In 2016/17 we shipped our 1969 baywindow bus from the UK to Canada. We crossed the entire USA and covered 10,000 miles. As its a question that gets asked a lot here what tools and spares we carried and why!

 If you want to know what the bare minimum essentials tools and spare list is, rather than carry on reading then……click here

This is a common question I see on Facebook groups and forums. We honestly met camper owners that carried nothing but a AAA breakdown recovery card through to a guy that carries around a spare gearbox! No joke. The difference in opinion between everyone on what to carry is largely down to the journey they are undertaking. A 10 minute drive through town is a bit different to a 10,000 mile adventure full of wild camping miles away from the nearest road let alone human being! Add weather, wild animals and no phone coverage in to the mix then suddenly getting yourself out of trouble as opposed to relying on someone else seems more appealing!

For us it came down to having the right tools and spares to be able to overcome all but the biggies i.e. engine or gearbox failure. We knew that most of the time we would be in populated areas and would be able to get towed, we also knew that VW parts can be hard to come by or could take a while to be shipped. We took some items that could potentially break that we couldn’t sort ourselves such as ball joints but knew would save us time, bearing in mind our bus was also our home.

Due to the weight we kept all tools under the rear seat to keep the centre of gravity low, this included:

 Tools

Full spanner and socket set, breaker bar, small and large torque wrenches, torque multiplier (for rear hub), spark plug socket, large sockets for hub and drop arm, grease gun, allen keys, special short 13mm spanner, Foot pump, multiple fire extinguishers, multimeter, feeler gauges, hex tool for cv joints, wire cutters, crimp tools, socket converters, timing light, flywheel locking tool, pump puller, ball joint splitter, puller and plates, heat torches, bottle jack, trolley jack, tyre pressure gauge, oil filter removal tool, oil filler jug, clutch alignment tool, circlip plier set, mini pry bar, 2x jack stands, 2 x workshop manuals, club hammer, mixture of screwdrivers, duct tape, metal ruler, normal and thin nose pliars, mole grips, fire extinguisher x 2,jump leads, battery booster, knife and hub cap tool.

 Spares

Spares were kept in the cubby holes that early baywindows have under the front seats, we tried where possible to put the heavier items on the opposite side to the interior cabinets to evenly distribute weight.

We carried all cables, brake lines, brake cylinders and small parts, all ignition parts, lug nuts and hub nuts, spare bearings and hub seals, carb rebuild and linkage spares, fuel and oil pipe, fuel pump, fuel filter, rocker assembly parts, duplicates of all service items, bulbs, fuses, wiring kit, a variety of nuts and bolts and clips, full engine gasket set, JB weld, duct tape, fanbelt, rocker gaskets, oil, grease, carb cleaner, GT85 lubricant, a ball joint, brake fluid, cv joint and cover, cable ties, circlips, split pins, washer, nuts, bolts, cable ties and hose clamps, spare distributor, sump plug and washer, clutch release fork, 12v coil, rubber gloves, hand wipes.

We kept anything oily, dirty or smelly in two hardcases that we modified to fit on the original westfalia roof. They were bolted on and waterproof, we stored several oil change kits, and anything else that was dirty in one and light weight spares in the other.

Having all the tools and spares is awesome. Knowing what your issue is and how to fix it is another story.

The Wayoutwestie Glovebox Survival Guide covers everything from service intervals through to what to do when you break down

Available in digital download and hard copy here

Update : 15.08.18 – So what did we actually use?

Ok so, on a big trip spanning from UK to Canada, coast to coast of the USA, up to 11000 feet in the Rockies, in +40 temperatures in the desert and -15 in the snow we used :

• 5 oil changes (oil, strainer, sump seals, external oil filter, sump plug  and nut washers) – (10mm wrench, adjustable spanner, oil filter wrench)
• 16 rocker gaskets (one for each oil change and addition valve adjustments and issues) – (screwdriver, 13mm spanner, feller gauges, torque wrench with 13mm socket)
• One throttle cable (snapped in Pittsburgh when joining the motorway) (allen key, 8mm spanner, cable snips, grease and lots of swearing)
• One exhaust nut (one came loose and caused an exhaust leak) – (13mm spanner)
• One clutch clip (gave to a friend in need on vancouver island) – (screwdriver and adjustable spanner)
• One engine support bar bolt (came loose and fell off in califonia Big Sur) – (try finding a metric size in am imperial country)
• One rocker wavy washer (broke and cause the rocker to be very noisy) – (screwdriver, 13mm spanner, feeler gauges, torque wrench with 13mm socket)
• A number of fuses and bulbs
• One fanbelt (became too loose to tighten) – (19mm spanner and flat blade screwdriver)
• Leaking push rod seals (I had to install an adjustable tube to stop a leak). – (vice grips, 13mm socket and wrench, feeler gauges, torque wrench with 13mm socket)
• I rebuilt the twin carbs once and re-jetted them twice (blocked jets and a sticky float after some dodgy fuel / dusty drive) – ( Thin nose pliers, stubby flat blade scredriver, normal flat blade screwdriver, fuel hose crimp)
• Used jb weld to fix our rock n roll bed (fix still working now!). Also used jbweld to re attach the window winder channel back to the mechanism as rusted off and the window fell in!
• We also broke the sliding door handle when it was -15 and snowy in BC. Luckily I found one on craigslist!
• I adjusted the brakes when needed or every 5000 miles. I had to take a drum or two off to inspect a binding issue on the rear, parts wise just a new splitpin – (Bottle jack, axle stand, 17mm socket and breaker bar for hub nuts, 42mm hub nut socket, torque multiplier, flat blade screw driver, club hammer)

Before I left I overhauled the brakes, steering, suspension and engine