Carrying spare parts

I carry a few basic spares and repair bits such a fuses, bulbs, water pump, cooling fans for fridge, gaffer tape, araldite and superglue, odd screws. A spare kitchen tap would cost me £100+, so that is not on my list. A basic tool kit including copper mallet, torque wrench and multi meter are in the van or car.

I'm guessing if you carry a spare wheel bearing you must also have the one shot nut, a 3/4" socket set and torque wrench along with a trolley jack.

Colin

Many years ago I had a wheel bearing go in France near Briancon.  Luckily I was able to get to a site and the owner contacted a local garage; they came, jacked my caravan up onto supports and 5 days latter a new bearing was fitted; I think I paid €40. We just spent a few days in an area not planned! Despite this, a bearing is not on my list of spares.  I carry a replacement water pump for Aqua Roll, gaffer tape, super glue, fuses, bulbs, WD40, a few odds and ends and multi meter together with a tool box - almost the same as Colin's above.  I did think about taking a spare kitchen sink but thought that a little extreme.

Oops, I forgot to mention the cable ties, methylated spirits, WD40 and ptfe sprays. The latter is a must to apply to the click stop window stays at least once a year. More than once I had a window lock in the open position until I took up this maintenance.

Colin

I’m sure that the French, like Brits, have a dedicated bearing supplier in every major town. The big problem is gaining enough local knowledge to find the supplier. Bearings have their sizes engraved on them and they aren’t specific to your caravan for example. We’ve mail ordered parts from Amazon after switching to their French search tool. Corner steady pads can be vulnerable, so spares are useful and so are water system fittings such as pumps and external connectors because Brits tend to use on board facilities whereas continental travellers tend to use site facilities. Staples like glue, screws, tape, bolts etc are readily available. For the most part, innovation and improvisation are called for. Last summer we improvised part of a garlic crusher to replace a broken BBQ foot and paid a garage to weld up a fractured chair leg. A locksmith cut a replacement for a broken hitch lock key, and superglue held a cracked water inlet together. Long stays close to the 90 day limit encourage repairs over just making do until we’re back home. Oh! Patch kits for air frame awnings seem sensible too. We’ve never needed a tow rope until this years saturated ground caught us out. Although our tool kit/ spares grows annually, there’s always something unforeseen needed.

I tend to be a 'just in case person' and carry all sorts of bits and pieces - like three spare water pumps and another for the inboard tank!

Reading this though - made me smile - sorry if I go slightly off-topic! Many years ago, Ros and I were making our way down the french canals in our new yacht - heading for the Med. Just left a little marina in this sleepy little French village when the alternator warning light came on.  Limped back to the marina and saw that the main alternator securing bolt had sheared.  It was a Sunday morning!!

What to do????  Got out French phrase book and established the word for 'bolt' in French.  Gently tapped out the sheared bit from the engine casing and set off into the village with the two bits, practising my french in my head as I went. After a while, I came across this scruffy, tiny garage - and it was open on a Sunday!! In my best practised French, I asked the owner if he had a replacement bolt and showed him the old  broken one.  Immediately - and in perfect English, he said "No problem - in fact I have one in Monel steel and that definitely won't sheer"!! He charged me the equivalent of £1.

I'm convinced his helpfulness was a reflection of the fact that I had attempted to initially talk to him in French We always found the French to be incredibly helpful.

Over the years the things I needed,   but negligently forgot to take, included a rear window for a Freelander, a second spare wheel, a silencer, a brake servo replacement unit, a replacement battery,  and a welding kit to fix the tow bar  which broke away when 19 year old number one son flew a humpback bridge too fast. My ex Woolworths tool kit remained unhelpful.

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Apart from basic diy stuff and tools I rely on good old Red Pennant.  Never had to use their service - yet......

Thank you Eriba matters - no I don’t envisage changing the bearing myself - that’s why I have red pennant/ green flag but like Jenny C I assumed a bearing for an Alko chassis would not be a problem. As it took for Monday p.m. till Friday p.m. to locate and fix clearly it is even though we were only 15 mins from Rouen.
My local garage took less than 10 minutes to change the other side (just in case) when we got home. 
most of the other things (gaffer tape, cable ties etc  I have, now I have some springs as the door lock locking spring broke this summer and I couldn’t believe the cost of a new door lock!