Date:         Tue, 23 Aug 2011 19:31:03 -0700
Reply-To:     Loren Busch <starwagen@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Loren Busch <starwagen@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Minimum spares kit. Was: Alternator Brushes Wore Out Pretty
              Darn Quick
In-Reply-To:  <1314131470.7254.YahooMailNeo@web45302.mail.sp1.yahoo.com>
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 RE: What Spares To Carry?
I travel fewer miles than many on this list, like Mark but have needed
spares three times in the last few years.  First was a regulator/brush pack,
second was a water pump (and don't forget where you stored the gaskets) and
then just last Friday an oil cooler seal.  I all cases I had the spare with
me.  The regulator I did myself, the water pump I was just a couple of miles
from a top mechanic and last Friday I grabbed some extra oil at the NAPA and
headed back home to my mechanic.  But worst case I or a competent mechanic
could have installed the new seal.
Why do I have such things (and a bunch of others) on board?  Because I've
watched the list over the years and see what others have needed on the
road.  And stocked accordingly.
The one item that is usually mentioned in a thread like this (but not so
far) is the Bentley manual (and your AAA card).  And the Bentley is not just
for the people that can do the work on the road.  It's also for Bubba the
'Mechanic That Can Fix Anything' in Wide Spot Nowhere, especially for those
of us that really are no longer capable of doing the work themselves.
BTW, that water pump I mentioned? A replacement was ordered and went into
the Westy and two years later at a WetWesties gathering it went into another
Westy that arrived with a failing water pump.