[chris vickery]

I always carrier the basics but two things that I have found to be most invaluable are a cell phone and at least a list of current part numbers. Barry is correct in saying that you can never carry enough spares, but at least being able to cross reference items is of some help. Murpy's Law applies, the part you need will be the one you don't have although you thought you had everything!

Knowing one's vehicle is most important, its particularities, quirks etc. Take for example any Ford, whether it be a cmp or universal carrier; have on hand a coil, points, rotor, cap or perhaps an entire spare distributor and a few plugs and the appropriate tools. These beasties are notorious for having ignition breakdown due to old or worn out coils. A spare fuel pump is handy too as these are also known for their vapour lock problems as well.

I learned the above from personal experience, having to change an entire dizzy along the roadside on my first 12 cab. Lucky for me I had my phone and was able to get my brother to run me out my spare from home and it was a slow country road with little traffic. Add to this that it was a beautiful sunny day and all in all it wasn't too bad. At least it wasn't in 3 feet of snow in a blinding storm fixing brakes on a 2 1/2 ton (been there, done that too!)