We knew that to complete the big lap around Australia “without a hitch”, we’d have to plan for Murphy’s Law – anything that can happen probably will, and when we least expect it!
We’ve watched enough YouTube clips to know that breaking down in the middle of nowhere wouldn’t be ideal, so before starting off on our trip we did our research and spoke to some experts about what we needed to take with us to make sure we had a safe and smooth towing journey.
Emergency Spares
Hopefully we won’t run into strife, but if we do we’ve packed the following items so we can make minor repairs to our caravan and car:
- Belts.
- Oils.
- Grease.
- Coolant.
- 2 Trailer wheel bearing kits.
- Car wheel bearing kit.
- Spare tyres (for both caravan and car).
- Type-puncture kit.
- Oil Filter.
- Air Filter.
- Fuel Filter.
- WD-40.
- Belt grip.
- Cold weld adhesive.
- Zip ties.
- Electrical tape and wire.
- Funnel.
- Old rags.
These spares aren’t only useful in an emergency. Our car needs regular oil changes every 5000km and more major servicing every 10,000km, including filter changes and other oil top-ups. So having these items on hand and being able to do the basics ourselves makes servicing a much cheaper task.
The Right Tools for the Job
If you’ve gone to the trouble of bringing emergency spares, you also need to have the tools to use and fit the spares. We’ve packed open- and closed-end spanners and quarter-inch socket sets, pliers, bash hammer and a full screw driver set.
A Handy Handbook
Having a handbook for your car also makes it a hell of a lot easier to troubleshoot problems when they occur. We’re not mechanics, but we always prefer to have a look over something before calling out for the roadside-assistance teams, especially if it means we can fix an issue ourselves. We’ve done this a number of times already on this trip, such as the time the car wouldn’t start due to starter-motor problems.
We’ve found that being prepared and having essential spare items on hand has saved us a lot of time, money and unnecessary stress when it comes to fixing problems that are bound to crop up during 10 months on the road.
Drew and Court are a Melbourne couple who are travelling around Australia for the next 10 months. They’ll be writing about their experiences for Without a Hitch, giving us the real story of life on the road.
In their next article, Drew & Court discuss the theory behind planning out their their big lap around Australia.
