We do about 5 Thing Trips during the year that are around 4-5 days long and can cover 500 -1,000 miles in length. Some of these are to distant National Parks (Glacier) or just rough Back country By-Ways on the vast public lands of the BLM.

We do a lot of pavement…but the Things we drive are set up for minimal or no roads when needed. This is in addition to the numerous day trips (100-300 miles) or evening runs to out-of-the-way attractions like favorite restaurants to far flung towns outside of Boise. We do our share of sustained high speed driving on some interstate as well.

My web site is set up to show how this type of use is attainable with our Things. You DO have to be prepared to take care of breakdowns or items that may fail in route. You need parts & tools to do this.

Last year we did a 3 Day trip across the Magruder Corridor of Central Idaho. It covered almost 700 miles of which the 117 mile segment of the Magruder is in a Primitive Area. The only item that needed attention was Gary Weiskircher’s carb that was replaced at The Red River Corrals. It wouldn’t ‘dial in’ so we just put a spare on and were off. This list is just a starting point. You may add or delete items according to your usage, especially TOOLS.
List of items you should have with you for Thing trips.  I break them down into 3 segments.

1. Tools
2. Parts– For short trips near home.
3. Parts for Rallyes– and long distance /backcountry trips

1) TOOLS

Got to have a decent set of tools!  It doesn’t do any good to have the parts if you are trying to put them on with a hammer, a Bowie Knife, & a roll of duct tape.

• Metric wrench set of box wrenches, heavy on the 10, 13, & 17mm.  Same for the 3/8 drive metric socket set, but have more than one long & short extension.
• Two long and two short screw drivers ….Phillip & slotted.
• Pliers….regular & channel locks. Needle nose if you lose a rear wheel bearing.
• Adjustable wrenches large & small.
• Vise Grips
• Hammers…….large & small ball peen.
• Wire cutters & wire strippers.
• Timing light & dwell meter.  I recommend Flaming River Timing Light, (FR 1001) as it is self powered and has one wire to hook up and/or dangle into the pulley. Keep fresh batteries in this unit.
• Feeler Gauge   (for setting valves)
• Dwell  meter.
• JB Weld
• Couple of tubes of sealers like Yamabond No 4, RTV or Permatex 2 & 3

2) PARTS
Extra Parts such as:

• Distributor
• Coil
• Carb
• Fuel pump (Carquest Airtex 1109)
• Oil Light sending unit   (Carquest  PS 121)
• 3 quarts of oil  (Delo 15-40)
• Brake fluid
• Spark Plugs
• Points, & Condenser
• Plug wires
• In line gas filters
• Fan Belt       ( 905 mm for generator, 912 for alternator)
• Valve cover gaskets
• Fuses  (red)
• Pulley  (generator/alternator) These have broken!
• Gas line (6 ft) plus clamps.
• Bag of assorted fasteners ( nuts ,bolts, clamps, electrical tape, duct tape, electrical connectors, and other such items that will bail you or your buddies butt out)
• Spare lug nuts
• Spare rocker arm shaft clips  (for those of you running stock shafts)
• Shift rod connector  (for the connector under the rear seat)  Duke lost his one time.
• Wheel bearings for your Thing. Inners and outers. Don’t forget the seals as well.
• Wheel bearing grease
• Speedo cable
• Clutch cable
• Throttle cable
• Clutch hook

3) EXTREME PARTS FOR LONG DISTANCE OR REMOTE TRAVEL
Big Stuff

• Brake drum. 1 Rear
• Steering Box
• Master Cylinder
• Complete rear axle shaft with seals for flanges. Cover each CV with a zip lock bag.

The distributor and carb are in Ziploc bags. These have been previously put on the Thing and timed, and /or adjusted so they can just be taken out of the bag and installed. I carry everything in soft-sided zipper bags. One for the carb, distributor, coil, and fuel pump. Another for the fasteners. One more for the small items item like cables points plugs and wheel bearings.

As usual, you can add to the list according to your individual needs. Dale Mueller always has chocolate cake and draft beer. For me it’s pistachios and green tea.