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Congratulations @Srikumar for reaching the Marshal level with Carnity Offroad club. It is one of the most prestigious and sought after title that comes with a lot of hard work, patience, tolerance, and dedication. Just like all the levels in Carnity offroad club is "NOT" only based on driving skills but instead based on the combination of your personality + intelligence + team spirit + adventure. This Marshal title is an epitome for all levels in the offroad grading structure. So if anyone wants to grow, they can set Marshal as a PERFECT example for not only following the driving style but observing their behavior, teamwork, presence of mind, calculative approach, patience and tolerance to teach and support new offroaders. Once again congratulations Sri and best wishes for your next adventure! Carnity Offroad Club very first drive on 27 Jan 2017, where Srikumar has also joined for the first time. Album: https://carnity.com/gallery/category/8-mahafiz-to-faya-27-jan-2017 Marshal: Number of drives 60+ drives and Committee Decision Level of drives All of the above + Routing and leading in known terrain Off-road gear Flag, deflator, tire gauge, shovel, fire extinguisher, medical kit, radio, compressor, tool kit, tow rope, floor jack, jack board & GPS trackback + recovery and repair material Drive teamwork Supervise all of the above + drive and convoy coordination Drive posting/joining Post drive on Carnity and share it on Carnity social media Forum participation Post trip report + share route + track and waypoints Social media sharing & inviting friends & family to join offroad club is recommended for faster upgrades at all levels.

One more time, congratulations @Srikumar ! So happy you made it ! Very very well deserved. Bravo also to your copilot, Kabir.

Congrats @Srikumar keep it up.

Mash’Allah. Well deserved Sri. I’m happy for you 😊

Congrats @Srikumar... A well deserved promotion..

@Srikumar congrats sir ji. Well deserved. I was among the one in newbie who was overwhelmed by the response received from every one. @Srikumar sir was very accommodating. Each time I ping him. His response was just drive it towards your left and you are good to go. May be this is the reason our carnity is so famous among newbies too. Great going guys. @Gaurav @Rahimdad thank you for the wonderful platform.

@Srikumar your enthusiasm on every drive, your positive feedback towards us younger members, and your efforts and hard work makes that you can wear the Marshal badge proudly ! Looking forward to one of your next drives 😉

Well deserved Sri. Congrats for being the first ever Marshal in the Carnity club. I have noticed your confidence and transformation over these 2 years. From someone looking for an outlet from the daily life challenges and frustration to a cool, calm and willing to help team man who has developed with the patience not only to deal with developing newer people in the sport but also using the technique to come on top in all challenges in life. It is wonderful to have a friend, a brother, a true sporting person like yourself to drive with. Well done again Sri.

What a great morning. The drive was super and good mix of dunes and challenges. as gaurav mentioned in his brief before the drive- you get refusal or stuck then you learn more. i learnt a lot! the last bit- slide sloping was excitement and fear and barrel of adrenaline - pure fun- especially when my car was trying to get me down the quickest way and I was fighting it to stay close to the crest!! finally- we finished off with food and drinks in a mini oasis like place- shaded and trees- great aloo paratha, pav baaji, sandwiches, drinks, sweets and more. we finally and reluctantly moved out. i had the final sting or excitement at the inflation point when my tyre tube stem blew out with all its metal part leaving me with a flat. fred, Emmanuel,Eduardo,rahimbhai, gaurav Sri and others chipped in and helped out in jacking up the fjc and changing the tyre. i think without them I probably been there till late evening trying to first get the spare wheel out as the lock key on it was stuck and I could not get the tyre off it’s frame in the back door! it left me with a thought that despite my bad luck, I was fortunate it happened while I was stationary and not during the desert drive or on the drive back home. i got the tyre fixed at tyres.ae in Dubai. Costed me only 50 dirhams.Quick tyres were closed. the spare tyre rim had a problem and I was getting god awful judder at 80 km/ hour on the drive back. Looks like there the rim is bent.The tyres.ae guys said it will cost 400 dirhams to repair it. So let’s see if they do it right. Went to ace and got the kinetic ropes. Then to dragon mart and got the jtx jack. so now need a plank. Was way too exhausted to do anything more. so all in all - fantastic day. thanks gaurav for leading a great drive and thanks to Emmanuel & Fred to working hard to help me getting out of sticky situations and pulling me out. thanks rahimbhai for your tips and advice. fantastic day and I am looking out for next Friday. best wishes srini

His al videos named. Dont, never, worst, never buy this car. He hates everything except corolla. He should be working here in UAE.

You did well buddy ! You always stay calm and positive and that’s what matters ! It’s a pleasure helping others out and that’s what Carnity stands for. On the crest it’s better not too fight gravity too much. Steering towards the crest while the car wants to go down is a bit tricky and dangerous . Once you do more of those crests you’ll see that you just need to attack that crest a bit higher and faster so you’ll be able to ride it further and longer. Once the car wants to come down it’s better to point the nose of the car downwards and make your descend. See you soon !

Congrats @Srikumar, well deserved and it was great being there when it was announced! As everyone already said, I've also always appreciated your help, patience, and willingness to share your experience with the rest of us!

Thank you to everyone at the Carnity Offroad Club. Its a privilege to be part of such a great group of people who share the same passion for offroading. After a certain time I realized that its not just the drive that brought me joy, but more importantly the people with whom I have been offroading that really brought a smile to my face. Special thanks to @Asif Hussain and @Emmanuel. Its always a pleasure to drive in your company. As @Rahimdad rightly said what started as an outlet to get away from the city stress, turned into a full blown passion. And for that, no amount of thanks would be enough to both you and @Gaurav for teaching me the beautiful art of desert driving. Offroading with CARNITY is truly a Way of Life!!

@Barry and @treks you can use the expert or legend membership to have a PM feature enabled, so that you can continue talking to each other privately. Remember Barry that now the active members have no PM feature so that we will not be bombarded by PM from a new member who is always shy away to ask a question on Carnity and happy to post their whole life hour-by-hour update on Facebook and Instagram. Good riddance.

I should add that it was in fact the feedback from the newbies who came to @Gaurav bhai and I to tell us how patient and gently @Srikumar has handled the situations which has further confirmed our decision of making him Marshal. True community spirit and a great contributor within the community.

UPDATE: So these bad boys were put in during the weekend. The holes on these did seem bigger, in which the tip of a ballpoint pen can fit easily. I will be picking up the car from the garage today so we shall see if this is the end of this issue.

Congrats @Srikumar for become the marshal. And thanks @Rahimdad for this wonderful trip report. I am not a part of the drive but I feel my presence when I read your write-up. Love you guys.

Hello, I've had my power steering fail during my last drive in the desert yesterday! (I should have stuck to flying - less damage to the car 😂). I went to see two garages today and I got the same diagnostic - the power steering pump is dead. I was given two options to fix the issue : Replace the whole pump assembly: between 2500-3000aed including labor! (seems very very expensive !!) Repair the pump itself: between 800 to 1500aed... Any thoughts? Where can I check the price of parts online? Would repairing the pump be a good option? Or is it a "high risk" job and it would fail again? Any recommended garage to go to and do this for a fair price? In the meantime, I'm gonna grow some muscles 😅

Congratulations @M.K for reaching the fewbie level with Carnity Offroad club. Based on your last (first) newbie drive you have demonstrated skills required deserving this new offroad rank. Looking forward to seeing you growing further and helping others to learn the art of offroading in a safe environment. Fewbie: Number of drives 10 (16 regular drives) Level of drives Willingness to learn + Enthusiasm + Basic dune reading Off-road gear Flag, deflator, tire gauge, shovel, fire extinguisher, medical kit, radio, compressor (recommended) Drive teamwork Observe recovery from a safe distance and offer help when needed Drive posting/joining Join newbie and fewbie level of drives only Forum participation Active participation on forum. Share drive experience + feedback on forum and pictures in gallery Social media sharing & inviting friends & family to join an offroad club is highly recommended for faster upgrades at all levels.

Thanks to all, much appreciated. Will be back as soon as the minister of interior will allow. Will also make sure to contribute to the drive breakfast party. Again thanks!

Congrats man! You deserve it.

If a pump is reconditioned and repaired properly, it should be as good as a new pump. It all depends on who is doing the work and how professional they are. Many places will take your old pump as a core unit and hand you a “new” reconditioned unit. New, original is always good but it’s expensive but at least you know it’s new. Don’t write off aftermarket parts, research the manufacturer. Sure there’s a lot of cheap crap out there, but some of the aftermarket parts manufacturers make parts for the car manufacturer and just stick a stamp on it. Like ferodo, gates, valeo, small names but original parts without the original price. Second hand parts can be good but you need to do your research and know what you’re looking for. You know they’re genuine parts from the manufacturer but remember they’re old. They will probably fail when they reach the same usage level as your own part.

Congrats @M.K ! We hope to see you again soon !

Good share @eduardo. Maybe @Barry would be more qualified to comment on difference between repair and replacement. You don't have to get new steering pump, maybe @shadow79 can source one for you cheaper.

Thanks again @Rahimdad and @Srikumar. It was great fun and I learned a lot, especially that I have still had to learn much more 🤣. It's always a big pleasure to drive with you guys, it's a wonderful break from the city and the stress of the week! @AKR showed us his real side by going completely badass with no exhaust - hope you managed to get it fixed. @yogic72 these moments are really great with your son, I'm sure he will remember them fondly as a young adult and even later.

@sertac you're losing your magic, you need to get yourself a ride and join us again. As rightly put by @Frederic and @Asif Hussain. He was too fast on his approach and instead of steadying himself first he turned right to fast to follow the car ahead and the drag force on the left wheels caused the flip.

Well written @Frederic. @srini62 it's a pleasure to have you around. Good to see you jelling well with your FJ and discovering it well. See you this Friday again.

Thanks for keeping this updated. This thread will become very valuable for others !

Incidentally I was just thinking about this. There is a small YouTube channel called auto auction rebuilds and he routinely does videos of crashed cars in auction yards. And even after some decent crashes I notice the how much less damage the passenger compartment takes. Great strides have been made in automotive safety in the past 20-30years. Where cars are designed with crumple zones and for the crash energy to transfer around the cabin rather than through it. Add to those the new srs seatbelts and multiple airbags. Chances today of surviving a pretty hard crash are very high compared to just few years ago. Also for some sadistic reason I watch a lot of NCAP ans EUROCAP crash test videos too.

Old man I still won't reply to your PMs!

We had a great drive today with @Rahimdad. Absolutely enjoyed the pace of the drive. Great team effort by all @Rahimdad @Srikumar @AKR @eduardofor your ever enthusiastic support and help in pulling us out in those sticky situations. @Srikumar really well deserved on being upgraded to a Marshal. Looking forward to some more exciting drives. Thanks to you guys it’s the one thing my son is enthusiastic about to wake up early In the Morning.

He turned right immediate after crossing the ridge, he should have gone straight down. And the guy in front of him was little slow and he corrected the angle by turning left and escaped.

Newtrip report. What an amazing day. Started with the announcement of the first ever Marshal for Carnity. Congratulations @Srikumar, for his hard work, dedication, enthusiasm, willingness to help and a very positive attitude. At this point we split the convoy between Newbie and Fewbie. We were 5 cars in the Fewbie level @eduardo, @yogic72, @AKR ,@Srikumar and I. We started with some dune crossings with a good momentum and everydody managed well, we even crossed a herd of goats and was a pleasant surprise besides the regular camels and donkeys around. Finally we started heading though some amazing tracks where we came across a lot of small trees, shrubs and bushes, but with enough gap to just pass through. The challenge of crossing the dunes and keeping between the greenery was very pleasant and the team named it the little forest. We had a couple of refusals and stucks, but the convoy discipline and capability was so good that we came very close to the breakfast area with an hour to go. So I made an announcement if anybody would like to lead for short stints and all agreed. First was @eduardo and he was managing well before he had his first stuck and shortly another one. At this point @AKR took over and he too after a short lead got stuck. After recovering him we had no time to test out @yogic72 and also there was some trouble with one of the steering pump so decided to exit to road and head to the breakfast point. The area was amazing shaded with loads of trees. We were even welcomed by a bunch of camels including 2 baby camels who left due to the roar of one of the vehicles whose exhaust pipe was disconnected. As we lay our spread and waited for the newbies to join, we had a couple of discussions about being promoted from newbie to Fewbie level, the difference felt and the short leads. This is a topic I will raise another thread as feedback was interesting. Soon the newbies caught up and we had our feast. In the time that everybody was relaxed and chatting we got the exhaust sorted out, but no solution found for the steering pump. As we headed out and inflated it was time to say goid bye and hoping for another drive next week which will bring all these amazing people out with some new friends to be made. Until that time idios.

Is there anything more cringy than that intro peice And whats with those 70s John Lennon shades!

Out of all the cars I’ve owned, I think I’ve only owned one that was built in the century and I still haven’t died in a fiery ball of flames. I think the lesson to take away here is don’t crash.

Jeez Pajero parts seem to be on fire! Get a used one preferably if you can get one one from a Japanese half cut. My Discovery pissed out all its steering just as I pulled into the RTA right in front of the seller, Needless to say I would have it fixed and ready in a few hours the guy didn't buy it. Anyway I bought a used one for 150 and fixed it my garage. Lasted for many many years with the new owner. Till the last time I bumped into him anyways.

Congrats @M.K

Sorry that’s a question I can’t answer. If I was in my home country I could recommend a place but here, I do all my own work in house with my team. I only work on classics now and do restoration jobs. My labour charges are a lot higher that most garages. This is a question for another member.

Thanks Gaurav and the team for a nice drive.

I am driving a pure stock 2013 manual base FJ cruiser. I believe it comes with the front/back points for towing. On my way in few minutes See you all soon.