Essential IDI spares for remote areas and extended journeys?

[gatorman21218]

I also have a bunch of rubber and orange straps. Use those mainly for securing the odd piece of lumber/vinyl to the rack but they could hold any thing in place if something brakes i can imagine.

A roofing nail and epoxy will fix a hole in a fuel tank.

 

[Optikalillushun]

oh and i forgot a bloody machette and axe... :-D

 

[George D.]

Flack and kevlar?

Seriously I think a spare truck would be cheaper than carrying all these parts. might as well add a spare IP.

Lets see what do I have in mine? Duct tape JB weld a jack tire plugs don't think I have a lug wrence 12v air comp for tires heck all I need is a lug wrench and some bailing wire and I'm set. theres this litle secret called preventative maintnace replace it when its wearing out dont wait tell it craps out in the midle of no where.

 

[Dirtleg]

Once on a cross country road trip in my 78 f250 I broke down many times. First was a heater hose in California central valley. You know the desolete part on I-5. Cut off the hose about 2 inches and put it back on. Problem was water. I had none. Went to a nearby farm and borrowed a water hose. 1st problem fixed.

Later that day going over the Grapevine I started plugging fuel filters. Had to keep stopping and blowing backwards through the filter till I could find a parts store and get several replacements. (truck had been sitting 2 years and apparently the tanks had rusted).

Then the starter solenoid on the firewall died that night. Got a replacement in the morning. I was stopped in Indio (desert) that afternoon due to a sandstorm for a few hours during which time I fixed the non operational heater valve.

I slept at a rest stop till about 5am just east of Tucson and woke up to black iced over roads followed immediately by a snowstorm that lasted all the way to Austin Tx where I broke the drivers side front wheel bearing about 40 miles out of town. Good thing I had an electric die grinder with me as there was no getting the old bearing race off the spindle. Fixed that.

Left Austin and that night another damn ice storm rolled in (January in north texas). Well about 40 miles from the Mississippi border in Louisiana the water pump bearing gave up. So I ended up hitchhiking to Jackson Mississippi to get a waterpump (the only parts store in Tallulah Louisiana was closed on Sundays) and back and installing it in a truckstop parking lot in an ice storm.

Drove from there to Atlanta (home at the time) in the ice storm stopping regularly to swap fuel filters the whole way. Good times I tell ya.

My opinion on spares. If you need it as a spare buy a new one and install it. Keep the old one as a spare. It's been my experience that when I personally have a problem on the road it is due to a neglected item or a random failure.

The only time the IDI left me stranded away from home was a failed A/C compressor clutch bearing. So even though I had a new serp belt and the wrench to change it I was not carrying a spare compressor and thus I was SOL.

Although this past week I had an experience where I did need to stop and buy some epoxy. So you might want to add that to the list as well.

 

[burtcheca]

Dirtleg,

I think Homer heard about your trip and then wrote the Odyssey.

I admire your perseverance.

Burt.

 

[towcat]

those of you who have traveled in the midwest and western states will know preparedness. these trucks can be fixed on the side of the road barring major mechanical failure. I carry a toolbox full of spares because I can. pretty much most everything has been covered plus 10 gallons on water 6 gallons of oil and 20 gallons of diesel fuel. a "Magic siphon" for the diesel, couple rolls of paper towels both the shop and home type. dishwashing soap, catch basin for the washwater, and a couple of flats of individually bottled drinking water.
I also carry 100ft of rappelling rope, rappelling harness fitted for my fat ass, axe, pickaxe, shovel, manure shovel, 20lbs of oil absorbent, a heavy duty pushbroom, large roll of heavy-duty garbage bags and four 10lbABC fire extinguishers. I call this last batch of tools my gardening tools, I use it more often than I like, but it gets me into the action with accident recovery's and cleanups.

 

[f-two-fiddy]

Holy Crap TowCat... You have any room for passengers in Your rig?