Stranded 100 miles from home

Gene-C · Post by **Gene-C** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 3:19 pm

O.K. guys just a reminder. When I first got my buggy on the road I carried all of the basic spare parts in a canvas bag. Well after 8,000 miles I became comfortable and stopped bringing that bag everywhere. Well last Sat. night my throttle cable broke in New Jersey. 100 miles from home. No VW friendlies were to be found. a near by Nappa store couldnt find a cable within 300 miles. And to think I have 3 cables hanging from the wall in my garage. I borrowed some tools from NAPA and bought some mechanics wire. I threaded this thru the tunnel and wrapped it around the pedal. This got me home but it was scary. You can bet I wont be going anywhere without my tool/parts bag again

fubar · Post by **fubar** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 3:29 pm

The problem I have with carrying extra parts is that I never break what I have a spair of....

Post by **vincent9993** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 4:19 pm

[QUOTE="fubar"]The problem I have with carrying extra parts is that I never break what I have a spair of....[/QUOTE] This is absolutly true! I've had the throttle cable brake on me once. Solution: Visegrips on the carburator lever! Pulled it to 3K rpm and hooked Visegrips on it. At lights I had to use the "now it's on, now it's off" solution but made it home. The best spare part will always be your mouth and clever thinking! Well done on getting home!

90volts · Post by **90volts** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 4:52 pm

when mine broke i took the choke arm and pushed it all the way down so it would hold the idle open wider and just used the clutch to regulate speed. that was for a very short ride to someones place however.

fubar · Post by **fubar** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 3:11 am

I almost always have a multi tool in my pocket. I like the Leatherman the best, I buy them at the pawn shop because I loose them all the time..It is amazing how much you can fix with one. Zip tyes ,hose clamps, and black tape are nice to have along too.

5150bossman · Post by **5150bossman** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 5:36 pm

To borrow a phrase, a dune buggyist's montra should be "Adapt and Overcome." We all know that a part will always break at the most inopportune time, and apart from the most catistrophic failures (engine or tranny siezes etc...), Things can be usually fixed (even if only enough to get you to a place of safety) in the field. The one way to guarentee that your buggy won't break, is to bring an entire parts car with you on every run

! (We all know that a part can not break if you have a spare part close at hand

). In the couple of years we have had our buggy running, we have had a few minor breakdowns where experienced buggiers have shown us that we can be real creative when it comes to finding a (usually) simple fix to get us back on the trail again. :drinking: