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Thank you so much @Luca Palanca Falsinifor this lovely drive it was great fun and good learning. Everyone enjoyed it Thanks to @Ranjan Das, @Dodi Syahdar and @Hisham Masaad for your nice support and help during the trip and as well in pop-out. Appreciate the patience of every member in convoy & looking forward to see you again. Wish you all and your family Eid-Al-Adha Mubarak (Stay Safe)

Hello @Lakshmi Narasimhan @Chris Wing @Zed @Werno @Matt.T @marks I hope you recovered from the Fewbie Plus drive we did on Friday Morning. I really appreciated that everybody arrived and deflated earlier than meeting time, I already could see the enthusiasm. Normally from Lisaili, we drive few KMs on the pylon track prior entering the dunes in order to avoid the camel track. The fact that it was a Fewbie Plus drive and we had a short convoy, I decided to enter the desert much quicker from a different entry point avoiding the pylon track totally. However, the area was quite technical and in addition due to the strong wind, there soft sand all around making it more challenging when actually I got stuck twice😉. Thanks to the help of all you in shovelling and support from @marks and @Lakshmi Narasimhan, my stuck were recovered successfully. Throughout the drive, the terrain took me by surprise and it was quite unpredictable because the surfaces got changed with lots of tight pockets because of the strong wind experienced the night before. Given the challenges we encountered very early in the morning, I was really impressed by all of you how you coped with the hurdles thrown to you. After which, we found the long range dunes of Lisali where we made most of it by practising criss-crossing and ridge-riding. Prior heading towards Hathmah - Qudra, we took a small break to re-energise our self for the second half of the drive. The second half of the drive was at a faster pace than usual because the area was pretty quiet for a Friday morning but still I had to be focus and cautious of new pockets being formed. I was glad to see the proactiveness and willingness of Matt T to learn and practise rope recovery when Lakshmi got crested. After a quick inspection of the stuck and a brief, Matt executed the recovery perfectly with a proper coordination with Lakshmi. Well done @Matt.T. Last but not least, I would like to thank all of you for joining and making the drive enjoyable. Big Thanks to @marks for the support and assistance in managing the drive and also@Lakshmi Narasimhan for being flawless second lead as usual. Looking forward to see you in future drive, enjoy the coming long week-end and holiday. Eid Mubarak in advance.

Few questions : 1. Does the shifting improve if you pump the clutch a few times before shifting? 2. Did your mechanic bleed the system properly to remove all the air bubbles? 3. How many kms have you done on your clutch? 4. With the engine off, are the gear shifts smooth? 5. While driving on the highway on 6th gear at 120 km/h and above, do you have revs increasing suddenly? 6. Do you have hard shifting between all gears or only between 1st and 2nd? As a first step, check the condition of your gear oil and see if it's dirty, which I doubt else you would be having grinding noise while the gear is engaged. Also, check the level of the gear oil just to be sure. I would say from what you have described it's most likely an issue in your clutch system and with the clutch not properly disengaging Start of by bleeding the master and slave cylinder and refilling with new DOT3 brake fluid (or whatever is recommended as per the owners manual). Also check if there are any pin hole leaks through which air can come into the system. If it's not the master / slave cylinder, it could also be an issue with the pressure plate that it might have become a bit too hard and not helping disengage the clutch disc. Another test with the engine running, put the car in gear and press the clutch, do you hear a whining noise which disappears when you start releasing the clutch. This could be a sign of a bad release bearing.

I had left the drive yesterday because of being tired and seeing the windy conditions. But fate brought me back to the drive in the form of assisting in recovering @Shaaz Sha's disabled car because of a broken engine belt. Under no circumstances that car could have been towed outside as once the engine belt breaks it disables not only the radiator fan but all vital power assisted systems like power steering, power brakes, alternator probably even the valve train. The only option was to get the mechanic inside the desert and install the new belt. Luckily the call came when I was about to leave for office. The mechanic after some cajoling and temptations from me and my partner agreed to come. The drive to locate the car from tarmac was nothing less than an IM drive. I hope @Islam Soliman will add me to the drive as it took almost 3 hours to enter and exit and count it as a drive. Just kidding. 😃. This just shows what ever your wish God disposes his way. I was not supposed to be part of the drive but in the end had an exciting drive. Kuddos to @Islam Soliman for staying with @Shaaz Sha, @Gaurav Soni & @Lakshmi Narasimhan until the end and seeing the car reached the tarmac safely even though I had told @Shaaz Sha to make him go back home as he must be tired after leading the drive from 4.30 AM. We knew the area well as it was almost the same place where my differential broke at night a month back. That time my friends @Shaaz Sha & @GauravSoni stood with me until the ordeal was over and missed their next day drive. Glad to return the favor. Now we have 2 more friends @Islam Soliman & @Lakshmi Narasimhan who we can surely fall back in times of need. It was risky to go back in just 2 cars to the difficult spot and was comforting to have @Lakshmi Narasimhan with his winch and an experienced @Islam Soliman leading to the area. End of the day the car was recovered and dropped off to its parking and @Shaaz Sha right now is flying among the clouds to his hometown.

This is the 1st time I'm driving with you @Srikumar even though I have done 67 drives already with Carnity. Its my honor and pleasure to meet you and drive with you this coming wednesday.

When was your manual gearbox oil changed? Was it the right spec? Most imp. If in doubt, change the gear oil and filter, buy OEM gear oil from Jeep without trusting any einstein mechanic advise. Also research if your manual gear has a oil cooler. If it is seems adding small fan on cooler will help as you are experiencing this issue after couple of hours of offroading. Is this struggle in shifting is there on highway or in stop and go traffic?

First off all I would like to thank both @Sreekumar and @Navin to help me change the tyre and to rest of the team to keep their patience. It was indeed a wonderful trip and i did enjoy every bit. There was a great team spirit and the whole thing went very well. Looking forward to the next trip with Carnity.

@Islam Soliman thanks for the wonderful drive. We were welcomed with the rainbow. Enjoyed the technical area, iftar bowl and super bowl a lot. Being a small convoy we were able to attempt multiple times and we were the first convoy today to enjoy the terrain. Very few refusals and couple of pop-outs fixed quickly. Unfortunately Shaaz belt had issue which took some time to fix as we had to get help from outside, luckily weather was on our side. Thanks to @Thomas Varghese for coming to recovery with the mechanic. Very good team effort, way to go. Looking for many more such drives. Thanks to everyone in the convoy. Few pics posted in gallery.

Well done to the entire team, such kind of challenging recoveries test you to the core and bring out the men from the boys. Keeping a calm mind and humorous atmosphere is very important. I really wish I was part of this action, but the report and videos did help me visualize the recovery.

Mother Nature always has something in store for us. Glad to see the collective teamwork which will undoubtedly form a bond.

Amazing job well executed @Gaurav @M.Seidam @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ @Ashok chaturvedi.. glad all worked out and everyone got out safely without any complications. I guess that was too close to a call for 🚁 recovery 🤣

Many thanks to @M.Seidam, @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ, and @Ashok chaturvedi for great teamwork, patience, and calm approach to managing such extreme recovery. Last night after the newbie drive, we ended up at Big red and in an attempt to make few climbs I went up to check the Big Red climb, and after 70% climb, that area has recently transformed with endless shallow dips, soft sand pockets, and unexpected slip face all around. After reaching a 70% climb, I continued upwards and was greeted with a dangerous dip in the soft pocket. I stopped my car on the ridge for few seconds before going in with LO gear and escape from the first hurdle. The next ridge greeted me with a similar and tighter soft sand pocket that I manage to dodge but the third one left no space inside the bowl to maneuver and we have to rest our case in front of mother nature. We spent more than 3 hours of impeccable coordination mobilizing help on top of big red by dodging all pockets. @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ was really brave and courageous to drive in a blind state (sandstorm) with just radio instructions to climb while dodging all pockets and slip faces. After a few attempts, refusals, and stuck he finally positioned his wrangler in right place to inaugurate his 12 ton WARN winch, which he installed last week. After my car was out we still struggled a lot to escape the second bowl as now we have two cars with little to no hard patch to drive out. I deflated to 6 PSI, to make that track as solid as we can and manage to reverse out at 6K rpm with precise guidance from @M.Seidam before I dive into another pocket behind the reverse climb. We even get to try out @M.Seidam sand track when @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ wrangler was dancing with 2 wheels in the air on a soft pocket. Surprisingly sand tracks worked for the first time in the dunes, as we have tried and failed on more than 10 instances in the past with sand track which works wonders on beach sand due to solid ground underneath. A real good memorable night with insane challenges and a big achievement to remember forever.

@Gaurav @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ @Ashok chaturvedi It’s indeed for me a never forgotten memorable super event of a literally super team work of an extreme recovery situation which was executed by all the collective effort and attentive mind of all team 👍👌

Hi @Vanessa8580, please WL me, 2nd drive

Sorry but burnt clutch has nothing to do with 70k kms, it's about driving habit. We have seen people burning clutch on brand new car with 1000 kms on the clock. If you have been doing half clutch driving or recoveries that could be most likely possible too.

Updates will continue for sure! First RTA inspection/renewal is due as soon as I return to Dubai in August. After that I have more on the list to get done. Nothing to exciting. install lights, some general maintenance , new prop shafts and maybe rear springs to replace spongy stocks. Hoping to try out new 360 cam and get back in the groove on a few Newbie drives then back to Fewbie Will start my hunt for an OEM TRD supercharger that I hope to find before leaving Dubai and exporting it (2024). One of those if it happens great and if not still great things. haha Happy to have members interested in my project!

Nice way to come back to the desert after 2 weeks off Thank you @Janarthan Really enjoyed playing in the bowls and climbing up the dunes. And seeing the sunrise over Pink Rock with literally no one else was amazing. Always cool to see familiar faces @Pierre de Maigret @Islam Soliman @Tbone and very nice to meet you @Luc Khaldoun

Full list of my project so far. No mods for desert off-road driving really. and not sure if I will go that direction. I am hoping to fight the urge to modify for desert driving and enjoy it in stock form. I have had many modified vehicle for other off-road types in the past and the ability to learn driving skills on sand with stock vehicle sounds great to me. My LC is a 1999 with 200km V8 auto Maintenance- Fluid / filter for Engine,trans, and diffs. Grease prop shafts. Air filter change. Added cabin filter. PCV valve. Replaced -. Steering rack with tie rods and fluid Res, front upper/lower control arms, rear upper and lower control arms, front and rear stabilizer bar bushings. Brake Master cylinder and flush. All coil packs and spark plugs, headlights, corner lights and fog lights. Reboot and regrease CV shafts, replaced front wheel bearings and seals, front diff bearings and seals. Swapped weak 2 pinion front diff carrier with TJM carrier. Added metal lower sump and trans cover to replace broken fiber stock cover. Interior- not much done, front windshield 3m clear tint , ram ball mount integrated into dash, and remove 3rd row seats, rubber floor mats. Gear. Arb single compressor, 4 way tire inflator, tire deflator, real shovel, radio, flag, small fire extinguisher, first aid kit and I always carry basic hand tools. **Next- Trying to figure out better front recovery point that fully clears bumper and only thing not working at the moment ( stock console cooler) haha If you read this far you may think I am crazy to spens this money on such an old car. I might be but I work from home so daily car isn't a must. Also after looking at new cost, I much prefer to much much less and I really enjoy my old car project. Have always wanted an old Land Cruiser. Only problem is I can't easily do the work myself as I would in my home country. Instead I bother the poor mechanics at shop I use to let me give detailed instructions on work I want done. I also prefer to buy all the parts myself and bring to shop. Welcome to my Land Cruiser Project. Thanks for allowing me to share. Feel free to ask any question, offer ideas or even constructive criticism. I have pictures of some of the work also if anyone wants to see anything specific.