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Which all goes to confirm that the Jeep TJ is the perfect 2nd car for off roading (hehehehe!) - it can work stock, has masses of mods avaialble and, if the tuning is good enough, a perfect weight power ratio.

Based on our recent experiences, we have decided to change few things to honor "RESPECT" and equal opportunities for all off-roaders to join and enjoy off-road drives "SAFELY". All off-road drives will be limited to 15 members only. Due to safety in mind, it is very essential that every drive should not exceed the maximum number of 15 cars in the convoy. Drive posted with higher RSVP count will have multiple Marshals to lead their individual convoy not exceeding the 15 cars / convoy. All drives RSVP will close a day prior. All drive RSVP will either close a day prior or once RSVP limit reached, so that Marshals have enough time to plan the route and convoy numbering. Latecomers will be returned back - NO EXCEPTIONS. Every off-roader MUST attend every briefing with 100% undivided attention. If you are late for any reason, please return back and join the next week drive. Reaching the meeting point on time and then refueling, shopping and doing other chores does not mean that you were on time, you will be left behind. All Marshals are instructed to leave the meeting point - without any grace period. So plan your buffer time in advance. You cannot join the drive at deflation point if you are late, simply return back. Marshals are not allowed to take your calls when you are late and hold the convoy because of your delay. Members without RSVP will be returned back - NO EXCEPTIONS. Every offroader need to RSVP the drive that he/she wish to join for safety reasons. Admin will remove all multiple drives RSVP at "same time", please decide to join any one drive. If you were unable to RSVP the drive, it means drive is full and please do not show up on the meeting point. Please withdraw your RSVP, if you aren't joining, so your spot can be taken by others. Repeated no-show members after RSVP will have their account suspended for a month.

As we mention in our briefing offroading puts a lot of strain on your vehicle. On higher level drives like Intermediate, despite our best efforts certain amount of premature body or mechanical damage is expected. The decision of going for a second car is a personal choice. But since you have asked my opinion, I would say that if you intend to make this a regular hobby its good to have a second car purely for offroading purpose. You can modify it or do minimum fixes as per your convenience without worrying too much about offroading damages. Having said that, we have @Emmanuel who has been using his Xterra both for ofroading as well as a daily driver for the past 2 years and has managed it extremely well. Same is the case for @Frederic who uses his 99 Pajero for both purposes. But then their stock vehicles are proper offroader with good ground clearance and minimal electronics. Can't exactly say the same about a Patrol Y62 with its low hanging bumpers.

Wow, @Gaurav *came back* after showing everyone the way home? Give this dedicated man a standing applause please 👏👏👏 . That's some dedication & leadership right there 👍

I was supposed to do a visa run next week then the news dropped on Saturday that they’re not issuing new visas from the 17th so it was a big panic to get a last minute flight yesterday. Airport was crazy on the way out. Super busy and like something from a zombie apocalypse movie with half the people wearing masks and rubber gloves. Coming back into Dubai was a different story. It was like a ghost town. Hardly anyone there and only 2 immigration counters open. I’ve got an aunt stuck in Spain at the minute too. Missed her flight home and now can’t get through to the airline. I really hope they’re not going to start doing this with every seasonal virus every year or life could become unmanageable for a lot of people very quickly. Anyway, I’m ready for total lockdown. Plenty of beer and baked beans in the cupboard and Netflix subscription paid up to date. Bring it on. I could use a break from society.

Just to provide an update, I talked to a few shops and they quoted me ridiculous amounts to run the wires from the battery to the trunk, from 500 to 1,000 AED. So I went to Dragon mart, got thick electrical wires for 100 AED, and found a shop in Satwa to run the wires under the cabin floorboard for 100 AED along with an on-off switch and two fuses attached to the wires. So in total, paid 200 AED, and now have a convenient and quick inflation process. The yellow/blue wires behind the compressor are from the battery, the black hose in the bottom left is the inflation hose, the black wire in the top left is for the trailer. By the way, the Y62 honks its horn automatically as soon as it's inflated to 35PSI, through its Tyre pressure control system (TPCS), so no need to constantly check the pressure!

@Xaf thank you for taking the time to write such thoughtful and valid comments. These are serious words of wisdom that every driver should adhere to. The Y62 does indeed have considerably higher running costs, but the thrill of a V8 400hp engine packaged in luxury justifies it in my humble opinion. @Gaurav can attest to the joy of riding it as he drove up the Maleha mountain with it on Friday. I have a [fake] defender back home (more on that later), and have no worries on damaging it while offroading since running costs are much lower, but sometimes I feel like I'm driving a farm tractor. I'll let people with more experience comment on striking that perfect balance between comfort/power versus running costs. Anyway, a few points to mention: - I had the bumper changed yesterday (thanks @Chaitanya D for the contact details of Mohammad), and also installed the bash plate painted matte black to match the car, and a new LED light: The bash plate is connected to the chasis, and should theoretically absorb the forces better. Before doing this, I visited these guys, and considered metal front and rear bumpers along with Smittybilt winch: They were asking 3,600 for the front, and 2,200 for the back, plus 2,800 for the 12k winch. But because of three reasons I decided against it : a) The bumpers are made of aluminum and recovery points can not be attached to the bumpers; b) RTA approval is questionable for the bumpers and c) the winch is attached not to the chasis but to a cross bar which is held to the chasis with three bolts on each side. And that front cross bar is not strong enough to with-hold the strong forces of a winch. I spoke to multiple shops that confirmed the Y62 by design is not suited for a winch like a cruiser. Just to comment on @Srikumar's valid statement about additional wear and tear, and of course this is true, but my experience is that some cars are built tougher than others. Cruisers and patrols are built like tanks and can withstand that offroad abuse much better than entry level 4x4's. But of course the approach/break-over/departure angles need to be improved.

@Salarios Congratulations with your upgrade. Your car looks awesome in my opinion, nice black stealth look with aggressive wheels. Bumpers @Salarios and @Chaitanya D, because you are both changing bumpers/ body, try to think a few steps ahead. Do I want to continue with this hobby and do I maybe need other things in the future? As an example, LED lights or a winch maybe? You don't have to do everything at once, but when you are modifying your bumper, I would also think about where you can mount a LED bar/ spots. When the time comes that you want to mount LED lights, you'll have a gap/ space/ bar for that. I've learned in this region that you have to think by yourself and give them a plan/ design what you like. The work they deliver is often good, as long you give them a detailed concept. As a technique, you can visit different workshops, ask them an opinion what they can do for you. Sometimes they come with ideas you've never thought about. Go home, think a few days about it, put the best of all ideas together and go the one that was offering you the best price. Try to get a bit more off that price if possible. One thing I have experienced, the more you bargain, the least in priority your work will be done. Tires I am not into the Nissan Y62's, regarding choosing a new tire, I recommend that you both go through the Y62 fora, to see what is possible regarding different offsets and tire sizes. https://www.patrol4x4.com/threads/biggest-tyre-stock-car.285785/ @Salarios I know you already have new wheels and tires, but still I recommend to go through the discussion on the forum, it might help you with other modifications like another UCA or suspension lift.

I had this "grinding noise" problem when shifting back from 4H to 2H with my Pajero 8 years back... that feeling is scary, but luckily was able to drive (at slow speed) to the nearest Mitsubishi service center to get it looked at. This may be one of the cons of driving Automatic, but now after every 10,000kms service, one of the things I checked after getting the car back from garage is whether I can shift from 2H to 4H-4L and back again to 2H... hopefully @Alexander Sarte's 4Runner is fixed in timely manner before the next drive.

Join Carnity Offroad Club for an adventurous morning drive in the magnificent Sweihan Dunes in Abu Dhabi. Sweihan offers amazing broad and tall dunes in Abu Dhabi offering perfect learning opportunity for absolute newbies for their first time desert driving thrilling experience. If you have already driven in sand before then you can learn more from experts having decades of offroading experience in the UAE. This area offers a good mix of playable long set of dunes and broad ridge to test your off-road control. Drive is open for all 4x4/4WD/SUV/AWD vehicle having 8-10 inches of ground clearance and front and rear tow hooks. You can bring your family, friends and kids, but if you are absolute new to sand offroading it is better to drive alone first to learn offroading without any distractions. Drive will start with detail briefing, followed by 3 hours of driving in sand dunes and then followed by a break for feedback and assessment session for each offroader. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN? We will teach you how to drive your vehicle offroad safely and learn the best offroad driving and recovery techniques. Even if you have never driven in sand before, you can still join and learn the art of off-roading with complete confidence and peace of mind. If you have already driven in sand before then you can learn more from experts having decades of offroading experience in the UAE. This area offers a good mix of playable long set of dunes and broad ridge to test your off-road control. CAN MY VEHICLE DO IT? This drive is open for all 4x4/4WD/SUV/AWD vehicle having 8-10 inches of ground clearance along with front and rear tow hooks. Please check these two mandatory and VERY STRICT requirement before signing up. CAN I BRING PASSENGERS? Yes of course, but if you are an absolute new to offroading it is better to drive alone first to avoid any distractions. WHAT CAN I EXPECT? The drive will start with a detailed briefing, followed by 2-3 hours of driving in sand dunes and then followed by a break for refreshments over a feedback and assessment session for each offroader. You will learn about the following subjects: Introduction to off-roading Desert driving basics and etiquette Desert driving tips, techniques, myth and best practices Off-road and safety gear familiarization and recovery procedures Vehicle orientation, risk analysis, deflation and outdoor safety advice WHAT ITEMS SHOULD I BRING? On your very first drive with us we only ask you to bring your enthusiasm and willingness to learn. From a second drive onwards we ask you to start collecting the Essential Tools as per below attachment. More information on these items can be found in the advices section and in offroad club. If you already have the off-roading gears, then it's better to carry them along to help you learn off-roading at a faster pace. ARE YOU JOINING US FOR THE FIRST TIME? Introduce yourself on this drive thread. Share with us your vehicle details. Prior off-road experience (Yes/No) Confirm 8-10 inches of ground clearance along with front and rear tow hooks in good usable condition. RSVP the drive calendar LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE: Limited to 15 members only. RSVP will close on Thursday. Latecomers will be returned back - without ANY EXCEPTIONS. Members without RSVP will be returned back - without ANY EXCEPTIONS. Please withdraw your RSVP, if you aren't joining, so your spot can be taken by others. Repeated no-show members after RSVP will have their account suspended for a month. Level: Absolute Newbie, Newbies and above (All level) When: 20 Mar 2020 Meeting time: 6:45 AM (SHARP - Without any exceptions) Meeting Point: Al Rashedi Restaurant https://maps.app.goo.gl/yhhVzrCRhXv1mJNRA Type of Car: Any proper 4x4 with front and back tow hooks and 8-10 inches of ground clearance. What to bring along: Loads of water, snacks, smiles, stories, enthusiasm and willingness to learn. Approximate finish time: 12:00 PM - (much before Friday prayer) Friday Prayer Mosque: Muammar Mosque https://goo.gl/maps/tRVc4DYzSuCcW6WU7 MUST READ: First off-road drive checklist Off Road Driving - Roles & Responsibilities Off road Driving Etiquette's Off-road Convoy Rules Off roading - Everything you need to know Off roading - Newbie brief Please RSVP on the below calendar:

Thank you! As it didn’t show the end point, this is why I asked. It’s about the same time then as from Maliha. I’d like to explore this new area then. I wish the other morning drive was on Saturday! This way I could join all 3 😁

Reese is a household name for tow hitches. I’ll ask Xaf to give it a good tug coming Friday 😜

I just took a screenshot of these and save it in my scrapbook under "Things to do whenever bonus comes" 😁 Thanks @Salarios for sharing.

Thanks @Chaitanya D for your expert inputs. We have planned and added new briefing pattern on the announcement post above. Hope everyone complies to it for everyone safety and hygiene.

Hope everything goes better for you n family.. I'd recommend wearing an N95 or P100 respirator at the airport to minimize the risk. Hope to hear from you soon.

Hope everything works out well for you. Take care.

Do you have separate damping and rebound control or just one screw controlling both? I have no clue nor have I got any interest about setting up for off road but I could tell you how to set them up for road/track use, controlling over/understeer etc

@Xaf Thanks and I concur with all your suggestions. I will try to get some more ideas as to how to sort the bumper/suspension/tyre changes for Y62 patrols- most being made in Australia where they do many kind of upgrades/changes which I suppose are not allowed in UAE due to the process of re-registration every year.And there is no clear cut directive as to what can be done not to have any issue while registering the car every year. Another option which strikes to my mind always is instead of making all these expensive changes to a stock nicely equipped car, I go for a cheaper used car and drive it carefree in the desert. I need some suggestions regarding this - Modifications to a Y62 vs buying a used car which can be driven as you like in the desert without worrying much. @Rahimdad, @Gaurav, @Srikumar and @Frederic your inputs will be much appreciated . Thanks in advance

woohoo.. got in.. yeah!!

See You Sri! Good to be back. Cheers, Jas

Beer and Netflix is a good combination for Rick and Morty, going to start from the first season for the 3rd time. ”lets get Swifty”

@Rahimdad @Shamil @Pickey Singh and the rest of the crew. It was an amazing experience! Loved the ride, clear instructions and your great support for all of us to learn to master the desert. Craving for more!

Finally we have done the first ever Carnity drive on Saturday, thanks to all those who kept on asking on social media. I gather the courage to post a first test-out drive for Saturday and to my surprise we have had full house within first 3 days - 15 cars. After that I kept on getting messages for allowing 1 more car and 1 more car repeatedly. As per the new convoy restriction from safety aspect, we all are supposed to keep the count to max of 15 cars in any single convoy. Irrespective of that, still few people made on meeting point and they just got lucky as few others didn't show up, which gave a chance to balance the equation fairly. As it was an absolute newbie drive without a single absolute newbie, so I decided to bump up the level after first 30 minutes and to my surprise everyone managed very well and we all had plenty of roller coaster dunes, steep drops and side sloping in play area for fewbie and above level members. By 5 PM we have reached the pylon track and started our final climb to Fossil rock to enjoy the breath taking sunset view with a best desert landscape for our selfies. Before 6 PM all cars made on top of fossil rock except one, our dear friend @Alexander Sarte as his trusted Toyota 4runner decided to give up half way up the climb. There was no sign of engine overheating or any other mechanical damage or accident but just it wasn't moving in any gear. We tried shifting to Lo and High but gear wasn't engaging and kept on making grinding noise as soon as we drop in D or any other gear. With sunset almost there, we decided to split the team. @Xaf and @Ale Vallecchi started to help Alex by pushing the 4runner to flat ground as Xaf explained above. On the other side, @Shamil helped me in moving rest of the car from fossil rock drop and we manage to reach the tarmac just before it gets dark. After this test of time, we both rushed inside to coordinate efforts with others to get 4runner out to pylon track. Ale and Xaf did a wonderful job of doing the safest recovery as much as they could do and then stopped for sketching a new route. This approach is very important while doing any extreme recovery that every move you make should be well calculated and not based on emotions, aggression or chances. Once we joined them Ale showed me the path and we went ahead to correct a little and chalk out all options of our success rate to reach out. We analyse all options and gave all option to Alexander to choose: Call your mechanic to inspect or fix on site Call AAA desert recovery to tug vehicle out We tug the vehicle out but in case any of our car get damage due to extreme recovery then Alexander will be responsible for that damage. Although we have same thing written in our roles and responsibilities here, but before carrying out such extreme recover that has 50% success rate, it was important for us to mention this in advance. With Alexandar level headed approach, he decided to leave the car inside, Shamil was kind enough to drop them home and later Alexander came back with his mechanic in the night, which I assume didn't went well. Today afternoon, he got the car out with the help of AAA recovery experts and more we can hear from him, whenever he is free to share more updates. @Xaf I can understand your feeling but I think what Alexander did was the wisest decision to not to take a chance and let professional recovery experts handle the situation. Moving a dead weight of 2 ton vehicle over 2-3 km of dunes is extremely risky and complicated with our limited resources in hand and at night time. Of course such situation is not an every day story, sometime taking back few steps is a very good move, eventually. I hope his 4runner get repaired soon with least amount of downtime and expense.

You should have been a politician or at the very least a diplomat. With all your sweet idealistic talk I'm sure you would have brokered a few peace treaties among warring nations by now.

Hi Xaf. Good to hear of today's safe recovery. I still think the decision Alexander took was the wisest one. It was dark, and any tricky patch we encountered could have ended up causing much more serious damage. Even when exploring with Gaurav we took a couple of wrong turns, and ran into bushy areas. Good calls were made: 1) attempting to tow the car out as far as we could; 2) quitting while we were still ahead. Also, it would have been too easy, especially for your powerful machine, to do the recovery in daytime. 🤪 After all, we are starting to enjoy these extra hour or two of night time driving.

While I am writing this I am on standby for Alexander - 4Runner, I promised him if he needs help that I'll back him up. Normally I avoid to write failures in public, because it can put somebody in embarrassment. The reason why I decided to do it, is because this can happen to everybody. Unfortunately the 4-Runner got a transmission problem during the climb on the hill. It was not possible to engage any gear anymore. We decided that I would stay behind with Ale and Alexander. Gaurav and Shamil would lead the group out of the desert and in the meanwhile I would try to pull the 4-Runner at least on a flat track and as close as possible to the road.The Idea was to get the car at least on a flat surface, so we could start pulling the 4 Runner from the nose. When we started pulling the car from the nose, Ale was guiding me through the least difficult track. As you can remember, it was not easy to enter, neither it was to get out. 4 high was not sufficient, neither 4 low, I had to engage the rear diff-lock as well, otherwise I was just digging myself in. We came to a point were I was not convinced I could make it without pulling the 4-runner in more problems. Ale and I made the decision to wait for Gaurav who has much more experience than us 2 together and let him explore the area to wait for his opinion. Gaurav came back with an option to get out, but before we decided to do it, we discussed the risks. We think Alexander made a good call not to do it and first let a mechanic look at it and if the mechanic can't fix it to ask a recovery company. Unfortunately the mechanic couldn't fix the 4-runner so they asked a recovery company to get the car out of the desert. In the meanwhile Alexander texted me that the car is out of the desert and shared pictures of the recovery. The car was recovered with a Rangerover only. I feel a bit embarrassed that we couldn't mange it yesterday, but as I said, it was the risk involved why we decided not to do it yesterday.

@Rahimdad I was doing a beginner sidee on the lower part of slope and rode over a bump ...I am not sure if I can say this was a mistake? I had taken precautions for front bumper but unfortunately the back bumper came out from right side with some external plastic broken from the back. Thanks to @sheri, @Michael sammy , @Shamil for helping me to kind of fix it (or rather remove it hahaha) so that I completed the full ride...I was amazed at the equipments they were carrying including a battery operated drill . Meanwhile I had a nice welcome ceremony at home when my little one accompanying me spilled the beans to my better half who became a fiery half instantly. See you and everyone soon , I hope i will get this bumper issue fixed by that time.

Dear all and especially @Rahimdad, @Gaurav, @Srikumar and @Frederic. I am sharing with you all a detailed article on how to deal and contain covid 19. It's time consuming but worth it as it is going to overwhelm healthcare and facilities around the world https://medium.com/@tomaspueyo/coronavirus-act-today-or-people-will-die-f4d3d9cd99ca Considering "current scientific consensus is that this virus can be spread within 2 meters (6 feet) if somebody coughs. Otherwise, the droplets fall to the ground and don’t infect you." We all need to act now to contain it. I wanted to know if the following was feasible - do the carnity briefings on radio while we are sitting in our cars. Absolute newbies to please read the carnity brief without fail. - we get to help each other only when someone is stuck as it is open wider area - may be the Marshall's can guide the newbies well ahead not to get stuck. With these small modifications we dont have to forgo the fun of driving in desert while keeping ourselves safe.

What needs to be understood is that the rubber can flex and not the alloy/steel rims. So a 20 inch rims has very less rubber and when you deflate the tyre still takes the shape of the rims. But if you have a 18 inch rims, then you have more rubber whose shape would change when you reduce the pressure. Hope it's clear now.

Thanks @Salarios for your detailed reply. Sorry to know you have a broke bumper even with the uplifted one.:-( I was wondering how does changing rim size increase foot print in desert ? Because if you have down sized to 18 , you would have gone for increased side wall (65 or 70 ) and hence the tyre circumference remains almost same. So upon deflating to 15 psi in desert the contact area on sand probably remains the same as the tyre circumference has not changed .I am not sure if I am getting my math wrong here ?please correct me if I am wrong. Cheers and See you soon

Join Carnity Offroad Club for an adventurous morning drive in the amazing mix of sand and pink rocks in Sharjah. Tawi Nazwa (Pink Rock) is the most famous and oldest desert offering perfect learning opportunity for absolute newbies for their first time desert driving thrilling experience. If you have already driven in sand before then you can learn more from experts having decades of offroading experience in the UAE. This area offers a good mix of playable long set of dunes and broad ridge to test your off-road control. Drive is open for all 4x4/4WD/SUV/AWD vehicle having 8-10 inches of ground clearance and front and rear tow hooks. You can bring your family, friends and kids, but if you are absolute new to sand offroading it is better to drive alone first to learn offroading without any distractions. Drive will start with detail briefing, followed by 3 hours of driving in sand dunes and then followed by a break for feedback and assessment session for each offroader. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN? We will teach you how to drive your vehicle offroad safely and learn the best offroad driving and recovery techniques. Even if you have never driven in sand before, you can still join and learn the art of off-roading with complete confidence and peace of mind. If you have already driven in sand before then you can learn more from experts having decades of offroading experience in the UAE. This area offers a good mix of playable long set of dunes and broad ridge to test your off-road control. CAN MY VEHICLE DO IT? This drive is open for all 4x4/4WD/SUV/AWD vehicle having 8-10 inches of ground clearance along with front and rear tow hooks. Please check these two mandatory and VERY STRICT requirement before signing up. CAN I BRING PASSENGERS? Yes of course, but if you are an absolute new to offroading it is better to drive alone first to avoid any distractions. WHAT CAN I EXPECT? The drive will start with a detailed briefing, followed by 2-3 hours of driving in sand dunes and then followed by a break for refreshments over a feedback and assessment session for each offroader. You will learn about the following subjects: Introduction to off-roading Desert driving basics and etiquette Desert driving tips, techniques, myth and best practices Off-road and safety gear familiarization and recovery procedures Vehicle orientation, risk analysis, deflation and outdoor safety advice WHAT ITEMS SHOULD I BRING? On your very first drive with us we only ask you to bring your enthusiasm and willingness to learn. From a second drive onwards we ask you to start collecting the Essential Tools as per below attachment. More information on these items can be found in the advices section and in offroad club. If you already have the off-roading gears, then it's better to carry them along to help you learn off-roading at a faster pace. ARE YOU JOINING US FOR THE FIRST TIME? Introduce yourself on this drive thread. Share with us your vehicle details. Prior off-road experience (Yes/No) Confirm 8-10 inches of ground clearance along with front and rear tow hooks in good usable condition. RSVP the drive calendar LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE: Limited to 15 members only. RSVP will close on Thursday. Latecomers will be returned back - without ANY EXCEPTIONS. Members without RSVP will be returned back - without ANY EXCEPTIONS. Please withdraw your RSVP, if you aren't joining, so your spot can be taken by others. Repeated no-show members after RSVP will have their account suspended for a month. Level: Absolute Newbie, Newbies and above (All level) When: 20 Mar 2020 Meeting time: 6:45 AM (SHARP - Without any exceptions) Meeting Point: Tawi Nazwa Shops https://goo.gl/maps/KPAcwQEG4HJgtxzC7 Type of Car: Any proper 4x4 with front and back tow hooks and 8-10 inches of ground clearance. What to bring along: Loads of water, snacks, smiles, stories, enthusiasm and willingness to learn. Approximate finish time: 12:00 PM - (much before Friday prayer) End Point: 2nd December Cafeteria - https://goo.gl/maps/gV4pJVcz86VY6DGk8 Friday Prayer Mosque: Nazwa Mosque - https://goo.gl/maps/pcBo8QtcJ4fn4QN69 MUST READ: Off roading - Newbie brief First off-road drive checklist Off Road Driving - Roles & Responsibilities Off road Driving Etiquette's Off-road Convoy Rules Off roading - Everything you need to know Please RSVP on the below calendar:

Join Carnity Offroad Club for a Thrilling Drive in the Mahafiz - Fossil - Faya area ! WHAT ITEMS SHOULD I BRING? You should be equipped with the Essential Tools listed in the attachment below. If any of these tools are not in your possession you can be rejected from joining this drive. Carnity Essential Tools.pdf163.28 kB · 18 downloads Level: Fewbie and above When: 20 March 2020 Meeting time: 6:45 AM (SHARP - Without any exceptions) Meeting Point : Mahafiz Mosque: https://goo.gl/maps/nWhCMWskqsrFjENC8 Type of Car: Any proper 4x4 with front and back tow hooks and 8-10 inches of ground clearance. What to bring along: Loads of water, snacks, smiles, stories, enthusiasm and willingness to learn. Approximate finish time: 12:00 PM - (much before Friday prayer) Friday Prayer Mosque: Sa'ad Ibn Khaythamah Mosque- https://goo.gl/maps/dMPs3tCuxJuP6KnG8 LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE: Limited to 15 members only. RSVP will close on Thursday. Latecomers will be returned back - without ANY EXCEPTIONS. Members without RSVP will be returned back - without ANY EXCEPTIONS. Please withdraw your RSVP, if you aren't joining, so your spot can be taken by others. Repeated no-show members after RSVP will have their account suspended for a month. Please RSVP on below calendar:

Sorry for the delayed response. But, school vacations are keeping me busy. 😁 Thanks to @Frederic, for giving me opportunity to drive as second lead. I just did what I observed in my earlier drives. It was a wonderful day and due to the short brief session we hit the sand earlier. @Frederic leading the way and wisely choosing the path, with some adrenaline punches, the drive completed with minimal issues. Also, I agree that this time the convoy felt like a team! Kudos to all!! Hoping to be in the same team again.

3 drives a week. At this rate you would probably grow from Newbie to Intermediate within a month

Done - Thanks @Gaurav

Can we make/ add this info into another thread? So people can find it easier in the future? This is valuable information. Ow it is already done! Oops

Yes both there. Watched them last week.

Two french guys in jaddaf. I was trying to get a job there a while back but they don’t answer phones and they don’t respond to emails. Don’t know how that will work out for them.

@Frederic Done today.

Trip Report - Convoy 4. As the club grows and blossoms it is time to make some changes in order to improve things which is also a part of the feedback we receive from our members. One of these changes was the change of briefing spot from the meeting spot, so once the clock strike 7 am we moved out to the briefing spot. Second change was a shortened brief with only the very essential part of off-roading which you need to understand even before you deflate. We had some random questions and were very pleased to see that some of the members had taken the time to go through the brief and knew the answers. After the brief we divided the huge convoy into 4 parts, I was leading the 4th convoy. In my second lead I had @Jun Zamora who kept a safe distance to be sure to make the necessary changes as and when I requested him to, although I felt the gap was a bit too much, but being the first time he was in second lead I will appreciate him following the instructions well and keeping the convoy safe. After that I had @Pancho who was very patient and was soaking in all the information and trying to learn a thing or two about his car while having some tamed fun. He was followed by @paolo dassi who seemed to manage well and at one occasion had the shock of his life when he discovered he could self-recover from very difficult situation. My respect to him for listening and executing the recovery so well. @Jose Martin did everything without a hiccup, and had his car under good control at all times. @Shahid Mehmood also got to learn from the experience more about his car and how to tame his beast. @AryaMan Muse was next, followed by @Pickey Singh, @Anouar Anouar and my trusted companion @Shamil who was there to keep the convoy moving. Together we scaled the desert and even found a couple of tricky stretches, but very proud to see everyone manage very well and I hope that besides the odd refusals and 1 stuck where @Shamil had to pull out the Chevy Silverado all enjoyed and learned from this experience. Until next time, I leave you with the loads of pictures in the Gallery to browse through and add your own to the wonderful collection.

MMI or BARACUDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA are still open!!!!!

Thx @Gaurav for the great leadership and support. And thx for everyone joined the drive yesterday and made it fun safe drive Truly enjoyed my day.

@Frederic super managed morning, shorter briefing and 4 convoys driving. Well done Fred. Apologize that I don’t remember who were in my convoy, but I want to give a compliment to the driver who was giving correct instructions to cars in front of him.

Thanks to @Frederic and @Xaf for the lead and sweep! I am just happy how supportive and accommodating the people here for the newbies. Can't wait for my third drive with you guys!

Sorry for the delay @Chaitanya D I wanted to go on a drive first before commenting on the new tires, and had some fun with them for the first time today. The tire/rim combo cost just over 7k, and I had it done in Sharjah (across Day to Day in Al Nahda). It was a good decision to go from 20’s to 18’s I think, as there is now a higher tire wall and hence more surface area in the sands. The AT3’s are just amazing though. No noticeable increase in highway noise, very good traction, and they look good too (which was also a factor in my decision!). They didn’t interfere with the suspension at all, but initially they rubbed against the plastic panel in the front passenger side, which was easily fixed by screwing the panel inwards more tightly. Overall I’m very happy with this decision. By the way as I broke my front bumper again today on a fewbie drive and dislocated the diffuser in the back, I was thinking about your comment as I was driving back: that I’m glad I didn’t spend 10k on the Japanese bumpers! 😂 I’ll be calling your guy tomorrow for a new bumper. 🙃 Cheers, Salar

congrats😃

BTW not applicable for all the civics 😁 in Turkey they are playing with those little things a lot.