I agree completely -- I have my van inspected every year for stuff
like this. My injunction to the mechanic is: "if you have any doubt
about a hose or belt replcae it -- I also have every clamp checked for
tightness." Having said that I will note that I carry a spare
alternator belt (you can get that rock that flies up and cuts your
belt) -- also carry a sort of hose patch kit (a number of pipe clamps
and a section of slit hose that I could probably make work for most
hoses in a beside the road emergency). Of course since I took this
approach I haven't been at the side of the road -- knocking on wood.

You ariplane analogy is an excellent one :-)

Cheers,
Doug

On Fri, Dec 18, 2009 at 7:09 PM, Tom Hargrave <thargrav@hiwaay.net> wrote:
> Richard,
>
> This is a classic example of a "plan to fail" approach that most of us fall
> into.
>
> I also used to carry around parts most likely to fail. I'd keep spare belts,
> coolant hoses, ignition parts, a coil, etc, etc until I realized one day
> that I was planning to fail instead of maintaining so that my machines don't
> fail.
>
> So, I went a complete different way. I routinely inspect wear items like
> brake pads & such. I change out my brake fluid every 6 months. I replace
> belts & hoses when they start to show wear or at 2 year intervals, whichever
> come first. I find out what hard parts are likely to fail with age and I go
> ahead and replace them at reasonable intervals.
>
> I no longer carry around tool boxes or spare parts - I don't need them. I'll
> even drive my 77 Corvette across country without tools - I don't need them.
>
> I've done this for 15 years now and yes I've had breakdowns - 4 of them. But
> all 4 were catastrophic failures that I could not fix on the side of the
> road anyways.
>
> Oh, and I drive 40K - 50K miles a year.
>
>
> Another way to look at this is - airplanes don't carry around spare
> parts......
>
>
> Thanks,
> Tom Hargrave
> 256-656-1924
>
> Our Web Sites:
> www.kegkits.com
> www.stir-plate.com
> www.andyshotsauce.com
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM] On Behalf Of
> Richard A Jones
> Sent: Friday, December 18, 2009 5:24 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Re: Rubber...Our best friend...Our worst enemy
>
>> btw......the hoses that wear the most are the ones that get the hottest -
>> usually ones on top of the engine.
>
> Soon after I got my '87 Syncro in 2001, I asked my mechanic about
> replacing hoses. �He has many years of experience with many
> Vanagons, and he commented that there were four hoses that
> were the most common to fail. �I put spares of those four on
> board and drove for years until a hose started spewing coolant
> at Syncro Safari '08. �It was one of those four.
>
> I'd look up which four and give part numbers but my Syncro
> is at the mechanic's getting a bunch of new hoses--connected
> to a Subaru 2.5 engine. �;-)
>
> Richard
>

-- 
http://www.dougalcock.com