Leaderboard

Liwa through my eyes. My respect too all who joined us in Liwa after all the challenges. The testing for Covid19, driving around 350 kms on road each way, crossing the border into Abu Dhabi, being prepared to travel light and yet have all the essentials at hand. I remember seeing and hearing about Liwa and getting scared, preparing myself for that pilgrimage every serious off-roader ultimately makes. It took me 2 years to muster up the courage to say yes I'm ready to take on what Liwa has to offer. There was a strange feeling in my stomach when I first laid eyes on those huge dunes, a feeling I still get today after several trips here. Firstly I thank God Almighty for giving us such a beautiful terrain and thank Him again for giving us the means to experience it from the inside. My sincere respect to all who signed up for @Gaurav bhai dream to take all levels into and out these awesome but fearful dunes. I have to thank each and every senior off-roader from our club to pitch in and support in every way possible. @Gaurav, @Srikumar, @Frederic, @Asif Hussain and @Emmanuel thank you all for your wonderful leadership. @Wrangeld, @Jeepie, @Vanessa8580, @Desert Dweller, @Foxtrot Oscar, @Brette, @Lorenzo Candelpergher, @Tbone, @Janarthan, and @Pancho for a support without doubting that we could get everyone participating through the toughest terrain known to mankind. Atheist in our region. @Asif Hussain who led our team from the front, thank you for your careful planning to successfully complete an entire set of dunes to trying our best and making it on top of Moreeb dune for an amazing moment to be with the entire Carnity team. @Ahab Shamaa I have liked you from your participation on the forum, but meeting with you in person I've fallen in love with you brother. Your second lead was perfect and allowed us to avoid any difficulties. Plus your winch once discovered was a huge blessing and worked well throughout except when we needed it for you. We only used the tow rope to recover the winch. Keeping a cool and calm head in times of difficulty allowed a clear thinking which avoided any disasters. @Ashok chaturvedi your Pajero made it all the way to the end. It might be a bit old and tired, but processes the heart of a lion just like you. Liwa is a scary terrain, but you and your Pajero marched on and survived to come out stronger and happier the next time around. @Sinol I saw you throughout the day and you might have started weak. But you kept up with the convoy and the challenges Liwa has to offer. You learned and progressed and felt more comfortable as the drive progressed. It was a pleasure to watch you grow in a day in a terrain which can easily throw you off your ride. You even surprised me towards the end as you crossed over some really difficult sections all by yourself and with good control. @Brette you have a new pronunciation to your name by the end of the day. Your courage, positive energy, willingness to help and all without coffee was commendable. You never tired ostensible, atleast you never showed it as you were rushing everywhere as and when required. @Arda Yagcioglu you managed the whole terrain without any help. It was a treat watching you coming through the toughest of patches with a lot of confidence. Why it is special is it gives the support team to pay more attention to those who require it. Your patience through situations where we needed to assist certain drivers is highly appreciated and helpful in so many ways. @Archibald Jurdi with his awesome Wrangler was a treat to watch specially handling his manual gear as he scaled some of the highest dunes. You needed the minimum of assistance and self recovers yourself from a very soft pocket with a little help from a friend. @Francois Germishuys made it to Liwa but still finds it difficult for us to pronounce your name. I hope I finally got that right. It was a great pleasure to have you ride just in front of me. I loved to watch you drift whenever there was an opportunity. You are not only a very capable individual who is ready to help whenever required, but great company as and when I had the opportunity to chat with you. After 12 years of thinking sand rails don't work, you have changed my mind as on 3 - 4 occasions you've proved me wrong. Well done. Even though at one point I had you flying across the FJ. But a well timed help and concentrated effort my long time misconception of the sand rail has been broken. I had the most wonderful time with our convoy and would not trade it for any other for a wonderful Liwa experience. My pics including @Ahab Shamaa in his cliff hanger have been added to the Gallery.

@Gaurav @Tbone @Janarthan @Srikumar @Pancho @Vanessa8580 Thanks a lot for this wonderful drive! Indeed, it was a bit scary in the very beginning but soooo exciting! It is truly unforgettable experience! The whole convoy drove really well! And shoveled even better! Great team work! While I'm working on the photos, you might want to check the full drive video from my camera! 45 minutes of pure driving, standstill moments were cut out. If you open the video on the YouTube itself, you will be able to navigate through some timestamps. @Srijith Gangadharan awesome pics! Thanks to your friend!

I had booked a test though the SHEA app. I was supposed to go on 30th but could not go due to work. I went on the 1st at 10:15 am. The results did not come till 2:30 am next morning just after I left home a bit early so that I could go to the Ghantoot Family Section with my son who is 10 yrs old. But the process ended up smooth and reached the Liwa Fuel Station at around 7 a.m. After the full tank in my car and the jerry can I drove towards the designated meeting point and the sights were already enchanting for me. Would not lie, the drive seemed a bit intimidating in the beginning. The loose sand and those huge dunes were overwhelming, but as the day progressed the learning curve set in and the drive become more and more enjoyable. Even the mighty Moreeb did not seem that difficult. Later in the evening took some rest in a camp I set in the desert and headed out home later in the night. It was one of the most memorable days and will be looking forward to many such trips. Mighty Thanks to Carnity Team and @Gaurav for believing in us that we would be able to do it, and yes we did it. We were having so much fun that we did not even have time for lunch. More Pics in the Gallery. All Trails Recordings Gaia GPS Recordings PS: The full fuel tank at Liwa in the morning lasted pretty much till I reached back home in Dubai. I did refuel the car on the way only because I did not want to carry a jerry can full of fuel in the car any longer. Also realised I did not know how to open a Jeep Fuel Cap - struggled a bit.

This slip face! it was insane. @Foxtrot Oscar screamed the whole way down.

Perhaps a bit taxing as I decided to drive with Ajay Shekawat (he has acquired a jeep but landed in Frederic group) we drove near all the night starting from Dubai at 1 am. On reaching Liwa we kind of slept for 1hour+ in the car only. It was an awesome drive quite challenging at times. My Pajero is tiring and shall be replaced yet it managed as much as it could. What amazes me is the expertise and energy of Rahimdad sir, I think he can drive even a boat in the desert.. he actually took the wheel once and drove my car in situation I found absolutly requiring a winch. The drop in temperature has made the sands powdery loose and cars simply sink flat to the belly. Our lead and support were fabulous always ready to help out. Thanks everyone and look ahead to be on the drives with you.. God bless and be safe.

Apologies @Zed for late comment. Everyone has made awesome points and all are valid in there own way of approach. My request to view 30 secs prior was in an attempt to see and observe the attitude of lead car, which @Anish S has indirectly pointed above. Let me elaborate more on that now. I have seen this happening all my life that when friends, family and colleague plan a drive then everyone running with a ego battle to prove a point to one another over their cars, car mod or drive style supremacy. I myself did this exact same behavior when I was new in offroading to an uncle who use to pester me on every family event that you kids don't know offroading and we have seen and done enough. So on first drive to prove my point I was knowing or unknowingly driving like a maniac without considering his LWB against my SWB and on his every refusal I was wondering where he has been driving to have such glorified tales in every party. Same happen few times with my office colleague and after that I stopped going with all my friends, family and colleague to not to get into ego battle. Point here is I personally don't know your lead, but from his driving style he was totally unaware that he had Y62 in his convoy and still he was attempting to break a single use crest almost every time and that too from a very short distance which will make a struggle for Y62 to cross. Secondly from above video crest entries and exits was of Intermediate level and not at all of Newbie or fewbie level. On the dune you rolled over, wrangler in front of you has a refusal and you think u were distracted but I feel if wrangler had a refusal on a "SINGLE USE SOFT SAND CREST" then you had a zero percent chance to make it. In my humble view (no disrespect intended) you kept on fight with mother nature on soft sand crest to prove some point and then it was too late for you to steer downward and due to sand wall already in place of left tire resulted in rollover. Even when you have failed to prove your point, if you would have left the gas, you would have had a nasty stuck, but that could have been much better than a roll over. For future, if ever you still wish to drive with same or similar friends you should be able to gauge their driving style in first 5 mins and if its same as above, then adjust your driving to consider Y62 LWB and weight. When I had Land Cruiser LWB in such drives half of the crest, ridge riding I use to skip knowing my vehicle limitation and boat size length. I'm really glad that you are fine and that is the most important, as cars are just a piece of metal that can be repaired eventually. Take it easy have fun and drive safe.

Liwa was definitely an experience, dunes like Ive never seen before, really amazing. @Asif Hussain good lead and effort trying to get us all over those dunes, Just wish we could have gotten more out of it, im sure you would agree......to many stucks and recoveries. Yes thanks @Rahimdad after the dive I had sand in all sorts of places 😜 Thanks @Gaurav for letting me try out that last dune from the bottom, was fun. Till next time ✌🏼

Awesome video @Mikhail Lukichev. Always impressed with all your shares. Will never be bored of Liwa and its many stories. Loved to see Liwa through your eyes.

What an incredible experience this was. I was only a passenger to @Desert Dweller 's second lead and could see how difficult this terrain was. One small slip and you were in danger of being trapped in one of the many huge bowls with the softest sands. It is to @Emmanuel 's great credit that none of us fell victim to this unforgiving monster of a desert. It is even more exceptional when you consider he must have been exhausted after @Craig Finlayson kept him awake all night crying because he was scared of the dark.

Dear friends Drive RSVP is closed Below is convoy numbering We will use Chanel 1 for radio coms 1. Chaitanya - Black Xterra 2. @Islam Soliman - Black Yukon ( 2nd lead) 3. @Ashok chaturvedi- Golden Pajero 4. @Veedooshee- Silver Pajero 5. @Lucky sAm- White Patrol 6. @jodha singh shekhawat Silver Wrangler 7. @Yousef Alimadadi silver Pajero- Center forward 8. @Abu Muhammad - White Sequendra 9. @Piotr Kolodziej- Blue FJC 10. @Tariq Carrimjee - White Wrangler 11. @Mohamed Seidam- White Xterra 12. @Vanessa8580- Blue Pajero ( Sweep) Make sure you arrive on time and prep so that we start driving on time. Flag, Radio and shovel is a must ,without which you will not be allowed to join for the drive. See you tomorrow morning

Yes @Emmanuel, that first high slope I referred..

Trip Report : The Liwa Experience Liwa is an experience that every offroader should have, as Liwa challenges not just the car but the driver as well in every possible manner. Not only does one come across massive dunes, you encounter super soft sand which tests your patience and ability to overcome the obstacle as a team. Congratulations to all the Newbies that participated yesterday in the Liwa Moreeb Drive. We made history by being probably the first club to bring Newbies to the actual Liwa Moreeb Dunes. Credit for this concept goes to @Gaurav and I was proud and privileged to be a part of this adventure. With some very good coordination and team work we reached the top of the Moreeb Dunes by using the step technique.This was possible due to the good quality of Newbies that participated plus the fantastic support team ( @Pancho@Janarthan @Tbone @Vanessa8580 ) that were brave enough to take up the challenge and make ifhe entire drive a super success. All the particpating drivers brought out their best throughout the day and the cherry on the cake was the scaling of the monstrous Tal Moreeb (Scarry Hill) dune. By 4 pm we were joined by the remaining 4 other Carnity convoys. It was truly a wonderful sight to have 5 convoys (55 cars) of Carnity Liwa drive at the top of the Tal Moreeb dune. Hope everyone cherished the moment. Till we meet the next time. Please post your pictures in the gallery.

Drive Report I find it extremely difficult to describe the experience Liwa brings: alternating between awe and respect, to fear for the unknown, exhilaration when we’ve crossed a monstrous dune range with the whole team, but also sadness when we have to exit a team member that was performing well and had his adventure cut short after few hours. As i mentioned in the briefing the same morning; this terrain brings extreme challenges for senior experienced off-roaders, let alone for members who started off-roading only a few months prior. I might have scared you all beforehand but i think after this kind of drive you’ve all come to understand the trepidations i had when we started to climb the first massive dunes and we realized there was no way back. I had a fantastic second lead in @Wrangeld who had a busy day together with his sidekick @Lorenzo Candelpergher . We shoveled and winched and eventually made it all out in time to meet up with the other Carnitees at Moreeb. To be honest: ALL of you massively exceeded my expectations that day, from @Yasas Dharmadasa and @Athula Dharmadada never giving up, @Ranjan Das taking the Discovery to undiscovered places (unfortunately that came with damage), @Lucky sAm @Lorenzo Candelpergher @Malachy McGrogan and @Abu Muhammad navigating their massive beasts through this terrain which deserves massive respect, and @jodha singh shekhawat bringing a new 4x4 he bought that same week. @siddharth maheshwari was in his element and took the terrain without much hassles. We managed to cover 48kms in this unforgiving terrain, which is simply amazing and I am so proud of all of you and thankful for showing up and giving it all you had. At the last climb towards the backside of Moreeb time was running a bit late and suddenly I saw and heard @Asif Hussain his convoy doing the last kms by road which was a brilliant idea and we followed in suit to make sure we had time to meet up with all the other convoys in time at Moreeb. Thank you all so much for joining us and I hope you will strap on the shoes for the next time we are taking on Liwa again ! @Ranjan Das I hope you made it back home safely and plz keep us posted about the Discovery. Take care and see you soon again ! https://www.relive.cc/view/vdvmQE2Njxv

I noticed that 300 Watts LED camping has a label on the controller: max peak output current: 12 Amps. With our formula Power equals Voltage Multiplied by Current this would mean 12x12= 144 Watts which is far off their 300 Watts they put on the box. In reality this light will be somewhere around 100 Watts and that would mean it pulls around 8.3 Amps while on. On a 70ah battery it would take around 8,5 hours to drain it. https://www.gardenmyths.com/led-grow-lights-the-myth-about-watts/

Im not an expert of these watts, amp and current drawn formulas. But Im using 300W LED with my car battery for over 5-6 hours at times and it never drained my car battery.

Single owner but has clocked 270k because of frequent inter emirates trips. Never been off road,zero mods. R50 2005 SE. Delivery tomorrow inshallah!

@Islam Soliman I think Tero was referring to the first high slip face we descended, not Moreeb dune. @Tero Vallas welcome to Liwa fan club! If it was possible I would spend all my weekends there!

@eidooo, congrats for your first drives with Carnity. I also did my first drive with @Srikumar, so you couldn't have had a better baptism. Regarding any mods to your FJ, my approach has been to first build my feeling with the car, learn to take advantage of its full potential, practicing and improving my off-roading skills, so that I learned to go everywhere with only my expertise as an allay. Once you've done that, you may start looking into mods. There may be some additions to the car that will be useful from the start, but that'll be your own choice to implement them. For instance, a front bash plate will help you avoid damages to the front of your car (namely it will protect your radiator). Yet, I still have not installed it (it would be my next, and first mod), and I've found that not having a bash plate has forced me to learn a more careful way of driving, more finesse-oriented if you like, even when ridge riding, or criss-crossing, and in technical dunes. Next mod you may want to think about may be a snorkel. This will help you feed your engine with clean air, avoiding the filter getting clogged with sand, or injecting fine sand particles in your engine. The alternative to a snorkel is that you make sure you clean the filter (and the pipe leading to the engine) thoroughly, after each and every drive. This is what I have done so far, but I believe that a snorkel will be my next, second, mod. Lastly, perhaps you'd want to think about installing harder shocks, and lifting your car. The harder shocks will aid you in taking smoother, more effective, long climbs, and will make riding on heavily marked terrain, full of older tracks, more endurable. A lift (with either spacers or longer shocks) would allow you to use bigger tires, which would also give you more clearance, for more advanced ridge riding (especially on sharper dunes, with an uphill approach). At the same time, the more you lift an FJ, which is already quite a tall and relatively slender car (you can lift the car from 2 inches up to 13 inches) the more you'll increase the risk of roll-overs, as lifting the car will move its center of gravity higher. Wheel spacers will then be required to increase the car's "foot-print" and reduce the risk of roll-overs. My advice, in any case, is not to rush into any race to make mods. These alterations are expensive, and you should not consider them until you'll have decided you're in off-roading in the long run. Also, no mod is a shortcut to better (and safer) driving: your performance in the desert is, first and foremost, entirely proportional to your driving skills, so actually, the less mods you have made, the more you'll be forced to hone your skills, and "invest" in developing your feeling with the car, managing to extract its true potential. So, in a nutshell, keep on driving, and focus on learning/perfecting it, until you may be ready to turn mods into true advantages.

The cars from above looked like toy cars 🤪 and the super soft steep long slope ( as in pict ) makes driving it down super insane , nevertheless well done all of you 👍💪🚙

A good learning on this drive was the use of the manual gears using the tiptronic system to gain power in steps and boost flagging momentum.. great tip @Srikumar Relayed by @Vanessa8580 who was guiding and pushing us on the long slope . And @Pancho would also advised who advised on gear sequences for gaining speed and then regaining power . Really enjoyable wonderful memory . It was a great drive .Several learnings and some amazing sights .Great guidance. New tricks learnt ..thanks leads center forwards and sweeps @Pancho thanks for resuce tug from the sand puddle . Many thanks to @Srikumarand @Vanessa8580.

Hi @Chaitanya D, unfortunately I will not be able to make it this time. Pls excuse me! Thanks!

Well done guys , ((( feed us more ))) please pict and clips 🚙😎

Thanks @Chaitanya D, I won't be able to make it on Saturday.. thank you