>I'm about to take my first trip in my 85 GL, first trip ever in a
>Vanagon. The van is as far as I know in good working order. The only
>running problem is the coolant gauge isn't working, I'm sure that
>scares the pants of a lot of you,

Yeek! I read that and my pants just took off running!

>  but at least the fan thermoswitch is
>working.

Minor problem there is that the fan switch is in the FRONT, whereas the
coolant temp gauge sensor is on the engine. If anything happens to prevent
the coolant from getting to the front (water pump, broken hose), the engine
will overheat and the front fan might never come on. But hey, if nothing
breaks, there's no problem. Everyone has a different comfort level-- I
personally am paranoid and couldn't travel in my Vanagon until I installed
an oil pressure gauge, and I was still nervous because I didn't have time
to install an oil temperature gauge!

>1. What speed is recommended for cruising? It can do over 70MPH but I
>don't like how high the engine is revving to do it. This isn't too bad
>a problem on I-24 in TN but once you hit I-75 in GA everyone flies like
>a bat out of hell. Even the slow lane is going over 70MPH usually.
>Cruise at 65 and hope for the best?

I just came back from a week of travelling about and it seemed perfectly
happy at 4100RPM all day long. I have an automatic and that translated to
roughly 70MPH. I wound it up to 75MPH a couple times passing people (you
should have seen the looks of shame on their faces, being passed by a VW
like that!) but it just didn't sound "happy" going that fast. From what
I've read the manual tranny is geared a bit higher, so 70MPH shouldn't be
any trouble.

>2. I have a bunch of tools and plan to take a good bit of them, but is
>there anything I simply can't afford to forget?

Metric socket set, hex keys, and box wrenches; a few screwdrivers;
vise-grip pliers; volt meter; that should cover just about anything!

>Thanks for the help folks. I know this little trip is peanuts to most
>of you but being my first in the van I want to plan it out a little.
>The van has 5k on the engine, alternator, most belts, lots of the
>hoses, new brakes, clutch, tires, etc so I have faith it will chug
>along just fine but you never know.

Oughta' be fine. It gets easier to relax after the first couple hundred
miles roll by and nothing goes wrong! The List here tends to sow the seeds
of doubt when you hear about all those problems, but these beasts are
actually pretty reliable. We just don't hear about it when they DON'T break
down! Good luck, and have fun!

John Bange
'90 Vanagon "Geldsauger"