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Recovery Gear Below is the most comprehensive list of all commonly used off-road gears and basic recovery tools - this is the stuff everyone needs and it has to be easily accessible at all the time, while driving in off-road terrain (Sand and Rocks). MANDATORY KIT AIR COMPRESSOR Bush Ranger Black Max, ACE @ Festival City. Also available Pro Air, Max AirII at different price points. ARB Air Compressors from ARB Abu Dhabi (call up and order, will deliver C.O.D) Chinese stuff at Dragon Mart - if you're feeling lucky. Other compressors at Carrefour/other Hypermarkets or car accessory shops are not really recommended. RADIO / WALKIE TALKIE Motorola, allegedly 20 mile radius, from the small Sabka shops Dhs.325 Dragon Mart, higher output (will fry your ears), cheaper, clearer. TOW ROPE / SNATCH STRAP Bush Ranger heavy duty tow (dhs.200 or so) or Pro snatch kit (Dhs500+) from Ace Viking rope from Robbie's Garage (to the left of Times Square, Shk Zayed Rd) Dhs265, I think. Kinetic Rope from International Trading Co. Opposite Everhot Water Heater - Al Qusais. SHACKLES Are available at ACE, 3.0 T to 4.75 T very reasonable rates, make sure you get the shackles with the screw and not the pin-type shackles. SAFETY FLAG - available from shops that sell Quads, alternately use Fishing Rods fastened with a bolt to the spare tyre rig, also available is the FireStik range at Robbies which is very expensive but very neat and professional). You may also want a gutter-mount for the same (if your vehicle has a rain gutter). SHOVEL Fancy chome-plated stuff rom ACE or other accesory shops - expensive & of debateable utility. Bushranger tri-fold shovel with its own cover - about as expensive, easier to carry. Regular construction shovel from a hardware or construction material store - Dhs.25 and much more effective but not so compact. Fiskars super-lightweight camping shovel. Most expensive but is also lightest (you want to carry sand, not metal!). I recommend this, but this is very budget-sensitive. BASIC FIRST AID KIT Available at all pharmacies, auto kits available at ACE and some specialized offroad joints, you can also put one together yourself or your vehicle may have one supplied with it. Should contain: Gauze (Large, Medium & Small sizes) Sticking Plaster & Adhesive Strips (Band Aid variety) Surgical Cotton Surgical Spirit/Antiseptic Basic medication/ointment for minor cuts and bruises Burnaid other burn treatment Scissors & Forceps Cotton Buds BASIC TOOLKIT + FIRE EXTINGUISHER + JUMP STARTER CABLES + USABLE STEPNEY HYDRAULIC SCISSOR FLOOR JACK & STRONG WOODEN PLATFORM/PLANK (or HiLift Jack base) An alternative is the very expensive and equally heavy but neatly packaged Exhaust Jack Series II (dont buy Series I) from ACE, its upwards of Dhs.800. A Hi-lift jack is something a lot of people like to carry prominently like some sort of badge, but this is of doubtful utility in our really sandy terrain. Very useful in Wadis etc. DEFLATION KIT Valve remover for tyres - most tyre shops Dhs.10/- Pen-type pressure gauge (marked in PSI, not LbFt) - Dhs.25/- most car accessory shops. Other gauges are also available, the pen-type stuff is considered good. Use trusted brands like Milton, PCL, ARB, Victor, Rolson or Monkey grip. 4 Spare Tyre Valves to replace any lost while deflating. CAN FOR ADDITIONAL FUEL FOR LONG TRIPS Available from Ace Hardware, good for long distance trips where you are not sure about the petrol stations on the way, very handy in places like Liwa. YOUR VEHICLE SHOULD HAVE RECOVERY POINTS - FRONT AND REAR. OPTIONAL ADDITIONS Collapsible water can from ACE (Dhs.35 or so). Cool box with ICE (also useful for medical emergencies) and fluids of your choice (for more guidance, ask Kash). Cargo Net & Elastic Tie-downs to keep things securely fastened. GPS - Make sure it can store way points, record a track and pay the track back in reverse. Miscellaneous stuff that you should never need, but would want to keep handy - tire sealant gel/foam/goo, radiator leak-stopper (powder that you pour into your leaky radiator), exhaust leak fix (for small leaks, not cracked exhausts), flashlight, etc from ACE. Just to be on the safe side, one small 5 litre fuel can (Dhs.25 from any petrol station) and a manual siphon hose to borrow fuel from others (15-20 bucks). Duct Tape, Insulation Tape, Bush Knife/Pen Knife & Plastic Zip Ties. For camping trips - collapsible chairs/tents/sleeping bags/lanterns/BBQ kits/use your imagination. Small bottle of concentrated liquid Camp Soap or Dettol Hand Sanitizer + lots of Kleenex/tissue rolls. Working gloves to handle hot stuff in the engine bay + cloth/cotton waste. AAA or IATC Assistance as a sort of insurance for major breakdowns. Hope this helps. Please let us know if you need assistance or further information.

A very good morning to all my fellow Carnity Enthusiasts. I wanted to share this simple but useful device which I had bought recently from Dragon Mart, a bit expensive, but totally worth it. This is a power bank which can easily fit in the palm of your hand and includes all wires to connect and charge your mobile phones, laptops and more importantly start up your dead car battery. It is a bout 12000 MAH power bank that can easily start up your dead car, I have tried it twice with 2 dead cars and it works like a dream, no need to keep it charging for long. Just connect, switch it to 12Volts (it has a switch 3V, 6V and 12V for different applications), and start up your car. It sends a strong charge to the car battery and just starts it up. If fully charged it still has enough juice to charge your 3000 MAH battery completely. Forgot to mention it has a torch also, not so powerful, but useful to eliminate dark spots. Awesome device. This is what it looks like, I like the case also, very handy and useful.

Car tyres in the UAE typically deteriorate faster than their tread life. Why you ask, well it’s hotter than a blacked out FJ cruiser sitting in the July sun with all the windows up, and the massage parlour business cards’ ink are etching the images on to the window. No but seriously why, because the heat of our summer temperatures dries the tyre out, once that occurs the shoulders, where the tyres expand at higher speeds (100 kms and above) stretch at the shoulders of the tyre, and thus crack. As you have noted in summer the amount of debri on the 140km limit highways increases, mostly it is from burst tyres of trucks that are loaded to the limit of the tyre, and the trucks are perhaps using poor condition tyres. Below is a picture of a cracked tyre, if you have similar tyres then consider changing your tyres soon, using moisturizer cream does not solve the issue below...don’t ask me how I know. So that’s probably why the RTA asks that tyres are changed every 3 years, as the ambient temperature, exposure to UV light causes premature aging of tyres and any rubber parts on a vehicles, have you noticed how infective your wipers are after a couple of weeks of the summer heat, seems like the wipers were designed to shift the dirt from the edges to your direct field of vision. So how do I get the best possible deal in the UAE on tyres you ask, because they are expensive? Here are some tips to reduce your buying price: Don’t buy from your service centre, authorised dealership, as they will charge harder than a wounded rhino. Petrol stations tyre dealers are also charging higher at times you have no choice, as you have a puncture and are incapable of changing to the spare tyre or filling with the foam, or driving at the lower speed on your run flats because you need to get to that meeting that you are already late for in typical Dubai fashion. I will assume that people are able to change a tyre on this forum, and can do this simple car ownership task in their sleep, if you can’t then LEARN NOW! Buy tyre brands from the official tyre distributor of that brand, sometimes this tip can be contradicted, as the independent tyre dealers in Sharjah, Al Dhaid, Al Wagan, Madinat Zayed are lower, why, because their overheads are lower. But you don’t have the 5 hours to spare for a round trip to Madinat Zayed, as you have to get a manicure for your golf game that day. See my notes for list of popular brands that I have bought from the official dealers. I tend to prefer the dealers, as the technicians are better trained, yes that can happen in the UAE, and the equipment is in better condition...oh and the customer waiting room has a better selection of magazines, but the tea and coffee are reconstituted engine oil at best. Don’t drive to the tyre shop and ask for the price, they will not offer a good discount if you are there, as they know you want to get this over with quickly, instead call them, phone calls are cheaper than crawling in traffic. And on the phone you can squeeze them on the price, the amount of squeezed discount is dependent on your background, if you are from the West, a 10% discount will probably suffice, if you are from the East you will ask if you can get the tyres for free as you have to save up for your son’s education or daughters wedding, and then work your way up the discount slabs, and you consider this is a national sport. Do you need to replace the same brand of tyre...the short answer NO!, you can match the size of the existing tyre, pricing depends on country of origin, so from lower to higher, China, Thailand, Korea, Japan, American, Europe. I will assume that the audience can quote their tyre dimension in at least 2 languages, if not then you need to learn this, use youtube, google and stop watching that other nonsense on youtube. So if Adam Smith were a Dubai resident, and wanted to change tyres, when would he do that? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supply_and_demand Supply and demand prevail here in the city of trading. So summer presents more opportunity for tyres to combust whilst on the highway, thus putting the fear of god into them, and they all rush to the tyre dealers for some new tyres. This fact is well known by tire traders, and they know they can squeeze an extra 10-15% out of the resident. So if you check your tyres, and think that they need to be changed based on the quality image above, then do it before May, as prices will remain higher until September. Do rotate your tires, keep the pressures up, infact you can increase the pressures around 3-4 psi higher on all tires than the car manufacture recommends, this will increase your fuel economy. But the car manufacturer recommends a lower pressure I hear you ask, sure they do, but to maintain a smooth ride and we really don’t need this here in the UAE as our roads are very smooth, exception is the rubble they used to surface Motorcity’s main retail stretch. Note: Sole Agent Tyre Dealers, use www.atninfo.com and www.yellowpages.ae to get the number. Bridgestone: Alserkal Bridgestone or Nasser Bin Abdullatif Alserkal Est. Yokohama: Juma Al Majid Dunlop: Al Gurg Tyres (Dunlop Pro Shop) Michelin: Central Trading Agency (They have Tyre Plus shops, which are expensive and have found that Michelin are cheaper at the independent shops, so buy your tyres from the independents and have them fitted at a good tyre fitting shop) Pirelli: Al Hawai Tyre company Continental tyres: Emirates For Universal Tyres LLC (I think, and I see that this brand is not widely used here) Hankook: Al Dobowi Tyres Kumho: Ideal Tyres Trading (not sure if they have fitting facility, and rely on 3rd party to fit tyres) Cooper Tire: Renaissance Trading BF Goodrich: Tyre Express (but maybe same as Michelin, independents are cheaper) Toyo: Tyre Express (but maybe same as Michelin, independents are cheaper) Thank you and I hope you make it to your work, golf game or the school run safer and a few dhirhams more in your pocket, if we bump into each other say you read my advice and found it useful, if you didn’t I don’t care.

Waterless Car Washing Imagine that a hose uses 40-50 litres of water per minute. Within ten minutes, you have used 400-500 litres. With water being such a precious commodity in the desert you may ask yourself how to wash your car. It is possible to simply rub the dirt off with a cloth but in doing so, you will scratch the paint. To wash your car without water, you will need four or five high quality microfiber cloths depending on the size of your car and a spray bottle of waterless cleaner. One bottle of cleaner should be enough to wash your car approximately 4 times, again depending on the size of the car. There are many different waterless cleaners available on the market such as Meguiars Ultimate Wash, Ecotouch WCW, Griots Spray On etc. I’ll leave it up to you to read the reviews of different products online and decide which one is right for you. Clean the car one panel at a time, starting from the roof and work your way down. There’s no point starting at the bottom and working your way up as the cleaner will run down onto the bit you have already cleaned and you will be constantly chasing your tail. Simply spray the waterless cleaner onto the panel you are cleaning, then use a clean towel and wipe the dirt off. Don't use so much pressure on the cloth that you rub the dirt deep into the paint and create scratches. When the piece of towel you are using becomes dirty, fold it and use a clean part until it is completely dirty, then use a new towel. When you have cleaned the panel, wipe it entirely with a clean towel to remove any leftover moisture or dirt. Once you have finished cleaning the entire car, it helps to apply a good coat of wax. Not only will this keep a good shine to your paint but it will also help you to remove dirt next time you wash. **DISCLAIMER** I accept no responsibility for any harm or damage caused by anyone cleaning their car. This is only a simple guide on waterless cleaning. Always use high quality products and follow the manufacturers recommended instructions.

Once your car touches the 30,000-kilometre mark, be sure that there will be some parts which need a change or at least a relook to check if they are in good condition. The coolant is one such important element which will need a change after running such a distance. A mixture of water and antifreeze coolant, it is one element in your car which ensures that your car engine does not heat up. The engine coolant also prevents rust corrosion and anti-freeze in colder countries. Considering the hot and very hot climate in GCC countries, it’s important to check your engine coolant levels regularly, if possible weekly or monthly at least. Also, if you have been practicing to feed your car with water every week or so, you must have made your coolant quite weak. And because of the usage of air conditioners in the cars in Dubai, it is best to ensure that there is a good mix of coolant and water. Normally, an engine is comfortable with a 50/50 mixture of coolant and water. Also, keep the radiator flushed to prevent electrolysis due to breakdown of old coolant. Before doing anything, please make sure that the engine is cold otherwise the pressurized system could release hot water and steam het as soon as you open the radiator cap. If you notice that your coolant has deposits in it or the original color (green/red) has changed, then it needs to be changed immediately. It also indicates that there could be a more serious problem inside the cooling system itself. A mechanic will be required to address the fault. The coolant tank is usually located towards the front-end of the car and has a colored cap. To know whether it is time, there are Coolant testers available which are cheap and easy to use. You can go through the instruction on the package. It has enough clarity to quickly understand and diagnose. Some coolants can also be tested with a paper test strip. Dipping the strips into the coolant and matching the color of the strip to a chart provided with the strip allows determining its condition. You could also use a refractometer. Drip couple of drops on the space provided on the meter and close the cover. Once pointed to light, you can read the scale. You could also try Hydrometers, but not the bulb type, as they have been proven to be less accurate. Coolant level can deplete if there are leaks or weak hoses, so you will have to make sure that all connections are tight and healthy. Low levels of coolant/antifreeze could indicate a leak, so you either need to visit a mechanic or use a sealant product like Prestone Head Gasket and Engine Block Repair to temporarily block the leak until you arrange a mechanic visit. Caution: Whichever brand of coolant you choose, ensure that it is approved by the car manufacturers for the type of engine. If you need more help, or need specific answer for any question then try the ‘Carnity Forum’ (http://carnity.com/) or find car businesses near you with the Carnity ‘Business listing’ (http://carnity.com/business_listing) section.