COVID 19 Compliant - Morning Fewbie Desert Drive - Ghantoot - Little Sweihan - Dubai - 29 Jan 2021

[Thomas Varghese]

5 hours ago, Thomas Varghese said:

super exciting @Ale Vallecchi. Hopefully my car will come out from garage today after front axle & differential change. 

The car is out from garage and ready for the cue from @Ale Vallecchi to take me anywhere he leads to. Drove from garage in Dubai to my home at Ajman and its even better than before. What a price I had to pay for for forgetting to switch back from 4HI to 2W after the drive. Lighter by a couple of thousands but wiser than before. The question to what will happen if we forget to switch back to 2W is answered. 

[Ahab Shamaa]

1 hour ago, Thomas Varghese said:

The car is out from garage and ready for the cue from @Ale Vallecchi to take me anywhere he leads to. Drove from garage in Dubai to my home at Ajman and its even better than before. What a price I had to pay for for forgetting to switch back from 4HI to 2W after the drive. Lighter by a couple of thousands but wiser than before. The question to what will happen if we forget to switch back to 2W is answered. 

Wow! That sucks! If staying in 4Hi on the road ruins your car, why doesn’t the car warn you?

I’ve forgotten to go back to 2WD so many times after the drive. It’s normal for people to forget...

[Thomas Varghese]

1 hour ago, Ahab Shamaa said:

Wow! That sucks! If staying in 4Hi on the road ruins your car, why doesn’t the car warn you?

I’ve forgotten to go back to 2WD so many times after the drive. It’s normal for people to forget...

@Ahab Shamaa as per Nissan Xterra Manuals its ok to drive the car in 4H on tarmac provided you don't exceed 100km/hr. Once you cross 100km/hr the torsional forces developed in the axles and the differential causes the system to fail. The differential cannot cope up with the unbalance and will fail. I realised this painfully after the drive with @wrangled ended last friday and was cruising happily on Emirates road. Once I crossed the 100km/hr limit and cruised at 130km/hr sound started to develop and the car had a strange vibration. Suddenly I realised its not been shifted to 2H and I immediately did. Sadly the damage was already done. I wished the vibration and sound will go off once I shifted back to 2H. 2 days later I checked what was the damage in a garage and found the front left axle had almost come loose from the differential tearing its millings and the oil in the differential was too low as it was spilling outside. Infact I was lucky to have checked it soon as it may have caused a sudden stop very soon and I might have had to tow it if I escaped the accident it may have caused. AWD are designed with differentials which can keep all the wheels driven but a pure 4WD is not. Couple of thousands lost but a very valuable lesson learned. Poor but wiser. Thankfully I could source the same differential model with same gear ratios from Sajaa as again I found out different models of Xterra has different gear ratios and is not easy to match. 2 differentials had to be brought and checked by fixing and driving it to finally choose 1. 

 

(1) How 4WD (4x4 - Four Wheel Drive) Works - 2H, 4H, 4L, LSD, Centre Diff, Diff Locks, Traction Control. - YouTube

2008 Nissan Xterra Owner's Manual.pdf

Edited January 26, 2021 by Thomas Varghese

[Ahab Shamaa]

Good info, thanks @Thomas Varghese! Luckily you got it fixed before it developed into something much worse. I still think car manufacturers should have a warning light/sound alerting you that you’re driving in 4Hi once you reach 100km/h or whatever that threshold is, but what do I know. The important thing is that you’re safe 😀 See you Friday!

[Frederic]

Sorry to hear that @Thomas Varghese. You are right: The Xterra has locked center differentials in 4WD. Many other off-road vehicles have open diffs with viscous coupling (Pajero in 4H) that would allow for driving on the highway. 

[Thomas Varghese]

3 minutes ago, Frederic said:

Sorry to hear that @Thomas Varghese. You are right: The Xterra has locked center differentials in 4WD. Many other off-road vehicles have open diffs with viscous coupling (Pajero in 4H) that would allow for driving on the highway. 

Its alright @Frederic. You only learn good lessons by paying. Hopefully the financial loss & the whole trouble will keep me on my toes not to forget about switching back to 2W after our drives henceforth. Thankfully I discovered the problem before it really ran into bigger accidents like toppling in the highway during a normal drive if the axle had completely jumped out of its housing. Thanks to God for making me go to the garage in the nick of time before bigger mishaps happened. The axle could have damaged more parts if it would have come out by smashing against other parts like engine and gearbox as they are made of Aluminium and would have cracked. It could have hit the road and made the car jump out of control. I remember the instructions you had given us to switch back to 2W after my absolute newbie drive with you. I didn't understand the importance at that time but now I do. 

[Thomas Varghese]

11 hours ago, Ahab Shamaa said:

Wow! That sucks! If staying in 4Hi on the road ruins your car, why doesn’t the car warn you?

I’ve forgotten to go back to 2WD so many times after the drive. It’s normal for people to forget...

@Ahab Shamaa you are right. People tend to forget. The car never forgets. Cars are considered as toys but in reality they are serious machines. Always read the manuals, understand & follow them before attempting sporting events like offroading in your car, I read the manual when I got the car but didn't give much importance while reading. After this incident to tell you the truth I went through the 4WD section and literally byhearted the whole so that next time I don't damage the car and cause injuries to myself, passengers or any other road user. The moment the sound and the vibration appeared while driving on high speeds on Emirates Road, this particular section of 4WD in the manual flashed in my mind and I knew something had happened. I still didn't realise the gravity of my actions until 2 days later when I got to check the same in a garage. I was shocked to see the axle almost come out like a broken bone when you break one. Immediately I realised what a fool I was for not checking the weird vibration earlier. Thank God it didn't cause any injuries to anyone including myself. 

[AlexPol]

Good morning everyone. Unfortunately have to skip this fantastic trip. Got things to do. @Ale Vallecchi,  I have unsubscribed myself from the drive participation list. All good luck to all and to the next off-roader in the wait list. Have a lovely day ahead. 

Edited January 27, 2021 by AlexPol

[Islam Soliman]

Hi @Ale Vallecchi, I was first on the WL.. as @AlexPol opted out, am I in? Pls let me know.. thx

[Ale Vallecchi]

2 hours ago, Islam Soliman said:

Hi @Ale Vallecchi, I was first on the WL.. as @AlexPol opted out, am I in? Pls let me know.. thx

Yes @Islam Soliman you are in. See you Friday. Thanks.