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COVID19 Compliant - Wednesday Morning Intermediate Desert Drive - Shuwaib - Sharjah - 21 Jul 2021


Srikumar

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Trip Report

Not the smoothest of IM drives, but it presented its own challenges which was thoroughly enjoyed and successfully overcomed by the entire team.

We started off on time at the foothill of the massive Shuwaib dunes waiting for the break of dawn to start our engines. After the first successful climbs we started criss crossing, and thats where we faced our first challenge of the day. A double pop out (front and rear) for @Thomas Varghesehis first, but it was more to do with the approach angle he took to do the crisscross. Took us a bit of a while to fix the double popouts as the tyre was twisted awkwardly. Once fixed, we tried dodging our way through the technical dunes to reach the next big hill of Shuwaib where a nice pace was set but with some ocassional refusals.

As we started playing in the big hills we met with our second challenge of the day, @Abu Muhammad's passenger started having motion sickness. Despite a few stops, unfortunately he was not feeling any better. As we had just completed an hour of driving and the exit was some distance away, so we took the difficult decision to leave Abu Mohammed at a particular spot and to return after an hour or so. That would give his passenger some time to rest and hopefully manage the rest of the drive.

We then entered some really tricky technical dunes, where the remaining 3 drivers managed it quite well with hardly any refusals. But just as we were exiting that stretch, @GauravSoni was caught sideways on a small dune, but with his chassis buried in sand. The initial attempt of self recovery didn't help, so Thomas gave him a tug and he was recovered. It was then that we faced our third and most serious challenge of the day, Gaurav had lost power to his front wheel with a drive shaft noise coming from close to the front differential. Probably a damage caused during the self recovery, but now we were in some quite nasty technical dunes and a car that was only capable of driving in 2H.

With some excellent team effort, we were able to tug Gaurav's car first onto a flat dune and then bring onto a flat sabkha. We then decided it's time and that we should go and bring Abu Mohammed from where we left him. We told Gaurav to wait at the sabkha while we went to get Abu Mohd. Once the entire convoy was back together we needed to find the flatest possible route to ensure Gaurav could easily exit out.

With multiple stops and rechecking the track ahead we did manage to find that track. Kudos to Gaurav for managing to drive well in 2H for such a long stretch. From the noise it seemed it's just the U-joint of the drive shaft which must have broken. Hope it's an easy fix. You had a very good drive till your drive shaft issue at the end.

@Thomas Varghese drove extremely well by choosing nice lines in the technical areas, but you need to practice more to keep up the pace in the open dunes and long hill climbs as well as choosing better angles to criss cross. Everything in the desert has to be smooth and if you start forcing your car you will face issues like the double popout of today.

Abu Mohammed, hope your passenger was feeling better on the way home. You drove very well in the limited opportunity that you had but you didn't have much chance to push that beast. Maybe try doing IM drives alone in the future.

@Mario Cornejo was an excellent second lead today who choose nice lines, and was always in my rear view mirror. Well done.

Overcoming the challenges was the highlight of today:s drive and I hope to repeat this drive sometime in the near future with the same drive particpants.

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1 hour ago, Srikumar said:

We then entered some really tricky technical dunes, where the remaining 3 drivers managed it quite well with hardly any refusals. But just as we were exiting that stretch, @GauravSoni was caught sideways on a small dune, but with his chassis buried in sand. The initial attempt of self recovery didn't help, so Thomas gave him a tug and he was recovered. It was then that we faced our third and most serious challenge of the day, Gaurav had lost power to his front wheel with a drive shaft noise coming from close to the front differential. Probably a damage caused during the self recovery, but now we were in some quite nasty technical dunes and a car that was only capable of driving in 2H.

@GauravSoni have you tried the poor man front diff-lock to self recover in low gear? By holding the brake and giving gas?

Hope its an easy fix and not the front differential.

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4 hours ago, Srikumar said:

Trip Report

Not the smoothest of IM drives, but it presented its own challenges which was thoroughly enjoyed and successfully overcomed by the entire team.

We started off on time at the foothill of the massive Shuwaib dunes waiting for the break of dawn to start our engines. After the first successful climbs we started criss crossing, and thats where we faced our first challenge of the day. A double pop out (front and rear) for @Thomas Varghesehis first, but it was more to do with the approach angle he took to do the crisscross. Took us a bit of a while to fix the double popouts as the tyre was twisted awkwardly. Once fixed, we tried dodging our way through the technical dunes to reach the next big hill of Shuwaib where a nice pace was set but with some ocassional refusals.

As we started playing in the big hills we met with our second challenge of the day, @Abu Muhammad's passenger started having motion sickness. Despite a few stops, unfortunately he was not feeling any better. As we had just completed an hour of driving and the exit was some distance away, so we took the difficult decision to leave Abu Mohammed at a particular spot and to return after an hour or so. That would give his passenger some time to rest and hopefully manage the rest of the drive.

We then entered some really tricky technical dunes, where the remaining 3 drivers managed it quite well with hardly any refusals. But just as we were exiting that stretch, @GauravSoni was caught sideways on a small dune, but with his chassis buried in sand. The initial attempt of self recovery didn't help, so Thomas gave him a tug and he was recovered. It was then that we faced our third and most serious challenge of the day, Gaurav had lost power to his front wheel with a drive shaft noise coming from close to the front differential. Probably a damage caused during the self recovery, but now we were in some quite nasty technical dunes and a car that was only capable of driving in 2H.

With some excellent team effort, we were able to tug Gaurav's car first onto a flat dune and then bring onto a flat sabkha. We then decided it's time and that we should go and bring Abu Mohammed from where we left him. We told Gaurav to wait at the sabkha while we went to get Abu Mohd. Once the entire convoy was back together we needed to find the flatest possible route to ensure Gaurav could easily exit out.

With multiple stops and rechecking the track ahead we did manage to find that track. Kudos to Gaurav for managing to drive well in 2H for such a long stretch. From the noice it seemed it's just the U-joint of the drive shaft which must have broken. Hope it's an easy fix. You had a very good drive till your drive shaft issue at the end.

@Thomas Varghese drove extremely well by choosing nice lines in the technical areas, but you need to practice more to keep up the pace in the open dunes and long hill climbs as well as choosing better angles to criss cross. Everything in the desert has to be smooth and if you start forcing your car you will face issues like the double popout of today.

Abu Mohammed, hope your passenger was feeling better on the way home. You drove very well in the limited opportunity that you had but you didn't have much chance to push that beast. Maybe try doing IM drives alone in the future.

@Mario Cornejo was an excellent second lead today who choose nice lines, and was always in my rear view mirror. Well done.

Overcoming the challenges was the highlight of today:s drive and I hope to repeat this drive sometime in the near future with the same drive particpants.

One of the most precise drive reports I have seen. Yes it was not the smoothest of IM drives and plagued with troubles from the start with my double pop out. Still one of the IM drives I have enjoyed fully. More than the pace and technicality it showed the team spirit of @Carnity club members in times of need. Short convoys are always great. It was worrying to see @GauravSoni's differential making sounds and wouldn't engage in 4 wheel drive. Same time he displayed utmost calmness and true professionalism by managing to drive it out of the desert in 2 wheel drive through some very technical and challenging areas all the while thanking Richard @Wrangeld for the practice he had given in a previous desert drive by driving less than 2000 rpm and at 2 wheel mode. Unfortunately I couldn't be a part of that drive and missed that opportunity to learn the technique. 

As @Srikumar pointed out sometimes my pace was slow and will definitely work out on that area. After the double pop out initially my whole boot was disturbed and everything was jumping everywhere inside. I got to find ways to anchor things back in the boot once tools are used and put back inside. Also I think I have reached the end of my tire life from my Dunlop Grandtrek tires for off roading as they have almost reached 50k kms. Will love to upgrade to Geolander or Kumho this coming week. Suggestions are welcome.

Hope @Abu Muhammad reached home without more passenger discomfort. 

Edited by Thomas Varghese
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22 minutes ago, Thomas Varghese said:

Dunlop Grandtrek tires for off roading as they have almost reached 50k kms.

Grandtrek reaching 50K with off-road use = Dubai Museum property.

You are lucky they didn't explode on road and caused any nuisance, they must be fully bald with 50K mileage.

 

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1 minute ago, Gaurav said:

Grandtrek reaching 50K with off-road use = Dubai Museum property.

You are lucky they didn't explode on road and caused any nuisance, they must be fully bald with 50K mileage.

 

To tell you the truth I expected 70k. The tires are still not bald. But considering @Srikumar's advice I'm changing it. Moreover last couple of week's drive I have felt the car is not holding steadily on side slopes and tend to slide down sooner than expected. Kindly give me your choice on manufacturer and make I should be fixing on my Xterra. My preferences are Yokohama and Kumho. Both are AT and almost same price with Kumho up by approximately 100 AED more each tire. 

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@Srikumar first of all thank you for taking time on a public holiday for a Carnity drive, even though the participants were not many the drive took off.  Yes, there were problems that did not allow us go through your drive plan, but there is always the positive of learning something and the opportunity to help each other. 

Let's not forget we had amazing weather, imagine if sun and heat would have been in full blast!

@GauravSoni amazing driving before and after the mechanical issue in your car.

@Thomas Varghese great camaraderie and support as always.

@Abu Muhammad I hope your passenger is feeling much better now.

Guys, wish you a great rest of the week and a fantastic weekend ahead.

Drive safe, stay safe and hope to see you all soon in the sand.

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Dear @Srikumar it was indeed nice to catch up with you and as always it’s my pleasure being part of your convoy. From the start I felt the fun and thought to be a thrilling drive but unfortunately the problems started. Anyhow for some odd reason as soon as we head the road he came to live and all was normal but for sure no more off roading for him lesson learned 😂. I would like to Thank you @Srikumar , @Mario Cornejoand everyone for your patience, support and help. 

 Will see you 🔜 on the sand. Take care for now.

 

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