A question,a thought and a critisim.

[Squatchout]

Never under estimate the power of a telephone and a friendly 4x4 forum. Especially in North America. Recently a member of our Isuzu community was making a cross country trip towing a trailer and blew out his 26 year old rear axle. He made a phone call. A please help thread was posted on the forum. A member in the same state removed an axle from a parts truck. Loaded it up and took it to the stranded member and they installed it on the side of the road. Member was back on the road in hours. Similar has happened a few times in the past. A close knit forum for not so common vehicles can be a real blessing. Sometimes just driving a somewhat built truck can be an advantage. I was on a lonesome highway in the midwest a couple of years ago. I had a vibration that I wasn't sure if it was the truck or just the pavement. I pulled over to take a look. A local Jeeper saw me on the side of the road and stopped to make sure a wheeling brother was OK. It was just the road surface. Community is a beautiful thing. Especially for those of us that prefer somthing not so new or common.

[Erik N]

^^^ +1

I am a member in a Porsche forum, those guys go out of their way to help each other out. When someone buys an old car and needs to drive it cross-country, they rally around and exchange phone #'s, locations, etc, even putting the member up for a night or 2. There have been many instances when the help was used.

The internet is great for stuff like that.

[CodyY]

Not sure about expo yet, I'm sure it's similar, but the ADV forum has always been good strong in this dept

[C-Fish]

^^^In my past life I was an active member in the BMWCCA, same thoughts as above about rallying behind/for membership in need.


Another comment for commonality in vehicles.

I like to be different, always drawn to the unique platforms. I've learned in the past few years that I can be (unique), albeit within the common platform...

Too bad it took me 47 years on this earth and $$$$ to realize, but it's been fun along the way.

[6x6pinz]

I use a some what unfamiliar platform "pinzgauer" for my travels. While it is old, in the past eight years it has proven very reliable (only issue on treks so far has been tires). I do take along forum members contact info for the states I am traveling in. I have yet to need the help but it is comforting to know it is available. As far as time to get parts when I am overlanding I tend not to be in much of a hurry. In the past my vehicle of choice was a Ford F350 diesel. It only caused a small issue with a fuel line, but was extremely lucky to find a very small town. The luck continued in that the town had a ford dealership and had the part in stock. By the time we had lunch and saw the town, covered on foot, the truck was ready to roll again. I know bad things can happen with any rig when out away from society but in most cases there are ways to cobble a rig back together or find a friendly farmer to get rolling again. Talk to anyone who has done extensive "off the beaten" path traveling and they will have stories of what it took to get home that one time.
Remember it is about the journey not the destination.

[BIGdaddy]

I've driven quite a few vehicles, but the only two I've had fail catastrophically were my trusty 4runner (blown 22re motor) and my Chevy blazer (700r4 stuck in first after tranny flush) both on several hundred and several thousand mile road trips, respectively.

The toyota blew in Harris ranch, on the way from Davis to Ventura, and was flatbedded the rest of the way home. No way around it. Slung a new motor in it when we got there, that we bought the weekend I arrived back home from college, from whence I was travelling.

The chevy's tranny was toast, and on a lift in St. George, Utah on the middle of a trans-US road trip (San diego to Alberta, Canada). We found a new tranny in Salt lake, drove like madmen, went and grabbed it and had it installed the next day. On that trip I also toasted my rear driveshaft u-joints. Napa auto parts pressed both out and reinstalled for $20.00. nice!

So, the case of the K5, it was definitely VERY advantagous to have a newish (10 year old) rig with a common drivetrain.

The toyota was a bit of an adventure getting it home, but my dad and I were able to get it repaired on my winter break, in time for me to use it to drive back up to Nor-cal. Having a rebuilt motor ready on a pallet at a local rebuilder certainly helped with that!

[Buliwyf]

I carry about 2 full regular sized tool boxes, but they weigh about 150. Then I do have some common parts and fluids. 2 spare tires. Some recovery gear: Jack, Hilift jack, 3/8" chain, tire chains, shovel, axe.

Just the basics weigh a ton. Not even including my camping gear. I don't know how ya'll do it with the little SUV's and stay within your GVWR. My GVWR is way overkill, and I still have to watch who's trailer I volunteer to pull.

My backup ride is also a mountainbike (Cannondale Jeckyl 1000). My Honda CRF450r is a handy back up vehicle to keep in the bed, but only in free states. In states like NY I'll just get harrased by doughnuts (no plates) even though I'm just trying to find a gas station/phone/parts store/offroad tow truck etc. etc.

[CodyY]

Dingy. A requirement

[dumprat]

A back up ride is not a bad idea but not always possible.

My point was more directed towards guys bolting on "Cool guy" rock crawler parts that are not replaceable in out of the way places.

Hell one off road forum I am on a bunch of chimps are yapping about going on a "Expo trip" in tube frame buggys with next to no fuel capacity and tons of modified and unreplaceable parts. Almost a bad joke.

[Christian P.]

Well I think it goes back to where you will be traveling.

I know that carrying spare is always a good thing - which I was always doing in my Syncro, because parts are hard to come by (or at least need to be shipped)
However when we drove from Cape Town to London with the TroopCarrier, I did not carry any spare. If you needed something, the local "farmer" would most likely have it.