Some of my favorite caving trips involved fixing a car on the side of a road in Mexico. I think young cavers today would be surprised by some of the things that cavers used to do to fix their caving vehicles in Mexico.
I seem to recall back in the 80's that the mexican cars were completely different models from those in the U.S. and parts were not interchangeable, so someone would have to take a bus back to the states for the parts, and take the bus back. I personally feel that some aspects of cars are much more reliable today. For example, because of fuel-injection, we no longer take our carburetors apart on the side of the road. I think you can say that automatic transmissions are more reliable today. Electronic ignition was a huge improvement. What else is more reliable - power steering, air-conditioning, computers, water-pumps, alternators - I don't know ? Disc-brakes seem to breakdown less than drum brakes, right? It is much harder to fix modern vehicles on the side of the road, and in many cases, you are better off to just fork over a whole lot of money to a tow truck driver. [ In Mexico, their is a good highway assistance program. Look for the green trucks. ] How would you fix automatic 4x4 hubs on the side of the road? Also, in my opinion, domestic trucks and SUV's built in the 80's and 90's were more prone to having "unexpected" break-downs. Things like transmissions, and tranfer cases and computers, on those vehicles seem to be more likely to give you trouble. If that was true, is it also still the case? Cavers should always carry things like fan belts, radiator hose, duct-tape, bailing wire, pliers, extra water for radiator, tire repair kit, spare tire, etc. when travelling in the mountains. I think it makes sense to drive a vehicle that is less than 10 years old on a caving trip. This would reduce your odds of breaking down. But I can also see the argument that driving a simple SUV from the 70's in the back-country would allow you at least a chance to fix something if you became standed. I am really surprised that we don't have a car advertised as a"Disposable Car." This car would be designed to fall apart all at once at say 50,000 miles or 100,000 miles. You would only do basic maintenance and then recycle it. What is the closest thing we have to that? David --------------------------------------------------------------------- Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com
