Just how is a typical owner supposed to know that any given part or
repair labor was of high quality and will be long lasting? There are
many cases where no corners were cut during repairs or maintenance but
something goes wrong anyway. That is true life with any car and more so
with our older ones. I carry certain spares in all my Vanagons but the
ones I take to far flung places have a lot more spares on board. The
failure prone alternator bracket and spare alternator are in all of
them. The waterpump is on the same belt as the alternator and you can't
drive at all unless that belt is turning and that means an alternator
installed and spinning.

I realize that some owners would be lost with even simple failures but
those of us that can do simple repairs on our own can save a lot of time
and money by having certain spares with us when they are needed. With so
much Vanagon travel occurring on weekends and/or to out of the way
places, even a simple part can cause a large delay and substantial
consequential expenses.

Summer is here, so time for another "what spares to carry" thread I guess.

Mark

Dave Mcneely wrote:
> so, are we supposed to carry spares for everything that might potentially fail?  I know that some do advocate a whole van full of spares, but at some point it seems, one should buy good parts, pay for or do excellent work, and use the vehicle.  Trips into the far ends of nowhere may require more spares than one would want to carry when running down to the corner market, but there has to be reason to everything.  mcneely
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