I bring a spare truck!!
When I went to nashville TN in 1992,my "list" was two pages long!--I brought spare altenator,starter,complete HEI distributor,gas filters,fan belts,put brand new hoses on,a 12v compressor and tire plug kit,a gallon jug of oil,and dextron trans fluid,2 new U-joints(just in case!)--in short,I brought everything but a short block and a spare tranny and rear axle!--but I'm paranoid about being stuck on the side of the road without the tools and parts to fix something,seeing I know how too--*(and how bad you can get raped if you do have to get towed in to a shop in a strange place!--theme from "deliverance" playing here!)--
-But my trip was mostly uneventful,even though my van had 138,000 miles on it and it was over 90 degrees the whole time--nothing serious went wrong,I did fold the tailpipe in half on a high curb at a gas station,and it kinda skipped and ran weird in VA,but it cleared up by the time I hit TN--the U-joints were not the occaisional "clunking" I heard in nashville,it turned out to be the differential case was hogged out by a spider gear,found that out 2 years later when I decided to finally put in those u-joints,and it didnt get rid of the noise--so I had to put a used rear end in it--but all in all it did pretty good for going 2500 miles in one week,in a 21 year old van....
Oh yeah--one thing I DID forget to bring was SPARE KEYS!!!(locked myself out the first day in TN!!--luckily a security gaurd at the KOA had a slim-jim,and I got the door unlocked!
And I'd bring more food next time too--in case I do end up broke down--at least I wouldnt be hungry!..
