Leaderboard

Good evening, all. Many who have driven with me knows that my car carries 3 different colours (primary silver, secondary red, and thirdly yellow). In relation to this I have been meaning to write a post to help anyone looking to add a new colour or colour's to their car. To begin with I originally thought I could just slap any colour I wanted onto the car (even if it was only tiny little stripes; this is not the case). Recently I had to get a new Mulkia for my car this meant I had to visit a Tajeel center which failed due to incorrect colour information. So how would someone avoid the process of taking off stickers or potentially gain a large fine for driving a car that is seen as a UFO in the eyes of RTA. This is a long process which should not be overlooked ensure you do everything legally before changing the colour of your car. To begin with the first thing your going to want to do is visit the Dubai Police Vehicle impound Yard in Warsan 2 located here https://goo.gl/maps/ZK1mWcJt7Kotb6k27, Then you will want to meet the receptionist there and say your visiting to get a colour change request who will likely point you to a CID officer ensure they know its for non-commercial purposes. Now in my case after speaking to the CID officer and expressing concerns over having two new colours added onto the car he pointed me towards using the Dubai police app, he also told me to get the stickers put on before requesting onto the app which seemed to be taking a expensive risk. Get the stickers or paint job done to your car. Once your happy with your new colours and preferably your car is still under studio lighting within a workshop I recommend heading to the Dubai police app which is available on IOS and android devices Once within the app navigate to 'services' and scroll all the way down until you reach 'traffic services' from here click into 'vehicle change colour request' You will then be greeted with this request page, fill out all the credentials, photos and videos, then submit it to Dubai police this will in turn cost a fee which I think it was 140 dhs. NOTE: Be very careful submitting this form, ensure the current colour matches the Mulkia, if you're adding onto your primary colour make sure 'colour 1' is the same as what you have put in current colour. Also if you're going to add two new colours like myself ensure you put the largest amount of 'new colour' first before worrying about the second, in my request it was Silver and Red leaving out yellow. Shortly after you will receive a letter much like this one stating your car meets their requirements and the colour change is all done. You may think your finished however the fun is only beginning! 5. This step is optional, but I recommend anyway: Now if you have a third colour the app wouldn't let you submit head back to Dubai Impound in Warsan make sure you bring a printed copy or get desk 1 print you out your approval letter go back to the building with the CID officers and ask them to correct your form and explain you have another colour; in this case mine was yellow, be prepared to let them inspect your vehicle or show a photo just to illustrate what colour you mean; in my case the Officer wrote the word 'yellow' in Arabic followed by a signature and a Dubai Police Stamp (signature and stamp will show RTA guys that the form is legit) now that you're half way through the process remember you only have 30 days to sort out the rest of the legal paperwork on the new colours 6. Make sure you're up bright and early to tackle the task of heading to an RTA customer happiness center, I'm sure any RTA center is perfectly fine to go to however I recommend heading to this one in Al Barsha https://goo.gl/maps/CSWjyTbhGfxPrwYS6 7. You could attempt to head into the main office to ask for a colour inspection much like myself however they will point you towards a Tajeel testing center which is located right behind the buidling. 8. Upon reaching the tajeel booth ask the person at the gate your there for a colour inspection, they will most likely shuffle you into the 'special services' testing bay, after waiting for your turn tell them your only there for a colour inspection and give them your printed approval from Dubai police (even if you tell them this they will still do a full inspection of the car charging you 170 dhs which is frustrating so best go when your Mulkia is about to expire. 9. Talk to the receptionist within the Tajeel side of the RTA center and explain your there for a colour inspection, she will give you a ticket and now you wait! everything should be smooth if you only added one colour and you should receive your passed note from RTA which will allow you to talk to the receptionist to get your new Mulkia printed. Congrats! BUT if you also added more than one colour your day is going to get a lot longer within RTA, much like myself you will probably be located by the RTA guys and they will tell you the colour doesn't match what you have on the Dubai police report (potentially this was my experience) point out the stamp and the colour that has been approved by the Dubai police impound. This next experience can also vary so be prepared for the unknown, when you finally pass inspection and your directed to a new line for your new Mulkia you may be told a new card cannot be submitted to you because the colours don't match from the report and your car, explain the confusion or speak to the manager showing them your RTA printed document with the print and signature Ensure you scan this police document onto your phone in case it is lost within all the RTA confusion 10. Everything should be cleared up and you should have a new Mulkia and should have all remained colours onto your car! Congrats! 11. Enjoy your stripes or new paintjob until you realize that stickers may need to be fixed every 2 years due to the hotter climate of Dubai Thanks for reading and I hope this helped someone in the long run.

So, why not a Wrangler? There is many on Dubizzle 2017-2018 JK with 55-75k milage on it and price below 100k. Ultimate offroad car. Instead of that you are looking for dead Japanese car? Do you want feel the real offroading? I am not talking about creazy drives, i am talking about driving in offroad style, without roof and doors, breathing fresh air and enjoying unlimited view? Or you want to sit inside small box with small windows? Hmmm... very strange decision.

Thanks @Davie Chase and @Imteeaz for your kind words, but the whole credit goes to the amazing convoy that made the whole morning beautiful in Lisaili dunes. Everyone drove amazing and big kudos to @Arun Menon for the first FB drive, he managed very well, even in a little tricky situations.

Thanks, guys for all the valuable advice. I checked the CV first as I have a special relationship with them (with extra lift, I shot too many CV in the past) and know very well how to check the shot CV, torn boot, or clak clak noise (tire revolution-based, regular clak at each rotation). It's sure not a CV. Same for shock, as it's not regular squeak or claking and only comes when the driver's front tire side is up, while the passenger's front tire is down. My mechanic checked it and his advice matches with @Stumpy Paj too that it seems the stabilizer bar bush is a little old, although not yet broken, torn or shaking. He didn't find anything else other than 50% doubt on that one bush. Also with the symptom, this diagnosis matches fully, as the stabilizer bar holds the balance between both wheels. Will get that change and test it again. Thanks guys.

Waiting for Sunday 🤪

When it comes to desert driving photography, having the right equipment is essential to capture the action from far as well as the cuteness of your ride from near. At the same time, you would also want to capture the vastness and unique beauty of these arid landscapes. Super zoom lenses offer a versatile solution, providing both telephoto and wide-angle capabilities in a single lens. We need the wide-angle for capturing photos of own cars that we love and cherish and telephoto for distant subjects like other cars while doing sidees or being recovering as well as ancillary subjects like the wildlife or other interesting details in the landscape. In this article, we will delve into the basics of super zoom lenses, highlight their benefits and drawbacks, and provide a selection of models available from popular brands. Understanding Super Zoom Lenses: Super zoom lenses, also known as all-in-one or bridge lenses, are designed to cover a wide focal range, typically ranging from wide-angle to telephoto, all within a single lens. Typically, you will find 18-300 mm in the APSC or crop sensor models and 28 mm - 200mm for the full frame models. These lenses offer convenience and versatility, eliminating the need to carry multiple lenses while driving. Benefits of Super Zooms for Desert Driving Photography: Versatility: Super zoom lenses provide a wide focal range, allowing you to capture various perspectives and subjects. Whether its photographing distant cars doing their things or your own vehicle up close during breaks, a super zoom lens has you covered. Compact and Lightweight: Compared to carrying multiple lenses, a super zoom lens simplifies your gear setup and reduces the overall weight, making it more comfortable to handle during drives or even on hikes. Quick Adjustments: With a super zoom lens, you can swiftly switch between telephoto and wide-angle focal lengths. This enables you to adapt to different photography opportunities on the go, ensuring you don't miss any crucial shots. Cost-Effective: Investing in a single super zoom lens can be a cost-effective option, saving you money compared to purchasing multiple lenses to cover the same focal range. Great Travel Companion: Even when you are not driving, and you are on a break, it is still a great lens to take with you. Super zooms are typically listed in the Travel Category of the manufacturer page. They offer better clarity than the phone you have up close as well as taking those faraway landmarks. Cons of Super Zooms: Image Quality: Super zooms do not match the optical performance of specialized prime or high-end zoom lenses. But the difference in quality is often negligible for the intended use in forum or in Instagram. Aperture Limitations: Super zoom lenses have smaller maximum apertures compared to prime or high-end zoom lenses. Plus, they are most often variable as well. This can affect low-light performance and limit depth of field control. But when we drive in the desert, we most often have ample light, and the smaller apertures are not necessarily a problem. Distortion and Chromatic Aberration: Super zoom lenses most often than not will exhibit distortion, vignetting, or chromatic aberration, especially at the extreme ends of the focal range. However, these shortcomings can often be corrected during post-processing. When I import my photos into Lightroom I import them with lens correction, and Lightroom is smart enough to apply the necessary lens specific corrections to all the photos automatically. Here's a small list of compatible Super Zoom lenses: APSC Super-zoom Lenses for DSLRs Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-300mm f/3.5-6.3G ED VR (I bought mine second hand for my D5100) Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II Canon EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Sony E 18–200 mm F3.5-6.3 OSS APS-C Tamron 18-400mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC HLD Tamron 18-300mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD MACRO Sigma 18-300mm f/3.5-6.3 DC Macro OS HSM Contemporary Full Frame DSLR Lenses: Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR Canon EF 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6L IS USM Sony FE 24-240mm F3.5-6.3 OSS Full Frame Mirrorless Camera Lenses: Nikon Z 24-200mm f/4-6.3 VR Canon RF 24-240mm f/4-6.3 IS USM Sony E 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 OSS LE Sony FE 24-240mm F3.5-6.3 OSS Tamron 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD Fujinon XF 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR Tamron 18-300mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD MACRO (available for Fuji) Note: Some lenses could be discontinued but listed here because they can be bought secondhand.

Great info mate, appreciate you posting that, I have thought about wraps and did wonder what the headache would be 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Engine oil color if dark, is not an issue. The later part of the comment is an issue where it says clump of old oil etc. If the car has Full & Regular service history from the dealer, then go ahead. Irregular services are a big concern for the longevity of the engine and transmission. Hope you also notice that the car has a frontal accident to have the front fender repainted, but that's fine and not a deal breaker tbh, if the car engine, transmission and 4x4 are well serviced and without any fault - 90% of the job is done. Good choice and thinking.

Sorry to say but this car doesn't look in good shape and had many service issues skipped, which may cost you a lot of time, hassle and money in the near future. These two are enough for me to walk away.

been tempted to bring out the camera and capture some decent pics. phone-cam is nice but cant really enjoy it blown up enough. def would be keen for a drive with a focus on camera skills and composing shots in the desert

Is this on your gen 2, could be many things. Most likely if it’s coming from the front it’s the sway bar bushing or the torsion bar mounts. Could also be the shocks or the diff mounting. Try driving in 4l reverse at full lock, will tell you if the cvs are causing any issues, you can disconnect the sway bar and carefully simulate the same conditions with a raised wheel to see if it’s still happening.

@Gaurav I echo the statement from @Davie Chase such a smooth drive with the right amount of adrenaline rush everytime i get dirty on the sand. Thank you mate. @Alphin Aloor @Arun Menon @Emanuel @Glenn W it was a pleasure to see some new faces for this drive. You all drove well and were up to challenge. until nxt time, enjoy ur week

Sounds like a cv axle on its way out…

@Gaurav thanks for the great drive as usual, great lines and route, hopefully one day I will get there and produce such fluent drives. Very few refusals which made it fast flowing and very little stop time. this is of course testament to the convoy @Alphin Aloor @Arun Menon @Emanuel @Glenn W @Imteeaz and the way you all drove, fantastic drive by you all. great second lead by Alphin who smoothed the lines and followed instructions flawlessly well done. @Imteeaz nothing needs to be said mate, brilliant support as usual, always a pleasure to drive with you. have a great rest of you weekend and see you in the sand again soon

I have written a similar one for finding the CID office (somewhere in ghusais) for getting permission for full color repaint back in 2017. But yours is a fantastic write-up with much more and newer details with updated contact, well done.

Excellent and informative write-up - it could not be any more detailed IMO.

JL's rear bumper is the most obvious indicator. If they have changed or replaced it that means they have done a bit of off-roading. SWB bumper breaks in perhaps the first trip into the sand but JLU can sustain some minor abuse. If they say it is a lady driven car never been into the desert - just look at the bumper to have your confirmation.

I’ve rejected the car, and once again looking for a Wragler JL 🤣 . There are some great value modified models on the market, (better value than stock if you consider the cost of mods) however I’ll follow the advice and go for stock… unless the modifications are very minor (eg just a lift kit and tires).

Thanks for all the feedback. It’s interesting the engine oil is dark as it was agency serviced just 2 months ago. 🧐 I am worried that any 5 year old car I have inspected is going to have issues like this, or is this one specifically bad? @Pavel Pashkovskiy I get what you are saying however I don’t want a JK. I will only get a JL because I want a newer model since I will be driving on road and I do like the luxuries. Also, Japanese cars are the best quality, and what is to say a 5 year old wrangler won’t have similar issues?

From the screenshot alone that @Gaurav posted I totally agree with him. this car hasn’t been well looked after in a while, the inspection report states that the engine oil is dark, this is very vague however it could mean it was exposed to dust or dirt; either that or it hasn’t been changed in a long period of time that alone will be a very costly job especially if any of the inner parts of the car happened to be contaminated leading to a much shorter lifetime. Worn engine mounts aren’t entirely a massive issue however it is another costly job that requires an engine hoist to reinstall new mounts in. (I wouldn’t risk taking a car into the desert with worn mounts alone) however it’s completely up to you. From the inspection you could change these things listed above and everything will be fine, although it’s a risk for the longevity of the car

Hi All, my Pajero is making clanking noise when one front wheel is up and the other is down while offroading in sand dunes, not in any other angle or terrain. Any clue what I need to start looking at first? Thanks in advance.

Hi @Gaurav Although very limited knowledge, but my curiosity and search on this is as below : - So to me, I link it more to driving over a bump.... "That clunking noise you hear from the front end of your car when driving over a bump can be telling of an issue with your car’s suspension. More specifically, the problem is with your control arms or suspension system struts. This damage can occur if you are off-road or roughly going over potholes. Sometimes control arms can just wear out on their own."

Congratulations @Arun Menon well deserved level up ! Am sure you will love the pace vs previous level

Hi @Gaurav, thanks for an excellent drive this morning. As I mentioned, I certainly received a lot of practice on those ridges today. See you soon. Emanuel

Thank you all @Gaurav @Pavel Pashkovskiy @Benjamin @Frederic @M.Seidam @Sunil Mathew @Stumpy Pajfor the valuable feedback based on your experience. For now, I'll stick with what I'm doing, which is driving in automatic mode. As I gain more control over the vehicle, I will gradually start trying out these manual shift. I hope by the time I might be an expert on off roads. Once again, thank you all for these valuable pieces of advice.

Here you go. How should you order Bronco badlands from Ford doesn’t come with Sasquatch pack as standard, WildTrack does that’s why it is top model in US. In UAE dealer orders Badlands with Sasquatch package by default so making it top end here. PPPS: my DP is inspired by Ford Bronco logo. While getting it done I suggested the designer to do something like that and they “chapofy” it.

Great topic @Looper, let's start some coaching again with the lens lover club, I miss those big time. Im still in love with my single lens AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR on my Nikon D750 that always served me well from close up to wide angle.

Very good topic @Looper ! I agree that desert-driving photography is a bit tricky. I use full frame Canon EF with 24-105mm L series which is a good overall range but quite heavy to carry along. The fact that it has optical stabilization is a must in my opinion if you start to zoom in completely, and on a 300mm that would be definitely even more the case. (we are using it handheld and not on tripod). The Sigma 70-300mm with IS is a better and more cost-effective option and also less bulky. Aperture is indeed lesser of an issue as there is plenty of light available. Even too much at times. I've seen plenty of your photos on the forum, and how you nail them every time is impressive as my camera is quite old and is not that great for the quick shots (5D mk2). It takes time to get focus right and there's never enough time when cars are zooming past

I have a Nissan Patrol 2020 V8 5.6L. First and only SUV I drove in the desert. I learned off-roading with her from scratch, so no terms of comparison. Nissan Patrol is a very heavy car to handle, and is certainly not the most agile one on the sand. The most frequent and nasty stucks are on flat areas, where the car sits on her belly and, being very heavy, is hard to move, especially when the spare wheel gets to tuch the sand (i.e. when you dig in with your rear wheels). As it is a long wheel base, it also requires a bit of learning in order not to get crested. In my early times I had a lot of issues with fishtailing as well, as the back is quite heavy. Having said all this, once you learn how to handle it, you can have great fun and the car definitely is a very very capable one. Further comments on the V8 5.6L 2020 version: 1. Engine is great, very generous with 400HP and 560 Nm torque. Probably more power than needed in 95% of off-road driving conditions, to be honest. But, boy, when you floor the throttle, she sky rockets (or she digs herself down to hell, if you exaggerate!!). 2. For proper off-roading the front bumper needs to be: a) the stock "off-road" and not the "city" version b) protected with a proper, very solid and well designed skid plate c) cut when you reach a level where you attack slip-faces, with the bottom protected with a steel rod or replaced entirely with an off-roading bumper (which is crazy expensive if you want it light in aluminum or crazy heavy if you want it cheap in steel). 3. The back bumper is OK, but needs protection with a light skid plate to avoid having it ripped apart by scooping the sand when the dune entry/exit exceeds the departure angle. 4. Rear mudguards need to be removed or they will suicide soon by breaking just below the bumper connection, but with that they will very likely rip apart your bumper from the side, which is quite a painful experience. 5. You will also need 18" rims with all terrain high profile tires (I have the Kumho 275/75R18 AT51) and as you learn how to handle the beast you can deflate them down as low as to 10.5psi (but usually 12psi is enough). The learning curve, however, implies a good deal of pop-outs before you get there with confidence.. The good part of this is that you will master pop-out recoveries like no-one else.. 6. Don't trust the stock hooks in the trunk to hold down your off-roading gear. They will be soon gone and Nissan seems to have a thing against replenishing their stocks. Best solution is to order a good number of spare ones, so you can replace them by yourself when they will inevitably fail. 6. About electronics... After approx 65 drives I had an issue with the electric motor starter which had to be overhauled because of some sand infiltrations which made it fail. Approx at the same time I also had to replace the crankshaft position sensor, which turned out to have a manufacturing defect. In both cases repairs were done under warranty. I also had issues with the steering wheel button to engage the cruise control, as it was stuck due to some sand having gone deep inside. I had the steering wheel disassembled, air-blown and reassembled and learned to keep the windows up when I do side slopes or attempt self recoveries to avoid sand showering the whole car inside.. 7. The rear diff lock takes a bit to engage/disengage. In one occasion, which @Gaurav probably remembers, I was royally stuck during an Advisors' drive, and was unable to get it to work. Other than in that occasion, it always did what it was supposed to do. 8. No crawling mode on Nissan Patrol. But that will give you the pleasure to listen to @Gaurav teaching you the famous (or infamous.. it depends) "blip-blip" technique, which actually got me out of trouble numerous times and ultimately works with any non-Toyota cars.. Overall, I think the car is great on the sand if you are geared for riding a big whale on desert waves.