I sincerely disagree with the idea of replacing massive amounts of parts
right before a trip. I'd much rather carry the new ones with me and run on
the old ones.
Reliability is EARNED, not purchased.

I've seen far to many parts come defective from new, or be installed with a
simple mistake such as forgetting to tighten the hose clamp which results in
serious problems. I would definitely carry an assortment of hose clamps up
to 10'' (Ever have a muffler fall off?) as well as various pieces of regular
hose and splices. I've more than once fixed a coolant issue with pieces I
had on hand and filled up with whatever was available.
I've run my WBX on Gatorade, River Water, and Green Tea before.
As well as pieces of copper pipe, vaccuum cleaner hose, and self fusing
tape.

Be weary of "FIXING" something right before you leave.

-Craig

On Thu, Aug 25, 2011 at 12:33 PM, Don Hanson <dhanson928@gmail.com> wrote:

> On Thu, Aug 25, 2011 at 8:45 AM, Jim Felder <jim.felder@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Hmmm. Wouldn't it be better to replace them in the driveway and not have
> to
> > think about it at all?
> >
> > Jim
> >
> >   Statistically significant is the number of times I have 'fixed'
> something  before it broke only to have my "fix" cause me problems that I
> didn't have before I fixed it.
>
>  I am not a sloppy mechanic...I usually take my time and try to do
> everything correctly.  However, over the years, I have come to believe
> (within reason) that 'leave well enough alone' or "if it ain't broke, don't
> fix it" those old sayings have merit.
>  Sure, if you look at all the hoses in your vanagon and see bad looking
> cracks, bubbles, splits, etc and rusty clamps hanging....you may be better
> off doing some pre-emptive replacement at home in the comfort of your own
> area....Then again, you might break a plastic pipe, miss-install a clamp or
> something.....and that sucks if it was working, however bad it looked....
>
>  I have a cool T-shirt..."I do not intend to tip-toe carefully through
> Life, only to arrive safely at Death"
>
>  I go for it, with a big bag of parts...and sometimes I don't have the
> right ones when something lets go, but so what?  I make do...
>