What spares parts should I bring?
What you should bring is effectively dictated by four variables:
- How many services there are where you can work on the car.
- How much space do you have to bring spare parts?
- How likely is it that you will need that part?
- How much money do you have to spend on spare parts?
Since most services are 20-30 minutes in length, you should focus most of your attention on parts that can be changed in that time frame (or even a bit longer). For example, if you have a spare gearbox, and it takes you three hours to swap it, and you're only allowed twenty minutes to do the work, there's not much point in even bringing it.
If it's a two day race, you might be able to work on something overnight. But even that is for enhanced "surviving", not competing. If you lost everything but second gear and you're going to put in a new gearbox overnight, you already lost the rally to the other cars that weren't stuck in second gear for the last three stages.
Good spares to bring to every race are:
- Brake pads
- Front A arms
- Fuses and light bulbs
- Two tires and wheels
- Radiator hoses
- Engine belts
You'll come across plenty of stories and recommendations that end with "Oh, you have to bring a [some part] because I needed one once." Well, there's not a single piece on a rally car that hasn't been needed at one time or another. Get to your first event with the spares listed above, and as time and money is available, pick up more pieces as you go. And talk to other people who rally you car to see what always breaks and what never breaks. Don't pack a whole box truck up with unnecessary parts.