Moby developed a clutch shudder overnight (actually, on return from the
service station she was towed to after last trip for fuel system related
problems--could towing be cause of this?  who knows).  Anyway, next Friday I
need to leave for river running extravaganza in Utah, 2500 mile round trip.
I probably won't have time to do any work on the car before then.  My
question is:  is this a reasonable thing to do, given my newly shuddering
clutch?

For background, I checked the archives, found that this is a fairly common
problem for vanagons.  Symptoms are heavy & fairly brief "shudders" that
seem to come from the rear end heavily and briefly when starting in 1st or
reverse, especially under load (on hills or quicker getaways) (other drivers
also noted symptoms in 2nd gear, not me).  Many people have been baffled by
this problem, and a lot of part$ tend to get thrown at it, with varying
results.  The definitive cause didn't seem to have been identified, but
possible causes include oil on clutch plate, problems with the throwout
bearing and/or cross shaft that supports it (I'm just quoting archives, I've
never been inside a tranny), flywheel, engine/tranny mounts, a certain brand
of clutch plates, & other theories like air in hydraulic line, etc.

Anyway, trying to read between the lines, it seemed that people often took
their time to fix, or just lived with, the problem, making it annoying but
relatively benign at least in the short term.  If this is true, I think I
would be inclined to go ahead and risk the drive to Utah.  Anyone that can
offer advice to the contrary?  TIA.

Lloyd
Vancouver, Canada
'84 1.9 Vgon "Moby", slightly broken again, as usual