Cars

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[edit] Cars

Cars and trucks burn gasoline or diesel... oil, corpgovs favorite addictive drug. If you buy into their game and get a car you are part of the problem. That being said, sometimes the freedom of personal transportation can be worth the risks of easy identifiability and corporate buy-in a car represents. Times have changed, when Abbie wrote his book the price of a gallon of gasoline was 34 cents and Amerika was the world's largest oil producer! Look for a car that has useful parts that you can strip and use for other purposes or one you can use as a shelter even after fuel is no longer available to the masses.

[edit] Save Gas

Once you've filled up your gas tank, there are several ways to go further on that gas. This is both good for you and bad for the gas corps because you'll spend less money, and burning less gas is good for the environment too!

Slow down! Vehicles are most efficient in the lowest RPMs in the highest gear - for most, this means between 45 and 55 mph. Even if going faster would allow you a higher gear and lower RPMs, aerodynamic drag hits harder the faster you go. You'll save a significant amount of fuel just slowing down to 70 on the highway, as opposed to 80.
Clean out everything you don't need. The more weight you're carrying around, the more your car has to work and the more gas you use.
Don't tailgate or draft. First of all, tailgating is illegal (you don't want to get pulled over) and dangerous. Secondly, it causes you to brake every time the car you're following brakes, and every time you hit the brake pedal you're wasting gas.
Keep your car properly maintained. Specifically, keep your tires inflated and keep your air filter clean. Together these can save you 15% or more on mileage. Keeping your tires properly inflated also reduces wear.
Check out your check engine light. You can do this for free most anywhere - borrow an OBD scanner from a friend or see if a local mechanic/oil change place/car parts store will let your borrow one for 5 minutes. Your check engine light could be on for any number of stupid reasons - your gas cap is too loose, your engine got wet - or it could be something like your spark plugs that will affect your gas mileage.
Drive softly. Fast starts take more gas. Also, as soon as you see a red light or stop sign that you will need to stop for, take your foot off the accelerator and coast.
Limit your use of air conditioning since AC uses a LOT of gas. Try to save it for freeway driving, since wind resistance from open windows causes drag and effects your mileage.
Drive to a parking lot close to the freeway and use a bicycle for the rest of your in town movement. A bicycle on a rack or folding bicycle in your trunk should do it. The bike can also save you in a breakdown (see Cycling).
Excessive external cargo even bicycles on racks increase your aerodynamic drag especially when moving at highway speeds, if you have to transport your stuff try to disassemble it and somehow cram it into your vehicle.

These are the simple steps anyone can take. There are also methods of driving that can get you 40, 50, or even 90 miles to the gallon, but these can be dangerous and are not for the faint of heart. For more information, see: http://www.hypermiling.com/ .

Some people even mod their cars to make them more aerodynamic: See: http://forum.ecomodder.com/showthread.php?t=290

[edit] Buying

Something worth considering is buying a salvage/rebuilt vehicle. While most people have been brainwashed into thinking that rebuilt vehicles are junk, they can save you a good deal of money. Often times insurance companies will write off a vehicle involved in a low-speed crash with deployed airbags. While the first owner is left with a small check and no car, you could potentially buy a car for as little as half its blue book value.

Ask at several car repair shops before picking a used car. See what they suggest for specific years, since some may have upgrades that were left out of older models. If the owner won't let you take the car to a mechanic for a checkup or even have an on-site mechanic/inspector check it out, be suspicious and look elsewhere. The money spent on a pre-buy inspection is well worth its price.

[edit] Car Co-op

A car co-op, which is available in many US cities, lets you pay a membership fee monthly for the option of reserving a company owned car at an hourly rate, most plans include several free hours and the rate is often cheaper than regular renting. Most of us don't need a car that often unless we use it as our home. This idea could be done on a small scale by pooling several junkers and letting friends sign up to use them everyone would pre-pay monthly maintenance and fuel bills.

[Zipcar] is one such car co-op service. You usually have to be at least 21 and possess a valid driver's license to sign up for their service. It'll cost you about $75 to sign up for their service, plus hourly fees for the vehicle, but gas and insurance is included in those fees. Could be a good deal if you only need a car once in awhile.

[edit] Fixing Up

The reality is, many of us are forced to drive cars or trucks with less-than-perfect equipment. In many states the corpgov welfare for corporations solution to this is regular inspections. They want to make sure that what you're driving is safe for you. This means, for instance, that the blinker that 90% of drivers hardly use in the first place (and are rarely ticketed for) need to work. Thats a minor issue, but older cars also have problems with door locks, hinges, a broken mirror, etc., and these can be expensive to repair, especially on someone else's schedule.

If you find yourself with a car that is unlikely to pass inspection but is still safe to drive, ask around about getting your car inspected. Usually, a case of beer or a bag of weed along with the inspection fee will get you a free sticker, good for one year of flashlight immunity, despite having old wiper blades and a door that doesn't open. Plus, it's always good to know an "honest" mechanic. And the best mechanics are not opposed to helping a brother out of a jam in exchange for a buzz, while fucking with the system a bit.

[edit] Tires

It goes without saying; Keep your tires properly inflated! Soft tires waste gas, and over-inflated tires wear out quicker. If you see uneven wear, you need wheel alignment. This can be done at a repair garage or tire shop (and they'll try to sell you a new set). Remember to rotate your tires every 3,000 miles to ensure even tire wear.

If you need tires, ask at an independent tire shop if they can sell you used tires. Some places that specialize in custom wheels will keep the stock tires and wheels that new car buyers bring in. Savvy car enthusiasts will order a high-performance car with all the trimmings, but have stock tires, since the dealer mark-up is so high. Then they'll drive from the dealer to the tire shop and swap the stock tires and wheels for a custom selection that's much cheaper than at the car dealership. Those stock tires are often kept by the tire dealer, but can't be sold as "new" even though they may have been driven as little as a few blocks. Many times, these tires are sold "as is" (no warranty, no returns), but the dealer may throw in free wheel balancing in the purchase.

A word of warning about those anti-flat solutions like "Slime": They only work when the wheel is in motion. When stopped, the stuff settles in the bottom of the tire. Also, when it's in the tire, it makes it impossible to have it balanced or plugged/patched.

A trick used by 4x4 racers is to find a puncture by sound or using dilute dish soap and looking for bubbles, mark the leak so you can find it again with a white crayon, now jump on the deflated tire near the bead(seal) until it opens so the inside can be accessed, only open one side if possible. A inexpensive tire plug tool, contact cement and rubber plug is enough for most tire repairs. To reset the tire bead the valve stem core is removed to vent the excess pressure (there are many after market tire valve caps that have the little tool built in) some ether starting fluid is sprayed into the tire (DANGER) and a match is thrown in. The small explosion pops the tire up and the bead back into place about half the time so give it a few tries, then replace the valve core and inflate to proper pressure. Another trick is to wet the bead (make sure it stays clean) and using a rope around the tread of the tire for tension, begin pumping, if you cinch the rope tight and use water and a little soap for lube and seal this sometimes gets a good enough seal to pop the tire back into the wheel. If the bead on only one side is open flip the tire over so its weight will push against the open seal and try pumping it to pop the bead back in.

Free tires aren't very hard to find. They can be found at soccer fields, tracks, or other community and high school fields for sports. Just drop by at night to avoid hassle and take a few. Inspection is suggested.

[edit] Glass

It should be obvious that you need to keep the windows, especially the windshield, as clean as you can. Check your windshield wipers. If they streak, replace them. When it is raining, you NEED to see where you're going. Polishes like Rain-X will cause the rain water to drift off the windshield, but only when the vehicle is in motion (It uses the wind to brush the water away). Small dings and cracks may be fixed with glass repair kits available at better auto parts stores, or if your insurance covers it, you can have them done by an auto glass service. If there is a crack or fissure that radiates from a repair after you've fixed it, you may be SOL and need to have the windshield replaced. This is not something for the backyard mechanic. Shop around and get quotes.

If you live in a cold climate, get windshield wiper fluid that is formulated for the cold. The last thing you want is wiper fluid freezing on your windshield when you're driving.

[edit] Repairs

Haynes and Chilton publish a wide line of owner-friendly repair manuals available at both book stores and auto parts stores. These books vary in quality. Oftentimes they cover too many models and can be somewhat vague, but they are usually workable. However, you can get the factory service manuals for most cars free online in PDF format with a little googling, and these are always preferred, as they are incredibly detailed and specific.

If your headlights start to dim as you are driving this is usually caused by a dead or dying alternator. On older model cars these are easy to replace yourself most of the time. Don't stop the car as it will likely die. Your spark and fuel injection are running only on battery. Only think about killing the headlights.

If your car sputters after holding the gas down for a few seconds when passing it might be a clogged or old fuel filter. These can be super easy to replace inline filters or almost impossible to replace inside the fuel tank units.

Letting your battery die over 4-5 times will seriously weaken or destroy a car battery.

If the car overheats try changing or topping off the radiator, as it might be clogged with calcium or rust, try a flush or radiator cleaner compound from an auto parts shop. It could also be that the oil is low or the oil filter is clogged increasing the heat and wear. The radiator is easily damaged, note the location of leaks when the engine is hot. When you are in a safe place and the engine is cool you can try first adding a radiator stop leak, if this fails find the damaged tubes and brush clean then solder. if this fails bend the tubes over and add stop leak again hopefully plugging them for good. Keep several gallons of water in your trunk to refill the radiator if there is a boil over. If you use those tough bottles that antifreeze comes in to store water, NEVER DRINK IT! The coolant residue is toxic so carry extra drinking water in a separate container.

Basic fluid changes are an important maintenance job, and are very easy to do yourself. You'll also save money over the lube shops. Check your owners manual for recommended oil weights, get a good drain pan and go to town. Store brand oils are just re-bottled versions of the big names for a lot less. NAPA oil, for example, is Valvoline, and Exxon Superflo is Mobil. If you live in a colder climate, you should run a slightly lighter weight oil for better cold weather protection and easier starts. In terms of filters, stay away from the super cheap Frams, they have cardboard endcaps which can dissolve in hot oil, meaning bad news for your motor. WIX makes a decent filter for cheap, and again, store brands are just the big guys in a different box. Lots of people obsess over oil, but the fact is, a good filter and regular changes are all you need. Super high dollar oils aren't necessary unless you drive a race car. If you have an automatic transmission, be sure you run the exact fluid specified by the owners manual, or you can have serious transmission problems down the road.

If you see a car similar to yours at a junkyard or rusting away see if they will sell/give you the plates. At a U-pull-it junkyard buy a car seat or something like that and stuff the plates under the vinyl or at the bottom of a box of parts under a cardboard flap. These can be very handy in radical action. You would be surprised how many cases are solved by seeing a license plate on security cameras. Many highways have license plate scanners for tolling trucks but they likely also record passing cars.

If you intend to do even the most basic repairs, you'll need tools. Not only are the cheap Chinese made tools of poor quality, but they're also produced by exploited workers in terrible conditions. New tools made in the US/Europe can be very expensive, so your best bet is to hit up pawn shops and garage sales. You'll want a complete ratchet set with 1/4, 3/8th and maybe 1/2 inch ratchets, a full set of sockets both metric and SAE (If you can't afford both, just get whatever your car is), a good set of box end wrenches, screwdrivers, allen keys (Or star/torx, depending on your car), a torque wrench and a good set of locking pliers (Vice Grips are now made in China, so get Craftsman if new) Craftsman is a good brand, especially if buying used, as any broken tools can be returned to the local sears and will be replaced for free. Their quality has slipped, but the convenience and price still makes it the best choice for amateur mechanics. Snap-On, Matco, Mac, SK, Proto, Stanley and any other US made tool will be fine and carries the same warranty, although the price is higher and distributors are more difficult to find. Be sure to get a set of jackstands so you can work safely. These can be made, if you have welding skills, but don't try to rig something up, unless you fancy 2 tons of steel falling on you. Ramps can be used for oil changes, but they're not much good for anything else.

[edit] Starting and Trouble Gear

If the car sits for long periods of time starting fluid and jumper cables are key to getting moving. A wall socket powered car battery charger and extension cord are also a good idea, and many good battery chargers now even have a jump-start option. A shovel and some sand bags might get you unstuck in muck or snow. A come-along (hand powered ratchet winch) and tow chain can help get you back onto the road. Snow chains also work in the mud for amazing traction.

If you need to rig up a jump start, keep the car with the fresh battery running. First, connect the red cable to the positive terminals, then hook the black cable from the running car's negative terminal to an exposed piece of bare metal on the "dead" car (for a ground) or the negative pole of the battery. If you see a spark when you attach the second cable to the "dead" car, you've got a complete circuit. Stand back when starting just in case the dead battery blows its vent caps (Very rare, but it happens). If you find yourself with only one jumper cable and both cars have bare metal bumpers, connect the positive terminals, then slowly roll the cars together so the metal on the bumpers touch. If you get really big sparks as you connect check that your polarity is correct (+ to + and - to -) or you could damage both electrical systems.

Cars with standard/manual transmissions (that is, cars with a stick shift) can generate a small amount of electricity by performing a "push start" or "rolling start", as long as the battery is not completely dead (check the owner's manual). You'll need a lot of help from friends to push the car or be lucky enough to have the car atop a steep hill. Put the key into the "On" position, push down the clutch and put the car in 2nd or 3rd gear, NOT 1st! Then get your friends together and push the car forward. When the car is rolling fast enough (between 5 to 25 MPH), release the clutch and tap the gas pedal. The car should start.

Stash a key somewhere under the vehicle, some wire and tape should do the trick, maybe have a second key hidden under the sole of your shoe. If you're a member of AAA, go to your local office and get a "credit card key". This is a small plastic gizmo that has the dimensions of your key in a credit card shape. However, if you have a sophisticated security system on the car, you may be out of luck.

[edit] Storage

With the price of fuel ever increasing it will become more useful to know how to maintain a rarely driven petro-hog for when you might need it. Even if you dedicate yourself to cycling be sure to run the vehicle for about ten minutes every other week, you might as well use this to hit the grocery store for a big shop, highway miles are the best way to achieve this. If you can't do the regular drives you need to start thinking about adding gas stabilizers like Stabil to your fuel. For very long storage you will need to drain and clean the fuel system to prevent varnish deposits from evaporated and decomposed fuel. Remember that tires, hoses and belts all get old whether you use them or not.

[edit] Car Dwelling

Many people when they loose their job or apartment naturally move into the only shelter left, their vehicle. Unless you have an RV and a safe lot to park try to keep your car stay as short as possible due to the harassment and discomfort, use this time to find a new place or plan a move to somewhere where you can set up a safe residence. How well this will work depends most on how comfortable and secure the vehicle is and if you can safely park and maintain your vehicle. This lifestyle is for nearly all who live it far less than ideal since it is difficult to store and secure more than a small amount of your worldly possessions, not to mention it it just is not comfortable sleeping through a winter rainstorm inside a two seater soft top with seats that don't recline.

[edit] Parking

Many retirees pull what is called the "Camp WalMart" trick with their monster homes with wheels. They "park" overnight in the parking lot and save the overnight fee spent at RV parks. Some mart stores even encourage this since it often discourages theft or vandalism of parked cars. If you try this with a camper or van, make certain this is legal, since some cities have passed laws against "overnight parking" and you'll be stuck with a parking ticket or midnight eviction. If you see signs reading "No Overnight Parking" or "No Camping" either in the lot or at the entrance, they probably mean it. Watch out for the Rent-A-Cop in the "Security Patrol" vehicle made to look like a police car or the golf cart with a yellow flashing light. Church parking lots are often unused except on Sundays and sometimes a few regular evenings a week, to avoid the early Sunday morning problem also look for a Jewish temple or a seventh day adventist church, both meet on Saturday mornings, avoid parking where the clergy housing is on site. It might also be useful to ask, especially at religious institutions, for the owners to show pity and let you occupy an open parking spot if you promise to be good and not trash the area.

In non-residential parking lots park as far out of the range of vision to the entrance as possible, working slaves tend to ignore stuff as they enter work. Try to avoid places with security booths or patrols outside. In residential lots park with the other cars and don't do it until late at night and be out early in the morning. As best as possible keep the car stationary once parked, meaning dig in your pack or wiggle around somewhere else before you stop and park for the night or day sleep cycle. When you wake it is difficult to avoid a car wiggle or two, immediately get to the drivers seat and drive away. Always sleep in acceptable but loose street clothes, shorts and a t-shirt or sweats, have your shoes or sandals handy even if you are wearing slippers.

[edit] Car Cover

You can park overnight in many whitebread communities at the curb if you cover your junker car with a nice clean car cover, this works best in areas where car covers are more common. You might even be able to stay in one place between the huge lot lines for several nights before any homeowner notices. With the car cover on the rent-a-thug/ethnic cleanser has no idea you are camping out in a rust bucket or which McMansion you (don't) belong to.

When you get your cover walk right out to your car open the package and try it on. You need to be able to open a door (front and back door if possible) and enter with the cover on. If this doesn't work, walk back and return it for a cover that will work. A clean car cover or window tinting should be near the top of your eviction shopping list if you plan to keep your car.

Your car cover can:

Hide the exact make and model as well as the plate numbers of your vehicle, you may want to stencil your number or another plate number onto the cover to fool lazy cops
Keep your vehicle warmer by reducing drafts especially in older vehicles with rotten door seals
Reduce or eliminate leaks during wet weather especially with waterproof covers
Hide the tell-tale window condensation that gives away a camped-out car
Hides the campout gear in your vehicle from thieves and cops especially if you go out and leave it parked
Some colored or silvered car covers will help hide the glow from small lights or computer use, parking under a street light also washes out the light from inside your car.

Do not run your vehicle while the cover is on as it might trap deadly carbon monoxide from the exhaust.

[edit] Car

We have known car campers who install a black removable bar and curtain between front and back seats, tint the windows of the back seat and use a sun shield at night to block the front and rear window, nobody can see the sleeper in back even if you are not using a cover and it is difficult to see the interior divider curtain. Towels or improvised curtains in the windows are a give away to cops and neighbours that you are homeless. Moving around inside your vehicle in a way that rocks or moves on the suspension is another give away when you are inside a supposed parked car.

A station wagon like a Volvo or Subaru gives you room to stretch out in back, even a sedan has a big back seat to sleep on, but a compact car often gets much better mileage. In general a Japanese car from the 1980's, if in good condition, will get better mileage than something more recent, sometimes 50% or more. If you have some tiny car it will work for camping too; just get the car cover or some sun shades to cover your window, opening a non-leaking sunroof kept open will keep the condensation down. It is very important that if you go with a compact you find a car where the passenger side seat fully reclines into a nearly flat position. If you are short enough piling a bag or gear covered with a blanket into the footwell can make this into an almost normal cot bed. Don't sleep on the driver side except in emergencies. We know someone who killed their battery by sleeping with a foot on the brakes. It also makes for driving related nightmares having the steering wheel right there. A convertible or soft top Jeep or coup might be fun, but the leak related headaches and difficulty keeping warmth in during the winter make them a less than ideal car camping option. A vehicle with a trunk means that you have a non-visible place to stash some stuff but the lock can still be popped by a thief. Some trunks can extend into the back seat area by folding down the rear seats. This is one option for a stealthy sleeping area.

A one bonus to hybrid cars aside from urban fuel savings is the massive storage batteries which you can tap for appliances. There are kits where you can charge the batteries from free or subsidized charging stations for electric vehicles. Another kit allows you to drive all electrical for urban and short highway drives. Combined with a folder bicycle these can really save or eliminate fuel spending.

[edit] Van

Of course better than a cover is if you just buy a van or minivan, there are plenty of old vehicles which have been cast off after years of ferrying kids to soccer or having been used by some crusty old guy living in it down by the river, an added bonus is you don't have to contort to get into the back for sleeping. Big vans can really burn fuel fast but some minivans can come close to the thriftiness of a larger car. If you can score a custom camper van all the better but if not take out the rear seats if they don't fold down and do your own modifications. Installing a table of some sort and propane equipment are among the most important modifications, VW campers even have water and drain water tanks built in, just attach a garden hose. If you are going custom wire in some power jacks in a handy place and then you can roll out a dark colored extension cord. Tint the rear windows and you will have a safer place to sleep and the cops cant easily peek in, hang a dark curtain behind the front seats or use sun shades at night for more privacy.

[edit] Truck Canopy

Owning a pickup truck is usually in investment in bad fuel mileage, although this can be offset by using it as a home and walking or cycling and only driving for long trips, moving location, or camping expeditions. Unless you need it for winter or back country travel 4x4 is often just a gas waster on the highway as are wide off-road tires although you will miss it badly when it is needed. A smaller truck with a small engine especially a diesel can save fuel if you drive right and keep your speed down but it is still not as efficient as a small car. Getting a canopy and tinting or covering the side windows makes it a great place to camp out even in town, much better than a car interior for people of average height and it often increases fuel economy. It is not unexpected to see blankets or sleeping bags in the back of a truck so you might pass a quick night time police or security check if they don't expect houseless people. Since part of detecting an unwanted vehicle is that they don't move you might try to park on a hill and every night roll down a few houses without starting the motor saving a bit of gas, but turn your wheels toward the curb so if your parking brake fails in the night the curb will stop you. Since car covers are rare for trucks you will have to keep the exterior clean and the interior of the cab neat so the cops and neighbours won't have reason to be suspicious. Since you will be sleeping in the back get a good steering wheel lock so you don't get taken for an unwanted ride during a car theft. Try to keep your worldly possessions down to a bicycle and pack and keep these with you on trips out so even if the truck is broken into they will not get your stuff, most canopies are easily broken into. Keeping your bicycle inside the canopy with you at night will not only prevent it from being stolen it will also help hide you. Always enter and exit the rear of the truck early in the morning or after everyone is in bed, during other times consider using the sliding window between the cab and canopy to enter the cab or canopy hiding your activities and making them look more natural.

[edit] Toilet

The fastest way to get in trouble when parked overnight is to urinate or defecate right next to your vehicle. When the heat of the day comes it leaves a very nasty smell both for you and the neighbours even after you leave. This creates the impression that the homeless are filthy or disgusting, and is a good way to get car camping outlawed where you are staying. Don't screw over your brothers and sisters like this! Try to park next to a sewer grate where you can dump all of your toilet waste (unless it is marked as a untreated drain to a water body) and pour out your washing water (gray water) bucket at the same time to rinse it down. If a sewer grate is not possible at least have enough water to wash away urine from the gutter. Plan ahead and use a public restroom whenever possible but keep a bucket and trash sack for dire toilet emergencies. Be careful using bleach in your pee bottle we have heard of weird toxic chemical reactions, chlorine gas, and high temperatures associated with mixing urine into a bottle containing bleach.

[edit] Interior Decorating

Face it; Cars are not designed for camping in every night, even most vans are a bit uncomfortable. You should do some work to prepare it for long term camping. Get seat covers at least for the passenger seat or rear bench that you plan to sleep on. A very smart idea is to cover the factory seat with a carpet runner or heavy plastic and then a cotton bed sheet folded over several time or blanket to keep the funk out of the seat in something you can wash and then cover and hold everything in place with a seat cover from an auto parts store. Dryer sheets under the seat (on the floor not under the seat cover) or dash can help get the stank smell out of your car, especially in summer when you would normally shower more frequently. Many cars have hooks or handles above the front doors which can be used to suspend a bar on which you can hang laundry to dry. Plan for drippage or just air out during the day. Leave the sunroof or windows open a few centimetres open to allow moisture out. This bar is also where to hang a dark privacy curtain at night between front and rear seats.

[edit] Entertainment

It may seem like a great idea, and perhaps you have both the right electrical system and isolation to pull it off by attaching a FM transmitter to your laptop and blasting it through a nice car audio system. We have even heard of DIY outdoor theater types who add a video projector. For most of us the problem of staying hidden in our quasi legal car camp-outs makes a Walkman or MP3 player with earphones the better idea both for security and for the health of your car battery. Save the stereo system for the highway. In addition, have in mind that the glow from most video screens gives you away as a WiFi squatter or urban camper watching DVD's. Car sun shades or window tint might help hide the glow.

[edit] Communications

It gets lonely sleeping in your car, some people use an open WiFi hotspot to escape to virtual worlds on the Internet, but often this is not an available option. It helps to have friends both local and far away, with the right gear you can accomplish both for free after an initial investment. In the 70's CB was the undisputed way to communicate between vehicles, this is still often the case if you don't want to pay a mobile phone bill. For most people this means finding a used CB set and magnet mounting a good antenna to the roof of their car or truck. Gutter, mirror, and bumper antenna mounts are available as are permanent drilled installations. For the price of a new CB set you could pick up a used mobile ham radio set and depending on the frequency band increase you range by as much as a few thousand miles and add many cool free capabilities such as data transfer, telephone network interface autopatches, repeater networks to extend the range of small radios, and even international VOIP bridges. The only downside to ham gear is most licensed users are pretty straight and follow the rules, so if you are running pirate on their frequencies they have a sport called "bunny hunting" where they track down illegal operators with special gear and lead the cops to the offender. If you only have FRS or a CB walkie-talkie your range is limited to a mile or two. Nice communications gear is a lure to thieves so install it in a way where you can unplug it and hide it in the trunk or take it along with you.

[edit] Safe

We have seen small heavy duty steel safes installed in vehicles, mostly intended for locking up a firearm of some sort. At first this sounds like a good idea until we realized a thief need just steal the car and take it to a place where they could use a cutter to slice the thing open.

[edit] Legal for Cars

If you ever are stopped, be compliant with the officers demands for license and papers, but do the minimum and produce your papers through a slit in your closed window. It will look suspicious and arouse the officers attention, but if there is nothing illegal in plain sight/smell/sound the pig can't really do anything. It is important to know, for example, that film containers are considered prima facia evidence of pot in most parts of the country unless there is a camera present. It is also evidence for a stop that a person of the wrong race is out of place i.e. black in a white neighborhood or old car in rich neighborhood. If the officer wants to search the vehicle politely refuse, continuing to say that you do not give permission in a normal voice. Doing this will likely result in the whole force showing up, including K-9, trying to find a legal reason to open up your car. Claim your car is your home, this will have more weight if you are driving a registered camping vehicle, this mostly affects alcohol and driving charges by removing intent to drive in a parked vehicle. The officer can ask anyone in the car (or on the street) out for a weapons search, comply and as you exit, if you are able, lock the car denying him an easy illegal search. The officer can also demand to pat the driver accessible area (if you are still in the car) for weapons.

Remember drinking or even coming home to your vehicle drunk may win you a DUI citation and a towed vehicle, the same is true for doing drugs, the law doesn't need to make sense for the pigs to easily take your mobile home and its contents away sometimes forever, dont give them an easy excuse to do so.

Never admit to any infraction, the officer will ask how fast you were going, politely respond to his question by asking how fast he thought you were going or remain silent. Lying and saying "I don't know" means he can cite you for ANY speed and you have little defense later in court when they roll the tape of your conversation, that's right in many places they tape every bust with a microphone on the cop and video from the cop car. If he returns and tries to get you to talk more or asks again to search your vehicle politely ask for your papers and whatever citation he has written, after you get your papers, ask politely if you can leave, this should be your answer to any further questions. If by force he tries to search politely continue to refuse even as he begins to break and enter do not physically restrain him or fight him, you will be charged with assault and may even be murdered right there by the pig if you do interfere. Do your best to alert passers-by in a non-aggressive voice and get contact information from witnesses for later court testimony. Carrying drugs is just asking for a search, a drug dog can usually sniff out pot easily (it is quite stinky), once the dog indicates (even a fake indication) the cop can legally open up the car without your permission, using destructive methods. The best time to refuse a search on principle is when you really have nothing to hide.

If you are being followed by a cop who wants to bust you just get off the highway or road, park in a parking lot, quickly lock the vehicle, and go shopping, when driving you will eventually break some traffic law. Once out and away from the locked car refuse all offers to search the vehicle. Driving in front of a cop is like talking to a cop there is no safe way to do it.

[edit] Candid Camera

Cameras are an ever present danger, we can easily be tracked for nearly the whole time we are on a highway or in an urban area now that there is a tight network of CCTV traffic management cameras which are nearly all connected to a computer network which reads the license plates on cars. This information is easily available to the police and is often archived in a long term computer database which can easily be searched.

If there is a plan to commit a direct action where you need temporary immunity from those ever present red light traffic and on-site security cameras (but lots of trouble if caught by real live cops but hey, you are already doing an action right) you can use this trick. Find a vehicle that is generally similar to your own especially color and model, photograph the license plate and print it on glossy paper at full size, now stick over your plate, a plastic license plate cover might help preserve your work. Of course you would want to use the plate of an enemy, or someone with a really good alibi like a police chief or something, they will hopefully get off after throwing the cops off the trail giving you some time to get away. Of course burn the fakes if you ever use this after any action, this would be a big clue for the piggies.

For revenge you can use this trick to set off red light cameras, the city will mail out tickets to your enemies, use with caution, we don't want the heat to figure this one out. This also works to discredit the traffic camera system before elections, spoof the vehicles of prominent citizens but again watch out for the real live cops or face big trouble.

[edit] Electrical

If you need to, you can buy DC powered appliances (hot pots, toasters, skillets, etc.) that plug into your car cigarette lighter. Just be careful using them, since they can drain your battery if the motor is not running, and not using them properly can start a fire. DC appliances can be had at most camping supply stores and truck stops. DC to AC power inverters (AC is a normal wall plug) are also available. Just make sure you get an inverter with enough watts. If you try to power something like a laptop or heater on a cheaper low watt inverter it will blow out the fuse. If you have yet to purchase a laptop remember that many inexpensive low-power netbook designs need only 12 volts and are hence easily powered by a cheap car adapter versus a normal laptop which requires an expensive 18-20 volt auto-air adapter.

If you're technically inclined install a battery isolator and a second deep-cycle type battery and cigarette lighter jack and run the appliances off of that. A dash board solar panel is a good idea to trickle charge your system if you spend weeks cycling and only drive for long group trips. Some are available which will back flow power into the cigarette lighter jack (Just make sure your car's electrical system works this way). Another good idea is to remove the ground wire from the battery or install a knife switch so you can totally disconnect the battery avoiding normal power drainage to the radio, alarm, and car electronics. Don't use the dome light while parked you might fall asleep and wake with a dead battery. Think about wiring the dome light into that new second battery.

If you don't have the money to install a secondary deep cycle battery solder five 3volt white LED's in series (they will look like they are in a line holding hands) and solder both ends into an old dome light bulb base, secure with hot glue . The power drain will be almost unnoticeable on your power system and you can leave it on for as long as you want. These low power drain LED dome lights are also available from some car parts stores and catalogs.

You might wire some 110 volt power jacks into your vehicle, then you can roll out a dark colored extension cord at night to get electricity for a heater or hot plate from a friends house or behind a store, this works best if you park right in front of the plug so nobody sees your cord. Spray paint the cord a color like dark gray (think pavement camouflage) and try to get it into a crack, along a curb, or wall so it will not throw a shadow if security or the cops do a late night roll by. If you plan to hard wire a 12v to 110v or 220v inverter into your system include a switch which isolates the inverter from your high voltage system when you are running from an external power source. If you have a battery charger and secondary deep cycle system wire it into your shore power system so that you are quick charging your onboard storage battery every time you plug in.

Have either an inverter or car chargers for your laptop, MP3, phone, game system, or movie player all ready to go when you are actually running the engine driving somewhere. Alternatively if you do not drive much, have all of the chargers set up on a power strip or multi-plug extension cord, then you can stuff everything in a backpack and plug in for charging at a coffee shop or library, just keep an eye on it so it is not stolen or called in as a bomb.

Electronics especially those using higher mains voltages are sensitive to moisture, if an inverter is sitting in the footwell when a cup of soft drink spills it will almost surely be ruined, keep electronics away from places where spills might collect.

There are trucker refrigerators that use a Peltier effect to cool your food and run on 12 volts, these are only practical for on road trips, not long term camping. Consider how badly you need food that requires cooling, most likely you can adjust your purchases so you eat more fresh, just cooked, small quickly consumed servings (single quart of milk) or room temp foods and still not resort to impoverishment at the hands of expensive delis and fast food places.

[edit] Cooking and Heating

If you're on a road trip and want a hot meal when you stop, double wrap your meal in aluminum foil and/or a doubled oven roaster sack and use wire to secure it so it is in contact with the engine block, radiator, or exhaust manifold. Be careful to not overheat and burst sealed cans on the exhaust manifold. Our best successes are stews or meals that would also cook well in a slow-cooker or crock pot. Long drives can easily dry out some leftover type foods unless you stop and check every fifteen minutes or so. Practice will teach the warmest places under the hood and how to get the best results both with cooking and warming up leftovers. Be careful not to interfere with or drip food onto belts, linkages, electrical systems, or moving parts. Several wraps of foil is the wisest insulator as it is heat and fire resistant. If using a foil pouch or roaster bag it should be only half full to allow room to expand. Automotive cornbread or other cakes and pie crusts can be prepared with many stew like mixes even if they end up weirdly shaped due to sitting on a hot engine for several hours. As a rule of thumb, think of the exhaust manifold and tubes like a bed of hot coals, but the radiator top, bottom, and hoses as something that can heat but won't burn or brown foods. The engine block rarely will actually cook your foods but should warm up leftovers. For reheating leftovers, try warming up them with your passenger side windshield defroster while on the road. If you feel hot, open a window or sunroof while your food warms. Watch for leaks as they can make your ventilation system smell funky for a long time and are hard to clean out.

The popular cookbook "Manifold Destiny: The One! The Only! Guide to Cooking on Your Car Engine!" by Chris Maynard and Bill Scheller, goes into engine block cooking in depth.

If you are not moving it is much smarter to get out and use a camp stove and save fuel. If you will be making a stop where you will have access to mains power plug in a rice cooker or crock pot in the footwell of the back seat, get your meal cooking for the hour or two that you are out, if you wrap the pot in a blanket it should stay warm for several hours until mealtime even once unplugged and back on the road, a belt or strap can help keep the lid on and sealed, also secure in case of an accident. If you stop for a break and have your stove out and running already boil some water to put into a large thermos so you can have tea or hot Ramen later. If this hot water is not consumed by bedtime, pour it into a heavy duty leak-proof water bottle to help warm up your sleeping bag at bedtime.

There are a number of electric cooking appliances designed for 12 volt use available at RV supply stores and truck stops. One item popular with long-haul truck drivers is the Max Burton Stove to Go (also called the "Burton Stove" or the "Little Black Lunch Box"). This is a small 12 volt slow cooker that plugs into your car's cigarette lighter and is available at truck stops and RV supply stores. Essentially, it's a DC crock pot that is shaped like a lunch box, complete with a handle. The food is cooked in aluminum trays and oven bags (both available at truck stops). It is best used to cook your food while you're on a long drive, and much more practical to use than a ceramic crock pot in the car. There is also a cookbook for the unit; "Cookin' On the Go" by Virginia A. Harrington. Don't confuse this with the similarly named Max Burton OVEN to Go, which is little more than a toaster-oven.

(Some savvy truck drivers skip the aluminum trays and simply line the inside with aluminum foil. Also, there are knock-offs of the Burton Stove, such as the Koolatron 12V Lunchbox Stove and the RoadPro 12 Volt Portable Stove.)

Don't run your engine while parked just for the heater to keep yourself warm, this is a massive waste of fuel for the usable heat it produces in the car. Conversely it is a totally free way to warm up if you are already driving somewhere, your heater just diverts some of the waste heat headed from the engine to the radiator. Look into getting a small portable propane catalytic heater that use either disposable canisters or a small refillable LP gas tank if you need to run it frequently while parked, most gas heaters will get a compact car toasty warm in under five minutes even in the dead of a midwest winter and can also be used for cooking, never sleep with a gas heater running. An extension cord would let you plug into a nearby electrical outlet for heaters or hotplates.

For more ideas flip to Roadside Chow

[edit] A Few Words About Biodiesel

Free biodiesel is an amazing deal while it lasts. As the dollar falls apart and the world oil production slides further down the supply curve prices will surge and it will become more common that factory fields that once supplied food to billions will be burned out the tailpipes of SUV's not from recycled fryer oil but grown and processed as primary fuel. Waste oil will be much more carefully guarded as the value rises, and will be changed with much less frequency. Serfs in North America will work the ethanol and oil bearing crops much as the indigenous people are forced to heavy physical labor for pittance in the Brazilian sugar cane fields to support the driving habits of the elite upper class. The truth is when you do the math it turns out you actually save more total energy blasting petro-fuels out your tailpipe than the massive amount of petro and natural gas products required to grow, process, and transport biodiesel and ethanol fuel crops in North American factory farms, at the same time there is even less inexpensive food available for the poor family to purchase.

Biodiesel fuel is not the same as straight veggie oil from behind a store. Salts, water, and solids must be removed and the thickness needs to be changed to be a full substitute for diesel fuel. Once a diesel engine is warmed up straight cleaned vegetable oil may be able to be used, a dual tank setup allowing on the fly blending would be required. Regular diesel or fully converted biodiesel must be used at startup and a few minutes before shutdown to flush the system of the thicker straight veggie oil.

The following paragraph from Wikipedia and is released under the same license as Steal-This-Wiki:

Chemically, transesterified biodiesel comprises a mix of mono-alkyl esters of long chain fatty acids. The most common form uses methanol to produce methyl esters as it is the cheapest alcohol available, though ethanol can be used to produce an ethyl ester biodiesel and higher alcohols such as isopropanol and butanol have also been used. Using alcohols of higher molecular weights improves the cold flow properties of the resulting ester, at the cost of a less efficient transesterification reaction. A lipid transesterification production process is used to convert the base oil to the desired esters. Any Free fatty acids (FFAs) in the base oil are either converted to soap and removed from the process, or they are esterified (yielding more biodiesel) using an acidic catalyst. After this processing, unlike straight vegetable oil, biodiesel has combustion properties very similar to those of petroleum diesel, and can replace it in most current uses.

In other words either mix the straight (cleaned and dried) veggie oil with an alcohol thinning it or chemically convert it with a strong alkaline like lye leaving a soap byproduct. Most often methanol is a natural gas derivative.

A guide to the production of diesel can be found at:

http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_make.html

Perhaps an easy way to get free veggie oil is literally from fast food joints and donut shops...no shit! Mickey D's and other places have vats of fryer oil used to drench their ultra-processed meat and potato products. After a few days, the fryer oil gets chucked. If you have a diesel car, you can use the filtered oil in the vehicle in combination or independent of diesel with a few often inexpensive modifications.

If somebody hasn't already beat you to it, you can check with restaurants/cafeterias and see about carting it away for them. Some will actually appreciate the offer, since in some areas, they have to pay to have the oil taken away. If the manager gives you a hard time or says that he sells it to an oil recycling service, don't despair. Most of these places keep the old oil outside as a fire safety issue. Find where it is and late one night grab as much fryer grease as your car can carry.

If you run your car on Biodiesel all the time, it's best to keep it to yourself. Some jurisdictions have actually been sending officers from the tax boards and fining people for using Biodiesel! Why, you ask? For evading motor fuel taxes that pay for the public roads, or operating as an "unlicensed secondary fuel distiller"! I shit you not!

Blends with regular petrol and regular diesel fuel will also work but will expose you to gas tax.

[edit] Free fuel - The wood gas generator

During and after WWII there were severe fuel shortages, especially in Europe and Asia, during this time gasifiers were commonly used to power cars and trucks. These devices allow a vehicle to be powered by almost any combustible material such as wood, hay, dry pine needles, or dried leaves. In layman's terms they half-burn the wood in a closed container with a small air intake. This incomplete burning cooks the remaining fuel and releases combustible fumes and smoke that can be used to fuel an internal combustion engine. Often a canvas gas bag is used as a smoke reservoir.

The following links describe the construction and operation of gasifiers:

During World War 2, a number of works on wood gas generators were published since motor fuels were being rationed for the war effort. Many of these books have lapsed into public domain. A search on http://books.google.com/ under "producer gas", "gas manufacture and works", "wood gas" or "gas generators" will give you valuable (if dated) information.

Gasifiers can be scaled for use on any sized engine, provided that appropriate measures are taken to prevent fuel jamming in the hopper (such as cutting the fuel into smaller pieces)

The drawbacks to using a gasifier are:

The gases they produce are highly toxic (a major component is carbon monoxide); a leak into the cabin can turn your car into a mobile gas chamber. For this reason you should never route pipelines through the cabin.

A vehicle using a gasifier will require more frequent servicing than usual, due to a tendency for carbon buildup in the cylinders. Preheating the combustion air to the gasifier seems to reduce the amount of carbon buildup, in addition to making the entire device more fuel-efficient.

Having a giant can hanging off the side of your vehicle is going to attract a lot of unwanted attention from police, and transport department / DMV type people. Pickup trucks and vans have the advantage of being able to site the gasifier in the tray or back of the van (with appropriate isolation from the cabin) respectively, making it look like a piece of equipment being transported (Example: You could disguise it as a hot water heater). Another consideration is to construct the generator on a small trailer and tow it behind your car. The trailer could be disguised any number of ways.

One of our writers had the opportunity to ride in a wood smoke powered VW bug, it worked well around the farm but would really bog down on hills once the gas reservoir was empty since it had a undersized experimental gasifier. The point is that even if petroleum or alternative fuel is unavailable to you for whatever reason this is a way to get a vehicle working even if it is not moving at 85 mph for ten hours non stop with a substance available almost everywhere.

[edit] Motorcycle

If Cycling just is not an option for whatever reason a car is not the only way to go, a motorcycle can be a much lower impact way to travel solo or in pairs than a car. Some bikes can get from 70 miles to the gallon to more than 120 when run right. Look for a street legal dirtbike type and put road tires and required lights on it. For even big guys more than 200cc is not needed as long as you plan to stay at or under 55mph. They are not called a donercycle without reason cars don't notice you or expect you to get out of the way and you have little protection. Wear protective boots, pants, jacket, gloves, and helmet so you can stay in the fight. Investigate trailer and sidecar options for carrying your gear. Pay particular attention to the condition of your chain, it needs the correct type of oil and to be tightened occasionally, you also must keep very close watch on your tires, a blowout could be deadly at 75 mph. Some might forget that a motorcycle especially an air cooled model(the kind with heat fins on the motor) needs the oil and fluids changed regularly, the heat and high RPM's really burn up the oil and can cause a seize up when you can least afford a new motor. If you are experienced at motorcycling and need to pack more gear look into a small trailer, this really affects handling and mileage so use it intelligently.

[edit] Steam Powered Cars

Here's an old technology that could with some work by a few gearheads be resurrected to be a viable non Corp-Gov mode of transportation. Until the late 1920's and early 1930's many cars were powered by steam engines which have over a 300 year history as a workable technology. Many of the cars of the 1910's and 1920's were steam powered with water being used to make the steam and kerosene being used to fire the boilers to convert the water to steam. Some of the most famous were the Stanley, White, and Doble motor cars. Some of the Stanleys are still on the road today and about 11,000 were built between 1900 and 1927 when the company went out of business. Rumor has it that Jay Leno of Tonight Show fame has 5 of these in working order. Also the Stanley steam motor car set a world speed record of 127 mph in 1906 at Ormond Beach, FL. Looking at it from the fact that anything that can burn could be used as fuel to power a steam engine this might be the most environmentally friendly form of transportation available. There is the Steam Car Club of America and Britain which has a few guys who are into the restoration of some of these old antiques that a revolutionary might be able to get in touch with to provide some help on converting a current day car to steam or building one from scratch to run on steam. The technology has been used before it's just a matter of getting it off the ground again. It didn't work before because Ford and Corp-Gov back then were enamoured with oil and Rockefeller and his big oil gang shut down the idea. But now as of the time of this writing with $4 U.S. per gallon for gas and calls for $6 U.S. per gallon for gas we're desperately needing to look for modes of viable transportation for our fellow brothers and sisters in the revolution. If anyone is interested in putting together a revolutionary council to get this idea working contact El Almirante at wtk1861@gmail.com.

[edit] Produce Your Own Ethanol

With about $600 you can convert your current car if it is a post 2000 model to a flex fuel car that can run the CorpGov drug of Gas or can run ethanol. You can easily produce your own ethanol for about $2 per gallon. It's simple to use by building a small still. Also if you want to do it legal the ATF gives a free permit to allow you to produce up to 10,000 gallons a year if mixed with a denaturant (so you can't drink it). The fees may vary from state to state but most require you to get a background check and get a wholesaler's license and this costs about $160. or if you don't want to go to all that trouble you could just turn moonshiner and make it without paying the $.28/gallon tax. The converter that I know of on the market right now is the Flex Tek converter which costs about $500 and it costs about $100 to have installed. This will make any car a flex fuel car and you can run gas or ethanol in it. Also if you're interested in this look at the Mother Earth News website ("Green Transportation" link at http://www.motherearthnews.com). They have a whole section on how to build ethanol stills and how to make sugar washes that are eaten by yeast to produce your ethanol. Ethanol (just drinking alcohol, at about 80-90%) is usually mixed in different percentages with normal gasoline/petrol, but can be run pure in cars that can take it.

One of our test engineers built such a setup from a large plastic barrel for the fermenter and a modified gas hot water heater and a used car radiator setup to distill the alcohol (not safe to drink), he was surprised the amount for fuel he was able to make by digesting a wet yeasted dumpster-bread soup. He mentioned that summer was the only time of year it worked quickly in the pacific northwest since it ran too slow in colder days, he is thinking of adding a small sun heated shed or greenhouse and painting the digester black in the future. He is working on a better way to wet mix the bread mash, currently he has a large egg-beater attachment for an electrical drill, he has trash pumps to move the goop between the mash tub, digester, and distiller.

[edit] Running Your Current Car on Store Bought Ethanol

Just a quick note from one of our field testers that needed to be put into writing here. Our field tester using a post 2000 model car a 2004 Pontiac Sunfire to be exact has successfully discovered that you can run up to 50% E-85 in your car to save on gas. To do this he filled up with half a tank of Arabian imported terrorist sponsor state gas and then filled the other half of the tank up with U.S. made E-85 ethanol fuel. He then ran the car the distance of 150 miles so far with no problems to report at all. As a matter of fact it appears that his overall gas mileage has improved and his car is running cooler than on straight CorpGov gas. Just a little trick some of you might consider using if you don't want to make your own ethanol and have E-85 offered in your area at gas stations.

[edit] Recycling a Car

Like most indigenous peoples we must also learn to make good use of every last part of our fallen steeds.

The alternator and battery can be connected into a water wheel, wind turbine or other system for generating electricity. You can also bypass the regulator to make a very high quality arc welder.
The starter motor is a high torque motor that with the right gear reduction could power anything from a electrical winch or crane to a small cart.
An automobile transmission can be used to convert the speed or torque of a human, wind or water powered machine.
An automobile engine can be converted to burn natural gas, propane, or even concentrated wood smoke by removing the carburetor or fuel injector system and installing a simple venturi gas/air mixing system. In a worse-case scenario, oil from castor beans can be used as motor oil and toilet paper can be used for oil filters (Google "Frantz Oil Filter").
Auto windows can be recycled but safety glass is almost impossible to cut as it is designed to shatter into tiny crystals. Auto glass has already been successfully used for greenhouses, but custom frames must be built for each piece while smaller panels can be fastened together with epoxy. (Note: Most auto glass is tinted and may block needed sunlight for your plants.)
An engine block is a good boat or buoy anchor. It is also the basis for building a Multimachine DIY precision machine shop. (See Means of Production.)
Seats can be removed, modified, and used as furniture.
Seatbelts can be used for belts, suspenders or other strapping uses.
Interior lining (on the doors or roof) can be used for fabric patches.
Air conditioning systems can be used to build a refrigerator or freezer.
Rear view mirrors can be salvaged for household use.
Radiator and heater cores are great for building fuel alcohol distillation systems, but the metals will often poison the alcohol so don't drink it.
Body panels can be cut for general fabrication supplies.
HID lighting systems can be converted to use in bicycle motorcycle or portable lighting systems.
Spark coils and be used to energize an electric fence for your veggie garden.
Axles and springs can be repurposed for large horse or donkey carts.
Power steering systems can often be used to power hydraulic pistons or other tools.
Many non-steel parts are medium to very high quality aluminum or other metals which are easily melted and cast.
Audio equipment can be used for entertainment and communication (provided you have a steady source of 12 volt DC electricity), or salvaged for electrical parts.
Unusable tires can be cut up for sandals.
Hydraulic lifts for hatchbacks can be used for self-closing doors.
Hinges, knobs and handles can be used on doors and cabinets.
Reflectors can be used on outdoor markers.
Horns can become part of a home-made alarm system.
Brake drums can serve as an anchor for a small boat or raft, or the basis for a small blacksmith forge.
The assorted electric motors (like those used for power windows) can be used in a number of ways.
Brake shoes have a rough, abrasive finish that can be used for grinding metals or stone.
Hub caps can be a mini barbeque. Turn them upside down, set them on metal legs, and put a grill on top. Wash out the hubcap so you don't get brake dust in your smoke.
Windshield wipers make great squeegees.
The exhaust pipe can be a chimney for a wood stove or bent into a "U" shape and used as a heat exchanger in a fire place.
If the car has a turbocharger it can be rebuilt into a real jet engine. With some machining skill you could even build on an output shaft to power a vehicle, generator, or even a very small aircraft propeller.

All these parts can also be sold, which can net you a tidy profit depending on how rare or desirable the car is.

[edit] External Links

BBC h2g2: How to Sleep In Your Car - http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A29176365
"How to Live In Your Van… Ongoing And Added To From Time to Time" - http://wendyusuallywanders.wordpress.com/ongoing-added-to-description-of-how-to-live-in-your-van/
Motive: The Other Mobile Home - http://www.motivemag.com/pub/feature/drivers_ed/Motive_Culture_How_to_Live_In_Your_Car.shtml
VanDwellers.org - http://www.vandwellers.org
WikiHow: How to Live In Your Car - http://www.wikihow.com/Live-in-Your-Car

[edit] Original Cars

If you know how to drive and want to travel long distances, the auto transportation agencies are a good deal. Look in the Yellow Pages under Automobile Transportation and Trucking or Driveway. Rules vary, but normally you must be over 21 and have a valid license. Call up and tell them when and where you want to go and they will let you know if they have a car available. They give you the car and a tank of gas free. You pay the rest. Go to pick up the car alone, then get some people to ride along and help with the driving and expenses. You can make New York to San Francisco for about eighty dollars in tolls and gas in four days without pushing. Usually you have the car for longer and can make a whole thing out of it. You must look straight when you go to the agency. This can be simply be done by wetting down your hair and shoving it under a cap.

Another good way to travel cheaply is to find somebody who has a car and is going your way. Usually underground newspapers list people who either want rides or riders. Another excellent place to find information is your local campus. Every campus has a bulletin board for rides. Head shops and other community-minded stores have notices up on the wall. Craigslist has rideshare section for this purpose. A side benefit of travelling this way is that you can often meet really interesting people by riding with them.

Gas

If you have a car and need some gas late at night you can get a quart and then some by emptying the hoses from the pumps into your tank. There is always a fair amount of surplus gas left when the pumps are shut off.

If your traveling in a car and don't have enough money for gas and tolls, stop at the bus station and see if anybody wants a lift. If you find someone, explain your money situation and make a deal with him. Hitch-hikers also can be asked to chip in on the gas.

You can carry a piece of tubing in the trunk of your car and when the gas indicator gets low, pull up to a nice looking Cadillac on some dark street and syphon off some of his gas. Just park your car so the gas tank is next to the Caddy's, or use a large can. Stick the hose into his tank, suck up enough to get things flowing, and stick the other end into your tank. Having a lower level of liquid, you tank will draw gas until you and the Caddy are equal. "To each according to his need, from each according to his ability," wrote Marx. Bet you hadn't realized until now that the law of gravity affects economics.

Another way is to park in a service station over their filler hole. Lift off one lid (like a small manhole cover), run down twenty feet of rubber tubing thru the hole you've cut in your floorboard, then turn on the electric pump which you have installed to feed into your gas tank. All they ever see is a parked car. This technique is especially rewarding when you have a bus.