Trip through the mountains

[DieselDavey]

Hello again,

My 75 year old Mother and Father in law want to borrow my Burb to pull their camper from Michigan to New York.

The Burb has 166,000 miles on it.

They have a lighter camper so weight is not my concern...

I'm worried about the Burb breaking down on them while they are in the mountains, far from help...

Seems as soon as I bought the thing, the power steering pump blew (I'm still working on that, and should be done today).

I'm worried that something else may give up the ghost during their trip...

Any advise?

I'm going to may sure they have an emergency kit as described on this web site...

Also a new (spare) PMD...

Would anything else help? Anything to check besides the normal fluid levels & stuff?

Dad is very able bodied and a great mechanic (he's helping me with the power steering in trade for using the Burb on His trip).

The Fuel Injection Pump is newer... I'm not so worried about that.

Any suggestions?

[AKMark]

If you've been keeping up on it, don't worry so much about it.

I'm closing on 200K quickly and yes dumb things happen, but I wouldn't hesitate to drive this thing across the country this afternoon if I had fuel money.

[Yukon6.2]

Sign them up for AAA for towing insurance,then if something happens at least you don't have to worry about the burb being in the middle of nowhere and the folks stranded.Someone will bring them in to a garage or civilization depending on where they are camping.
If you do figger out how to predict what will go wrong,let us know.I will want to find out about lottery numbers:D
Thomas

[DieselDavey]

Thanks,

They have AAA...

Yep, wish I had that crystal ball!

I guess I was hoping to hear about other people's experiences.

What has happened when you were a hundreds of miles from home and towing?

I guess anything could happen.

I've only had this vehicle for a thousand miles... then the power steering pump went (got it repaired, works great).

Wish I knew the vehicle better. I would not worry so much.

[Robyn]

Just good Preventive maintenance is the key as far as the Burb goes.

Be sure the PMD is remote mounted and stuff a spare PMD in the glove box that can be swapped out in a jiffy along side a mountain road.
Be sure your spare has the resistor in the plug socket too.

Other than this item the rest is pretty much the luck of the draw just like any rig new or used.

Robyn

[DmaxMaverick]

Check and double check the jack and spare. Make sure the jack works, and the spare is in decent shape and holds air. Even new tires can blow out. The wrong time to discover the spare is flat, or the jack doesn't work is when you (or someone you care about) need them.

[AKMark]

I had a bearing spin 350 miles from my destination when I was moving to my current assignment. I had a friend who was already where I was headed so he came out with a trailer and towed me the rest of my trip.

I got lucky, the tow cost would've been $1500 or so to tow it where I needed to go. Repair costs would've been about the same as well, since I didn't have a garage to work on it.

[a5150nut]

DD,
It sounds as if he already has a vested interest in your vehicle and would take care of it. If it's going to break, it' going to break. It will pick it's own time and place no matter what you do. What's life if you don't take a few chances once in a while?

Give them the first couple hours, then turn of your phone, have a drink, and don't worry anymore! :D