Bill, what 2 or 3 vehicle prep recommendations would you make, based on your rally experiences? I'm thinking about something outside the standard "check everything, then check again" advice.
Hi Chip,
If I were to only do two prep items, I'd put fresh synthetic in the crankcase, trans, and diff, (t-case and other diff if you have those,) and if I could find them in a small enough size, LT rated tires w/2 spares. The next item I'd add would be a complete check of the cooling system, coupled with a flush and fill with new 50/50 coolant.
Oils: Our first year rallying, we ran synthetic in the trans, and dino in the engine, and changed the engine oil every event. Now we run synthetic in both, and leave it in for the season. I have some friends that do ChumpCar/Lemons races, and they run synthetic too. It takes a beating better than the dino stuff does.
Tires: Part of my experience is anecdotal: the only flats I've had off pavement due to holes the tire have been on P-metric tires. We flatted a rally tire on Oregon Trail one year, but that is because we hit a rock so hard that it bent the wheel in far enough to break of the brake bleeder on the next revolution, but no fault of the tire's. I'd recommend more sidewall, and less wheel for any given diameter, just to keep more rubber between you and the road.
Cooling: I've been a victim to cooling system gremlins. In our case it was a worn wire leading to the electric fan. It broke, and we started to overheat. We couldn't find it, and ended up mis-diagnosing it as a thermostat switch gone bad, and bypassed it, but of course the fan would still not come on. Luckily, this was all pre-event shakedown stuff, so we finally found it and fixed it. Crewing for another team at the Ramada Express Rally in Laughlin in '05-ish, we had to virtually remount the radiator on the side of the road, as the only things holding it up were one mount, and the supply and return hoses: it had rattled itself almost to death. To be fair, it wasn't just that event that caused the problem, lack of maintenance was definitely an issue.
Things I've overlooked that cost us time/money/etc:
- Mt. Hood Rally DNF: Alternator started going on the way to Stage 1, but it's daytime, so the batter will do us until the first service. Call my wife, get her to get a new alternator from Napa. Install it at service while eating a hasty lunch. Back out on stages, it starts getting dark, mount the light pod at last service of the day. Penultimate stage, we start, lights blazing, and hoping to catch our nearest competitor because he only has high-beams, and we have super-bad Hella Rallye lights. Start to smell burning rubber, noise from engine bay, alternator light comes back on. Co-driver seat diagnosis is busted alternator belt. No problem, we carry a spare. Stop car, pop hood, get belt and wrenches, try to put hex wrench into capscrew head but it's MIA: In our haste at lunch, someone, (me? driver? service crew?,) didn't tighten it, and it vibrated its way to freedom. Damn. Oh well, we figure to limp to end of stage, and still maybe finish. Both of us forget that that belt also spins the water pump. Guess who stops a mile later and is towed out by the sweep crew and gets a DNF? Ultimately, as co-driver/team manager/detail dude, it's my fault. Now, a new bolt is in w/loctite, and a spare on-board.
- Doo Wop Rally panic moment: Rushed at service: trying to eat, check fluids, tire pressure, clean windows, eat, use the head, talk to other teams, etc. Forget to top off gas. Gauge goes lower than either of us ever have seen it go. Only run engine when necessary, coast down hill to check in to ATC. Didn't run out of gas, but now we have a check-list of things to do at each service.
- Oregon Trail Rally, car dies mid-transit: Transiting from one stage to another, our car just dies. Will not crank, but lights work. Push it to side of the road, pop the hood. Find wire that has vibrated off the starter solenoid, and put it back on. Starter cranks, but car still won't start. After 10 more minutes of wire-jiggling, I find that that wire from the coil to the distributor is loose at the distributor. Mash it down and car starts right up. Who'd have figured they would both be off at the same time? Later, recrimped the starter wire, and ran a ziptie around the distributor wire's boot. No problems since.
Things I couldn't have planned for:
- Exploding LSD: Oregon Trail. Do all of the Friday night stages at Portland International Raceway, and have a great time. Car is making some soft clicking from front end near the end of the night. Tear down brakes, find they are worn, (but not overly so,) but replace w/new pads for peace of mind. Transiting out to Stage 1 on Saturday, clicking starts again, gradually become louder, and eventually, and luckily after we'd safely pulled off the road, the trans seizes up. Trailer it home: DNF. Post mortem reveals that our Quaife limited slip diff has committed a murder-suicide: It killed itself, and took our sweet VWMS ring and pinion with it. I figured worst case it was a CV joint, and that we'd get through it. Was I ever wrong!
- Rock of Gibraltar: The rock I mentioned above. It came out of nowhere and killed our tire.
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