooled VW would be the only VW approach. |
I dunno. I've done lots of road trips with pretty stock VW powered buses. If it starts off with a maintained vehicle, not a lot of breakdown issues. You need to do the 3K mile services.
I don't really understand the problem.
Quote: |
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. |
There are tons of threads on what to bring on a road trip.
FWIW, there were lots of VWs sold in the middle east. That might be a good place to go on a trip if you need spare parts.
asiab3 wrote: |
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. |
You need more pics & updates if you want responses. People love scenic pictures of your bus in differnet places. pics! Good ones on Aug 8th! Since then...nada. If you post pics people will say, "Wow that's awesome!" They want to live vicariously through your road trip in your oddly clean bus while they are at their desk job. Whether you break down or not.
Really, Hasta could use a schoolbus. And a bunch of kids for family friendly drama. I read a great story about a family with eight kids who went around the world from San Diego east to NY to Italy across Europe, through cold war USSR to Japan to SF and south to San Diego in a schoolbus in the forties or 50s after WWII. The father was a WWII vet with a fake leg cause part had been blown off in the war. He also had a military pension.
That mini 4WD schoolbus might be just the ticket. It has that eccentric look. _________________ The Obsolete Air-Cooled Documentation Project http://oacdp.org/ |
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Globespotter Samba Member
Joined: February 16, 2012 Posts: 1770 Location: Newmarket, ON
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Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2016 9:45 am Post subject: Re: Overlanding a VW Bus Around The World?! |
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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 _________________ 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 |
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Amskeptic Samba Member
Joined: October 18, 2002 Posts: 8568 Location: All Across The Country
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Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2016 9:57 am Post subject: Re: Overlanding a VW Bus Around The World?! |
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HastaAlaska wrote: |
I am driving principally to connect with people.
The Bus is the best tool for that, |
Something wrong with that right there.
Based on my reading of your travels, you do not appreciate/understand/support/represent the air-cooled Volkswagen gestalt.
There is a certain relationship that you have to earn with an air-cooled Volkswagen to enjoy its remarkable reliability and dependability. It requires attention to detail, thoroughness, sensitivity, the list goes on.
Please, try driving a Toyota or a Chevy Suburban or a whatever . . .
Colin
- 14 years and 308,000 miles of itineraries without an engine failure _________________ www.itinerant-air-cooled.com |
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busdaddy Samba Member
Joined: February 12, 2004 Posts: 51144 Location: Surrey B.C. Canada, but thinking of Ukraine
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Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2016 1:30 pm Post subject: Re: Overlanding a VW Bus Around The World?! |
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Amskeptic wrote: |
HastaAlaska wrote: |
I am driving principally to connect with people.
The Bus is the best tool for that, |
Something wrong with that right there.
Based on my reading of your travels, you do not appreciate/understand/support/represent the air-cooled Volkswagen gestalt.
There is a certain relationship that you have to earn with an air-cooled Volkswagen to enjoy its remarkable reliability and dependability. It requires attention to detail, thoroughness, sensitivity, the list goes on.
Please, try driving a Toyota or a Chevy Suburban or a whatever . . .
Colin
- 14 years and 308,000 miles of itineraries without an engine failure |
Exactly, I've met quite a few globe trekking bus owners and remarkably most didn't have any mechanical knowledge above basic oil changes and brake adjustments, but they did plan in the odd extra day here and there in thier intenerary for possible breakdowns or maintenance time so there was never a "deadline" to be a certain place right now, If thier bus started making a noise or was down on power there wasn't any question about missing out on some epic surf or some other distraction, they got thier ride fixed ASAP and the other stuff just had to wait.
It's all about the priorities and having the smarts to plan for the worst scenario just in case.
Skiils wrote: |
real solutions? I have visions of a pretty bad ass lifted non vw powered westy...but the guy has zero money.
if he wants a bulletproof build, drop me off a solid 79 westy and 100K....that will get the project started.
were it any one of us here, Robbie, Busdaddy, TP, RP, etc etc we'd be stoked for the idea, and more than willing to help as we are all bus people to the core...
all of trouble you have had on your vacation are so self inflicted due to the worse decision making skills on the planet. so you have to ask, are you really that clueless or are you after the drama?
it's all fun and games till your RTV'd fuel injector pops out in the middle of the night in some shithole country and you wake up dead...I mean you have not taken your vehicle seriously, so how is that we can take you seriously? we can't.
why I may seem to be attacking you is because some well respected members have told me how you had treated them when they tried to help you. you are a brilliant videographer but a shitty bus owner and your ethics as a person are questionable at best. I think most of the forum can agree on that. |
_________________ Rust NEVER sleeps and stock never goes out of style.
Please don't PM technical questions, ask your problem in public so everyone can play along. If you think it's too stupid post it here
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!
Слава Україні! |
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Hikelite Samba Member
Joined: August 31, 2012 Posts: 557 Location: Colville, WA
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Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2016 4:16 pm Post subject: Re: Overlanding a VW Bus Around The World?! |
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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. _________________ ~Kevin
My 1968 Campmobile |
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Brian Samba Moderator
Joined: May 28, 2012 Posts: 8340 Location: Oceanside
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