Hey guys! Just wanted to start a fun discussion thread. If you were to take your old Subaru on a road trip, what would you bring? What parts in particular are prone to failure and should be kept as spares? What tricks of the trade should a Subaru newbie know before taking a car out for a few hundred or thousand miles? I plan on taking my wagon out for a tour of New England this coming August (or who knows where) and I'm curious to see if anyone has experience taking these cars on long distance trips. Thanks all, hopefully we get some fun suggestions here 

Get and read a copy of "How to Keep your Subaru Alive" .  One that covers your model may be found (or borrowed) from someone on this board.  Priceless.

 

Just my 2 bucks

 

Beautiful wagon, btw.

Edited April 7, 201510 yr by NV Zeno

Thanks NVZ! Glad you like her. Already have a copy of that stowed away under my rear seat, it's a great read and so well illustrated.

I don't leave the house without my AAA card haha, $150 a year is worth it to me, mostly because of the free tow and my wife has the added security too!

Atlas, cap rotor , 10, 12, 14, 17 wrenches, bttl of heat, manual, air mattresses to sleep on. Gallon of water, beer, cell phone to take pictures. credit card, tent.  Go to woods hole and check out the drawbridge. 

Plan on the seats being uncomfortable ....

 

Glad to see you going forward with the blue beauty.

Just need a set of these and your ride will be real comfortable 2003 WRX seats

Edited April 7, 201510 yr by Subieguy

What, the granny pillow my car came with won't supply adequate lumbar support? 

 

Mach, without a doubt I'm bringing a cooler with the essentials. I think I have a little Subaru tool baggie with all of those wrenches but I'll check.

 

Paul, going forward indeed! She's in the shop right now getting a full proper exhaust (the straight pipe with cherry bomb gets very tiring) and possibly getting a solution for her sagging rear end. Hope everything has been well by you!

 

And I grabbed these supplies from another thread:

 

• Voltage reg
• fuel pump
• fusible link
• belts/hoses/clamps
• fuses
• clutch cable
• accelerator cable
• maybe an alternator
• accelerator pump and a few carb pieces/jets
• bulbs/headlight
• tools
• flashlight

Edited April 7, 201510 yr by j-karr

Go-Pro !!

 

Edit it all down and post the tasty stuff online for us - YouTube etc.

 

Hoping for a good blow out day at storage soon. I'll give you a message on that soon, I hope.

Blow out day eh? These days I really only have Friday and Monday off but I would more more than happy to help you sort that out. I learned so much about my car last time and I need some more knowledge dropped on me!

Go-Pro !!

 

Edit it all down and post the tasty stuff online for us - YouTube etc.

 

Hoping for a good blow out day at storage soon. I'll give you a message on that soon, I hope.

Great Idea ... Replace the Cyclops light with it ...haha

In 9 years, the only thing that's threatened to leave me stranded was a burst heater hose.

 

A fanbelt and spare ignition supplies, plus a bottle of oil and water and a few tools would be wise. Also, a multimeter and a length of wire.

 

That reminds me, my ignition wiring failed once and I had to hotwire the car by hooking the ignition coil to the battery with said bit of wire.

 

I've done a lot of mods over the years, but the best by far was installing a pair of heated leather seats from my mate's Ford Mondeo...

Cuba mentioned " length of wire" , YES , thanks for posting that.

 

Have alligator clips on the ends if possible.

 

Those unknowing , you may have to one day run a jumper from the battery positive to your fuel pump to get home etc.

 

Great simple addition you'll be ever thankful for having on that day.

A long shoelace or something may be nice to have too.  For example if the throttle cable breaks you could tie it to the linkage and fish it up the window and pull on it to limp the car off the road.  (when mine broke in my GL I just used a screwdriver and advanced the idle as high as it would go)

Blanket.  Jumper Cables.  Depending on time of  year, tire chains.  Tow Rope/Chain.  Flashlight (Dual Use ones w/ a wide beam light and a normal light are best).  12v air compressor (although if you have a dead battery and a flat tire I suspect you have other things to deal with. ).  1 Gallon Gas Can (in those emergencies if you miss the gas station you'r not trying to find the gas can, just get to the gas station).

 

The parts sound good as well, but the water is necessary.  I also tend to carry some "snack foods", enough to get 2 people by for 2 days is what usually stays in my emergency box for car trips.