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Thanks @Srikumar I am also looking forward to that !! This would have never been possible without the guidance of people like you and others who have set up this amazing offroad-community and are giving their best efforts and dedication every weekend to enable people to learn these skills in a safe and motivating way.

Congrats @Frederic for posting your first drive. All the best. Look forward to being on your drives very soon

As I wrote, I started slow for the first high dunes, just to check that you were comfortable with your JGC, but after that, trust me, we were cruising at the usual intermediate level pace.

With our newly promoted Intermediate drivers, the long rolling dunes of Al Faqa provide a perfect playground to ramp up the pace a bit and stretch the legs of both car and driver. We will explore the area, and alternate between side sloping, ridge crossing, and enjoy whatever this area has to offer. This drive is for Intermediate and above level only. Please check if you have all required tools and gear on board as per your assigned drive level. When: 22 November 2019, Friday Meeting time: 06:00 AM, the convoy will move sharply at 06:15 AM Where: Al Faqa GPS Coordinate: https://goo.gl/maps/dt57TRJ3ak4SrCkX8 Level of drive: Intermediate and above Type of Car: Any proper 4x4 with front and back tow hooks and 10 inches of ground clearance. Plan: Drive and enjoy until about 11 AM, with some small breaks in between to have breakfast and snacks. What to bring along: Some snacks, plenty of water - whatever you like with little extra to share, smiles, stories, enthusiasm and willingness to learn. Approximate finish time: 11 AM

Thanks @Emmanuel @Frederic @Javier M for the nice drive. I did not know what to expect on an intermediate drive but in a few minutes realized why newbie and fewbie drives are called relaxing drives😄. Honestly I would not have dared to try a drive like this in the Grand Cherokee, but knowing the carnity family always put safety first and are always willing to train and help gave me the confidence to give it a shot. Thanks to @Emmanuel @Frederic and @Javier M for the patience they had with me. I know I slowed you'll down quite a bit. Being the first drive at this level, I was not really sure how the JGC would handle so didnt want to push to much till I got a feel of it. Pretty sure @Emmanuel would have gone for a 100km drive instead of 60 km had I kept up. 😀 @Javier M thanks for the 2 recoveries when I crested myself. i still need to get the straight up straight down sorted out, always think I am going to nose dive on one of those so end up taking my foot of tha gas to early. Thanks again guys for the wonderful drive. Looking forward to the next one. Not to forget @Rahimdad and @Gaurav, thanks for all time and effort you guys put into training us and building our confidence.

Hey Guys, So I have been looking to do a Restoration of the Pajero, main focus would be the Chassis, Body and Electrical Wiring Through out. Complete Restore. Reason being there is a lot of Performance Mods that are going to be done to the Car during 2020 and I just want everything to be perfect (I have OCD that way.) It will not be a factory restore in terms of Drivetrain, but some what a Restomod project, hopefully first of its kind! Things that I would want to do: Chassis correction and repainting/rust proofing, Body Panel Correction and Full Repaint, Electrical system Overhaul, All nuts and bolts galvanized and refreshed. Was looking for any Garage recommendations that can carry out such a restore diligently and within justifiable costs. Any leads would be much appreciated! Cheers, Jas

bumpers: check lift: check gnarly tyres: check You should hit the sands again @desertdude. You might see this Pajero flying around.

LOL you just described my car when I was working as a Desert Tour Guide to a T right down to Picture on the back window and 4 digit number plate! Only difference mine was a Land Cruiser. Nowadays moving around like that just attracts extra attention from the cop shop. If today you don't want to be messed with either by the cops or public as mentioned earlier get your self a luxury sedan or SUV, a decent plate number also helps. I got lucky this time round and got one of those to, so I'm all set. Until I venture out in the sunny again.

Hey Fredric, 1) Yes I think my passenger front side is a little bent in, had a nasty ditch at the top of Super Bowl when they were doing the digging there last winter. So just want to get everything in perfect shape and strength for the future. 4) Thats the issue right now, every month or two something electrical goes wrong, blown fuses or interior relays. So just want everything redone properly and professionally. My main thing is I don't want to cut corners anywhere with the build as it's a project which i look to keep for a long time, being something unique. The day I can afford his labor, you'll see me driving an Urus in the Dunes

I wonder how much they paid for the GN article.

Electric cars still need cooling systems

You could always bring it to this guy in Belgium: https://www.meor.be/ He restores old Mercedes cars and sells them. Even Sheikh of Qatar is one of his customers. Check the cars for sale and how they are restored. You can eat off the floor in that workshop.

Or in this case, the lack of a grille even for appearances' sake.

Sounds like an interesting project ! Having all these things done in one single workshop is gonna cost you serious bucks i am afraid. Alas, here are my two cents: 1) Chassis correction: can you be more specific ? Is there any specific damage ? 2) Chassis repainting / rustproofing. There are specialised companies who do this. Not so very expensive. 3) Body panel correction and full repaint: Can be done in a bodyshop (i think @Gaurav found a good one recently). 4) Electrical system overhaul. These cars are made in a very simple way, so the electrical wiring that i'd look at overhauling is mainly located in the engine bay were temperature can have created some brittle wires. Inside dashboard or something i would not even touch as it might become a can of worms. Maybe have the main starter wires and battery wires / grounds replaced. 5) Nuts and bolts galvanized. Get them blasted and either galvanized or just painted. Many small workshops do this. We work with Gopinath in Ras Al Khor for the bigger blasting and painting jobs.

In such level job, do look into Line-x application for under body protection, one of my friend's friend got the whole car cover in Line-x top and bottom - Black Tahoe. Regarding full paint and tidying the wiring system, I highly suggest to do once you are done with all mods and tested them for few drives, so that you are 100% sure that you will be living with that setup for few years. I got my car painted in 2017 and soon after we need to open the engine and few electrical and mechanical work and It wasn't nice. Let me know when you find one in Dubai, Im also looking for good place desperately. I have used Autotech in Aweer for part paint job and they were nice and reasonable, not sure about their mechanic or electrical work yet. https://goo.gl/maps/Y6rf1We72xcKDGXg9

Congrats @Frederic for posting your first drive. Many more to come with me trying to catch up with our favourite Saluki.

All I can add is this- SUV's are getting uglier by the day, no matter who makes them.

😭 as @Barry mentioned you need a TPMS tool.

agree. Same as Harley Davidson that has electric bikes now. The one thing should not exclude the other.

I bought Michelin Primacy SUV basically because I also use my car a lot on-road. They are OK on the sand, but weak and slippy on rocks. So, as you said, definitely not a good option if you want to drive in wadis, I mean off the tracks.

@Brette better safe than sorry. But mostly if the first car has gone through all you have to do is follow. But better to adjust to this level of drive for the first couple of drives. Well done all.

I know you had that luxury in your Cherokee in 2008ish and after that I have never seen you again on sand.

There was a discussion on the forum sometime back for Garage on Wheels, Well some read read it and https://gulfnews.com/technology/mysyara-comes-to-the-uae-to-provide-all-the-car-services-you-need-right-at-your-doorstep-1.1573977813290 and started the App @Barry bro have your say!

Thanks Gaurav, The plan is to have the drivetrain being modified while all this work is going on. So by the time everything will be ready and assembled at once. I'll keep you updated, I think the issue I find with UAE garages is that most owners have all the know how and expertise on the works but they aren't there 24/7 to monitor labor, just a way of doing business. Line-X is probably the line I will take for the Chassis!

Hahahaha, it was my not-so-educated guess

3.8 SWB Gen 3 - 2006

Well who told you that Most if not all EVs have liquid cooled batteries. He'll even phones are getting liquid cooling now

What year jero is it? Swb or lwb?

Oh yeah, but why do you need grill in electric setup in first place. No engine, no cooling, no air, no ventilation.

Wow. Seems like an awesome project. I believe the Pajero is a nobody, so not really sure about the chassis correction. But sounds like you know what you're doing. All the best and awaiting feedback from people about a competent garage to carry out this restoration job.

Because it seems they all are made in same factory and different brands putting the front grill and tail light for branding.

I dont think Ford is killing normal Mustang, this is in addition to the existing lineup.

This is the only icon displays in dash.

We love a can of worms. I used to drive on HTs with the exception of Yoko Geolander ATS since 1 year. Feels slightly heavier, but as I got used to them they really help out a lot and fairly quiet on road. Gives me that extra kick in deep sand to just make it a bit further. Plus it really soaks up the throes tracks which is nice.

In Ford Explorer 2010 model I had done this DIY to find out which TPMS is faulty. If there is a faulty TPMS it displays "Tire Pressure Sensor Fault" along with sign as shown in the picture below. To know exactly which tyre sensor is not working just deflate and inflate the tyres one by one... For Example: Front left tyre, deflate to 20psi and check the dashboard and if it displays low tyre pressure it means it is working properly. Inflate front left tyre to normal psi and try other tyres one by one. The one with faulty TPMS will not display low tyre pressure and it will remain as shown in the image below as Tire Pressure Sensor Fault. @Gauravbhai if you have this type of display try this.

Sure that’s the best way out !! thank you 🙏

Cancel, refund, and move to RSA.

If it doesn’t tell you on the dashboard you’ll need a TPMS tool. Point it at the wheels and you’ll see if one isn’t sending a signal. They’re not expensive but a good tyre shop will have one. Some diagnostic computers work through the obd port but it depends on the car.

By the way traffic is very nice here. Chance to be bullied is very less and police is controlling everwhere. Some samples from Istanbul; My favorite. Bikers not giving way to a car, but car belong to President guards.

That is why i mentioned - just a small correction on this part of the trip report. Rahim bhai did mention that we all contributed towards the end of the report but just see below sentences from that particular paragraph: 1. Both of them worked tirelessly to get the FJ safe to drive out. 2. @Srikumar took over and again with the help of @Halit Mert Issever got the whole thing sorted and we were headed out. Above statements when read by a person who wasn't present on the scene, would think, only 2 members did all the work which is not correct and that is what I am trying to highlight here.

@Shamil FYI

@Rahimdad bhai - just a small correction on this part of the trip report. I believe the entire team put in their efforts and contributed in some shape or form in the recovery of the FJ. Not taking away the merit and appreciation for Sri and Mert in anyway but I just thought this had to be mentioned.

team ! this was my first ever experience of experiencing the dessert - inside out- and I totally loved it- (though I was not driving) and was accompanied by @Navinchandar- the most memorable part was- everyone on the group- was so warm and friendly and welcoming that I never felt- that It was the first time I am meeting them- I myself is an introvert and take my own time to meet and open up with people- but I was happily surprised to see the warm welcome and an amazing hug from @Rahimdad - big thank you to all of you to extend the love- and I hope @Mohammed Yaasir you are all good and best of health ! @Atif , @Shamil and all of you whose names I still don't remember you guys and this group is amazing !! your team spirit and "one for all and all for one" is out of the world ! keep it up and see you all next week !!

Trip Report - Started the day missing @Gaurav bhai in action which was sad. Secondly had to do the hardest thing, but for everyone's safety had to send @luwaimn back as he could not sign up for the drive. Had a good chat with him and I am sure he knows how the system works now. The best thing in all this was being able to start on time. As we headed to the deflation point we had to drop @Jamy B. dinky at the mosque as we returned to join everybody. With a few new faces and a lot of known ones we started our brief. After the brief we assigned the convoy numbers, deflated, got our flags up and started the day with the Sun just coming out. It was a beautiful feeling and I had great company in @Jamy B., she asked quite a few intelligent questions and was patient enough to hear my explanation. my second lead was our dependable @Atif bhai, with @Shamil in a very responsible position and @Srikumar in the sweep. The drive was my trademark drive with a slow and steady start and some easy tracks which I tried to bump up as we headed through. We were doing good time and everyone was managing really well. As we zig zagged our way through the beautiful dunes of Mahafiz we reached our first play area. With me in lead I kind of tried out the side slopping and it seemed pretty even except for a few bumps and places where we needed to slow down and places we could accelerate. While some of our more senior folks tried out the stunt, as @Thomas J claimed he was driving before and with confidence shown by @Srikumar we allowed him to express himself and he did pretty well and scared us a bit at the end. However he showed great control and I really loved to watch him do the stunt. Some of them were so excited they even tried it out twice. With a request from @Mohammed Yaasir to try and being his third drive with glimpse of good control I agreed to ride with him for his first ever sidey. As we waited for the traffic to clear and with some last minute advise from me we were on our way. At this point I was sure with his drive style that he would manage it well, but since I felt there was a fishtail to the left I advised him to steer left, but with the car moving upwards towards the right I embraced myself for the inevitable. In my mind the whole ordeal was over in a split second, but after watching the video it seems like slow motion now. As we stopped rolling I opened the door and stepped out, I was made to sit and have cold water. This is when i realized that I was bleeding a bit, but besides a small cut in me finger, a sprained thumb, some skin off the left elbow and a light bump on the head I was OK. As I looked around and inquired about @Mohammed Yaasir he was safe too. To my surprise his first reaction was I hoe the car is written off, I would like to go for a newer one. His second statement was he would join the following week with his friend in his Jeep Wrangler 2003 model. This was a great gesture towards have a positive outlook. As I sat and waited for the blood to stop and regained my senses, the team was already at work and loved to see the team work as everybody forgot all about the drive and were helping out in one way or the other to get the convoy moving. My greatest appreciation to our energetic @Srikumar and the now famous and promoted @Halit Mert Issever who while trying to push the windshield out learned how to honk with his rear end. Both of them worked tirelessly to get the FJ safe to drive out. Also noticed that the tire on the front left was deflated, tried inflating with no good result and could hear a leak from the inside side wall. Decided to change the tire, after I failed a could of attempts to get the FJ up, @Srikumar took over and again with the help of @Halit Mert Issever got the whole thing sorted and we were headed out. But before we headed out the breakfast and the tea was served and we had energy to continue. At this point I believe @Navinchandar was having a difficult time to do the medium dunes as a result of what he had seen earlier. @Navinchandar hope you will get over the fear and will join us again soon. This is an extreme sport, but as long as you have good people around you, there will never be a dull moment in life. After Friday prayers and a quick deflation I was on my way, used my small injuries and the video to but some sympathy from my wife as I had to be home by 10 am and I was delayed by a good 4 hours. later received a call from @Mohammed Yaasir to confirm he got the accident report from the Police Station, had towed his car to the recommended garage and was safely home. My first experience of being in a car that rolled over in 11 years, must have seen a few but being in one just took the scare away as it seemed less scary than the Tom & Jerry ride in Warner Bros Abu Dhabi or the Spiderman Ride at IMG, however the damage is very much real and hope it will be all sorted out in time. Once again highly appreciate the team spirit shown by all and would encourage everyone to keep up this strong spirit.