Re: Long Distance Trip

["David G" <daveglu@hotmail.com>]

> Lists, I'm planning to go a long distance trip (roughly about 1000mi each
> way), this is the first time I've done this, can anyone give me hints,
> suggestions who've had this experience before?  Thanks.
>
  I took my 84 4kq on a LONG trip (apx 6k miles total) a few months ago.  I
drove from Spokane WA to  Cape Cod and back hitting all the major
attractions including Pikes Peak.
A week before I left I checked/changed all fluids, changed all filters,
checked timing belt condition,  brakes, and CV boots.  I also installed new
spark plugs (I found the old ones should have been replaced a long time
ago!).  I do keep my car in quite good condition so there may be other
things you may want to check that I knew was good due to recent maintance,
like belts and hosses.
  The reason I would do this service at least a week prior is to make sure a
new part is not going to fail and the chance to catch a mistake made in
service.
  I also had the following parts with me, Belts, FP relay, Alt regulator and
a spare bulb for my H4's along with a good assortment of tools.
  I used the trip as an excuse to buy some driving lights, I decided on KC
46 (100w) in the competition series which I mounted on top of the bumper for
better performance.
   Keep in mind that my car had apx 250K miles on it at the start of the
trip and I had my wife and 3yr old with me.  We would also be driving in
places (kansas comes to mind) that it would be hard to find a mechanic let
alone one who knew Audi's, it is a good thing that I know my car VERY well.
  We had at least two days that we covered over 1K miles each day and a few
days that we covered closer to 800 miles.
  I knew upon leaving that I had a ODO problem and hoped that I had fixed it
with the dot of adheisive on the white gear and shaft but ended up fixing it
when I got home as it was the metal gear.
  We had a GREAT trip and the only servicing that was needed was to add oil
once.  However we did hit a pothole pretty hard in NYC that I contribute
(along with a overloaded trunk and a small box I built to plug into the
hitch reciever in which we only put very light things like pillows) to a
rear wheel bearing which started to make noise around Ohio and was roaring
through Kansas, but when we stopped I checked and found that there was no
play and having seen this type of wheel bearing driven on in much worse
condition I decided to drive it home.
  Once home I replaced the wheel bearing and found that it just had pitting
in the outer race and was in no danger of the problem getting worse rapidly.
I believe that this was an original bearing.
  The only other failure that I can think of is a CV boot that was replaced
once home too (of course on a different wheel).
  Due to doing a lot of night time traveling I was very glad to have H4's
with 55/100 and the 100w driving lights however I had to be very carefull to
dim them as the 400w of lights did a good job.  Note I did not add anything
for the 4 headlight system as I have removed the highs for a Ram-Air setup.
I figured with 400w I really didn't need them.  I did run into an
interesting situation in that when coming up to a large reflective type road
sign that the lights would light it up bright enough to impair my night
vision for a bit and I found myself dimming for some road signs!
  Dave G
http://www.pelkie.com/mycars.htm