Ever Dealt with Breakdowns in the Middle of Nowhere?

[Vance Hogg]

Breakdowns happen, especially in remote areas. What essential tools and spare parts do you always carry, and how do you manage unexpected mechanical issues when help is far away?

 

[smritte]

That's actually a tough one. I think your kit should be based around your skill and vehicle type. Staying on top of your maintenance and being proactive as well as realistic come into this also. having a scan tool to read codes does you no good if you don't have a manual, tools and a very good understanding of what your doing.

Early on (mid 70's), I went through a huge learning curve with this. Being a professional mechanic helped too. When you build your tool kit, use it to maintain your vehicle. An example here is, my Cruiser needed a tire rotate. Normally out come the floor jack and jack stands. I keep a long travel hydraulic bottle jack for my lifted vehicles. It didn't go high enough and I then realized my lug nut socket didn't fit my rims. Can you imagine trying to change a flat 50 miles from any road?

I wish I had pictures of the break downs and repairs I've done over the years. Stronger replacement parts have only been available for just over a decade. We use to carry spare axles, U-Joints, stop leaks, diffrent oils. I still carry fuel tank repair putty. In the late 80's i started building alternator welders and carried diffrent pieces of metal. In the mid 90's my kit changed because we started driving in the rocks. that was another learning curve in itself.

Today, I carry a pretty complete tool kit but very few spare parts. On the cruiser, anything that could break is replaced with Chrome Moly or DOM. All my engine parts and sensors are only OEM replacements. No crap parts on anything that could leave me stranded. My drive line gets refreshed at just over 100k. Maintenance is done regularly.

My Tacoma has 15k miles. I don't have a tool kit for it other than a good bottle jack and a few hand tools. The big difference being, if the 1996 cruiser stops running, I can fix it. If the 2019 Tacoma stops running, I'm probably walking. Considering I work for Toyota, that should mean something.

The older it is, the easier to work on but the more things you have to keep on top of. The newer the vehicle, the harder to work on as well as fewer things you can field fix.

My ultimate off road toy would be a 50-60's vehicle modernized for strength and comfort, a late 80's small block chevy with a throttle body and a non computerized 4 speed auto. Simple and dependable. Oh must have AC too.

 

[Ken S]

First off, you will never have everything you could possibly need. I do have Garmin inReach with me. Thats good for emergency. I do carry a full set of sockets metric and imperial. Pliers, screw drivers, duct tape, wire and a few other random things.

 

[Frank Vos]

AAA and WeeBoost

 

[Cole Darrill]

Your never going to have everything that could go wrong with you. Now I do carry a decent set of tools and a number of ways to communicate to others. Plenty of recovery gear as well. Sometimes the best course of action is to have a buddy with you.