I’m new to the overland world, and trying to get prepared for contingencies- I have an 1996 FJ80 and I keep hearing that folks have “belts and hoses” in their repair kits. I’m wondering if someone can recommend WHERE to purchase and WHAT to have on hand for these kinds of replacement parts. I searched these forums and can’t find this info, but if it is already there and I just have not found it... my apologies!
Thanks!!!
How recently have you replaced the belts and hoses on your FJ80? If it has been a while I recommend putting new belts and hoses on the truck and then keeping the old parts as trail spares. If you do the work yourself then you'll know how to change them on the trail if the situation arises.
There is a tricky balancing act between carrying spare parts and taking up a lot of room on your truck. Ultimately there is always something that can break that you won't be carrying, so it can be more space efficient to carry multi-use repair materials such as tape, sealants, bailing wire, etc.
A while ago I posted an inventory of the things I carry in my 4Runner. Here's a link in case you are interested in checking it out.
https://www.overlandbound.com/forums/threads/vehicle-inventory.10765/
Over 18+ years of offroading my friends and I have only had four critical breakdowns that meant the end of the trip, and only one of these was coincidentally repairable by spare parts that we carried.
1. The thermostat on my Grand Cherokee seized and caused the engine to overheat. Due to reliability issues with that truck I had a spare, and some RTV, and after replacing the thermostat was able to drive home.
2. The power steering pump pulley on my Grand Cherokee fragmented. Short of carrying a spare pulley or pump there's not much you can do about this, I had to get towed home.
3. A friend rolled his Nissan. Not much you can do to fix this on the trail.
4. A friend's wheel bearing was loose and destroyed the spindle. He had to be towed.
We've had several other failures that could be fixed with basic supplies. In the vast majority of these cases spare parts were not used.
I think the most important things are to keep your maintenance up to date, avoid traveling alone, carry tools and basic repair supplies, and learn to do basic repairs to your truck.
