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Trip Report. 2 rocking drives in 2 consecutive weeks. So similar in the way both drives were conducted, yet in different terrains the challenges and fun was very similar. I think @Emmanuel attended both so he would be a good judge. Everyone was on time, and seeing the participants I decided to change the level to Fewbie. @eduardo, @Shamil, @Brette, @Frederic, @Fuad and @Emmanuel were all in agreement and we headed to enter from Khatim. After deflation and a short brief we all were off on what was going to be a challenging start. The first hour and a half saw us through a few refusals and stucks, @Gaurav bhai would have been proud of me. As we negotiated through some tough but fun patches we reached the top of Fossil Rocks. As @Emmanuel and I evaluated the decent we were surprised to see all the sand gathered on the left side leaving a sharp drop to the naked rocks on the right. To be on the safe side I came down first to make sure all was well below. Once it was clear the rest in the guidance of @Emmanuel made their way down. Now it was time to search for a suitable spot for Suhoor. This bit of drive was quick and just towards the end we experienced a few refusals. This led us to a fantastic spot to lay our spread. The Suhoor was very refreshing and enjoyable after which we switched off the lights to enjoy some dark time. While we lay down we were able to see part of the 60 satellites in a convoy of their own. All moving on one path one behind the other, they were viewable with the naked eye and a treat to watch. I was caught by surprise to see one satellite out of convoy and moving in the opposite direction, I guess the reason for it is that they are not part of Carnity.com and don't know the importance of a convoy. Throughout the Suhoor break we were treated to several laughs sponsored by our comedian @Frederic. After we offered our Fajr prayers we were off to our final destination - Faya. We had a very smooth and quick run and the convoy was now enjoying the last leg of our trip. The most fun was just on the back side of Faya where we enjoyed vast open space with no tyre marks. I was a little confused to see the Nissan Bowl and the place was just a little unrecognizable due to the shifting sands, but a little peak to the other side confirmed we were on top of Faya. We has to cut through the razor sharp ridge to get to the front face of Faya. Quickly everyone continued to the bottom only to try climbing the front face. As usual @Emmanuel just glided through as though he was on SZR, only others struggling confirmed that Faya was still holding its reputation to be difficult to climb from the front. After having some fun we decided to exit. I was still in some mood to play which resulted in a pop-out. The team was quick to respond and we quickly fixed the pop-out and were out. After inflation, huge smiles and warm hugs we were off home bound and looking forward to more fun in the coming weeks. Until that time Adios and take care.

What a great drive this was ! I’ve been out of the sand for a few weeks and it felt great to enter the desert again with such wonderful people. The terrain proved to be a bit tricky and we indeed had to pullout the tug rope a few times but that’s all part of the fun and adventure. Out of the full trip I had the most fun seeing @Rahimdad taking my pajero up Faya from the scenery backside, sitting with him in the car as he was singing and just enjoying the moment and fun our little pajero gave us ! @Emmanuel again proved that Xterra is made for this kind of terrain. It was a joy to see. Also thanks for showing us the satellites ! See you soon buddies !

Wonderful drive, @Rahimdad! Special thanks to my sweep team partner @Frederic, who has been very active and helpful on this tricky terrain.

I have used synthetic rope on my African expeditions, and apart from the fraying issues with steel wire, I'd much rather use a synthetic rope in difficult situations because it is lighter and easier to use than a heavy steel cable. It is also safer, because compared to a steel cable, it has much less backlash when it breaks, which is perhaps its greatest advantage over steel ropes.

He was definitely fighting gravity. You can see it at the 20 seconds mark. I am familiar with that sand on the sides, that means turn the steering wheel and go down the dune. It seems that when the passenger distracted the driver they ran out of dune to fight gravity with on the left side and the car just flipped on the right side where there was still sand so two big mistakes right there. I agree Jeeps are a bit unstable specially two doors I've driven the 4 doors of some friends and tend to be more stable than 2 doors. But 2 doors are more fun because of it. You have to be quick to correct the steering or else this happens.

In the XJ !

Hello all i have been hearing a squeaking noise coming from the brakes on my pajero. Turns out it’s a squeaking noise coming from the brake booster system. the good news is, is that it doesn’t affect the breaking system in any way. But if I wanted it to stop squeaking, then it would cost a lot to replace the assembly system. i did see some video on a simple fix on how to stop the noise on an FJ cruiser. I was wondering if anyone has done anything similar with a Pajero? Also, I don’t really have any tools etc, so would there be anyone in Abu Dhabi, willing to help me with the above?

seeking 1.2 engines, any help

Sri, Keep the Pajero, Sell your Cherokee to me and buy a new Toyota Camry (reliable and economical) for your daily commute. ☺️

Totally agree, as I used wire winch earlier in my Patrol and knew the fraying issue and now almost after a year of use in few places my winch wire is also fraying and im using gloves to be safe. I surely "THINK" synthetic ropes are better and safer due to the fraying issue, but can't comment unless I use.

So basically, people don’t use synthetic ropes because they don’t know enough about it? Just asking questions here, I have no bias towards either, only speaking from experience. I know a bit about wire ropes from working on cranes. They fray, you get bits of wire stuck in your hand and have to get tetanus shots, you can’t use rope oil in the desert or everything will be full of sand. From what I’ve seen what isn’t much, surely synthetic would be better? Same load capacity, less problems

Its because wires are used since a hundred years around and synthetic rope has recently developed to withstand such load. I went with wire, as it was the one on stock option, for synthetic I need to buy additional rope and keep this wire with me too. So I said, let's break this first and next time I buy a synthetic one

Thanks for your expert advise and sharing your experience for better clarity & understanding Thanks for sharing your views. Question is, what is best /advisable Winch option to drive in sand....

Now that we’re on the topic, what’s the pros and cons of synthetic v wire ropes on winches? We have a couple of cars at work with warn winches and synthetic ropes but in the real world I only ever see wire ropes.

Traction mat - all types - are pretty much useless in the sand. They work in less than 5% perfect scenario. 95% I see them failing. I bought them too and never used it. Tow rope work always and its best thing to have but if you are stuck in a sideways position which is very prone to flip, I will prefer winch than a tow rope, so that I can recover slowly and clear the sand pile up on the lower side of the vehicle, which causes the flip. This way after every few inches we have a chance to clear the sand wall in front of lower tires, with rope it's just one jerk and you might come out or you will flip. With patience in hand and at a certain angle you can also use tow rope and do softer tug, maybe 4-5 soft pull and clear sand after every tug to not to build up that sand wall in lower tires. A few weeks back we had that situation with @Shamil and @edouard asked me the same question. A winch is also very helpful when you are stuck in some difficult spot where tow rope recovery isn't possible due to no space, like in a sand pocket or in the soft sand area, where the tugging vehicle will also get stuck due to extremely soft sand, all around. Seen this in last Bidayer drive, with Aqeel pathfinder in a soft spot and I was digging myself in with tow rope when I tried to recover him, so used the winch. In short, you can do pretty much everything to anything without winch if you have little patience and common sense to adhere to safety issues rather than relying on ego or muscle power.

Couple of my friends got the Honda Accord, bit boring but reliable, classy and very economical on fuel. You can get a decent 2011 - 2012 model for about 22k.

I would say get a Lexus LS 430. Very solid and reliable cars. Drivetrain is like a rock and go for half a million kms easy without ever opening it up. It has image, super comfy and luxurious. Gas mileage would be the only slight drawback but not much more than the Jero. Or a Merc S320 for slightly better gas mileage. But in my own usage Ive found very little difference in mileage between a 6 and V8 and then you always regret not getting thr V8 so go for the S500 instead plus more bells and whistles. Just avoid the fancy suspension, 4matic and ABC If fuel economy is your number one priority then it has to be a 4 banger because as I said 6 n 8 are almost identical and V8 Ive actually found V8s more economical on highway driving at or under speed limit. Hard to find a good 4 cylinder that ticks all your boxes. So you will have to compromise on one atleast.

Instead of drive arabia car compare, which is meaningless for him at the moment unless he decides a couple of cars. Go to car classified sites and search with 20K - 25K price filter, select sedan, coupe and hatchback option to drill down to see what all options are there in the used car market.