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Yes, there were coins instead of a 4WD selector shift, I don't think coins will help in the middle of the desert. BTW @sertac Dubizzle does have short link at bottom as well. https://tnydu.biz/DOybZj

I've used them in the past while off-roading in rocks. They are useful as long as you have the right surface and your car has the correct Jack points. But they are super dangerous we had to make sure nobody came close the car since they could easily be tipped on the side and the use of Jack stands is a must. I agree with you. There's times where I had to dig because the floor jack won't even fit when recovering vehicles with a pop out, I can only imagine having a bottle Jack would make things even worse. Specially for low clearance vehicles like xterras, pajeros, Pathfinders etc. Pretty much anything that is not a Jeep. I can remember one year ago a Pathfinder had a popout in a very difficult angle in the middle of a ditch, I took us more than an hour to fix the pop out and recover the vehicle out of the ditch I'm sure @Emmanuel remembers this.

This is well fabricated and a good idea. Just be aware of the fact that in the desert most likely you’ll need to be able to insert the jack from weird angles and have very limited space. That will create issues for a bottle jack I am afraid. Secondly, once you reach higher levels on the off-road ranking, you will be fixing pop-outs on other vehicles too, so your tailormade solution won’t work anymore.

Congratulations @Ale Vallecchi...very well deserved, so happy for you, you are highly skilled...

I would recommend the JZX 2 ton Jack as it has a wider base which would give better stability. Plus you can get it with the swivel neck. DM is just like any other shopping mall and I have been there recently and it's hardly crowded. If you still have apprehensions you could call the store and ask him to deliver it to you outside DM. I am sure they would do it.

Welcome to Carnity ! Most of these things you will only find in Dragon Mart. See the advice below:

Congrats, well deserved @Lorenzo Candelpergher Enjoy the new challenges. see you soon in sand 😇

Thanks dude, its been very long time see you on my same drive. Its may be because now you don't interested on newbies drives right 😉 keep going dude 👍

Congrats, well deserved @Xaf Enjoy the new challenges. see you soon in sand 😇

Congrats, well deserved @Nacho Enjoy the new challenges. see you soon in sand 😇

Unfortunately it's a 2WD model.

@Frederic I've signed up for the Qudra drive and exited this one to create room for anyone else.

Great tips as usual on this thread from all the experienced people. Kudos. Well we all know the fun part being in the drives for some time, but you all have done more for sure and you know very well what it takes to get out from a difficult situation. That's what matters and probably it gets more serious and comes with more responsibility that you progress in the experience. I am telling this after seeing few difficult situations where we all as a convoy group came out on road well in time . Great learning 👍

Congratulations

Congratulations

Congratulations. Well deserved. 🏜️

Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks

Congratulations @Xaf. Well deserved

Thanks @Gaurav, for the constant leadership, and thanks to the whole Carmity team, particularly the Marshals @Rahimdad for introducing me to the Club and inspiring me to pursue desert offroading, @Srikumar for my baptism as an absolute newbie (that first experience is what makes you come back), @Frederic for his constant and invaluable technical advice, and @Emmanuelfor testing me severely with my first unforgettable Fewbie drive (since that drive my girlfriend has preferred to stay home 😅). I also wish to thank some of the guys (and girl) with whom I have been sharing a similar off-roading growing path: @Xaf, @Shamil, @Wrangeld, @Jeepie, @Javier M and @Brette driving with you has both helped and challenged me to learn from each of your individual set of skills, allowing me to adapt and improve my own style. I cannot mention the whole community here, but surely I am grateful to all those with whom I have been driving: every time we go out, at any level of off-roading, it's a very valuable learning experience. I have grown to appreciate this unique community of people (off-roaders is just a small part of what all of us are), which I believe is unique in the UAE for its warmth and sense of collectivity. The way for all of us is forward, and I am happy to be heading forward with all of you.

Congratulations @Xaf for reaching the Advance level with Carnity Offroad club. Your continuous commitment toward advance offroading and pushing yourself and your car to the extreme, resulted in this well deserve and prestigious offroad rank. As you are always open to the new challenges and pushing your existing boundaries in a safe and controlled manner, you tend to set a very good example for others. Keep it up and its time for you to work on your navigational, map and app skills and to demonstrate your skills and knowledge. Looking forward to seeing you growing further and helping others to learn the art of offroading in a safe environment. Advance: Number of drives 10 (36 regular drives) Level of drives Willingness to learn + Enthusiasm + Basic dune & sand reading + map reading & basic navigational skills Off-road gear Flag, deflator, tire gauge, shovel, fire extinguisher, medical kit, radio, compressor, tool kit, tow rope, floor jack, jack board & GPS Drive teamwork Actively participate in recoveries + drive in the second lead Drive posting/joining Join any drive and lead fewbie & intermediate drives under Marshal / Crew supervision Forum participation Share experience + feedback on forum and pictures in gallery + drive and route suggestions + post trip report + share route + track and waypoints Social media sharing & inviting friends & family to join offroad club is recommended for faster upgrades at all levels.

Congratulations @Foxtrot Oscar for reaching the fewbie level with Carnity Offroad club. Based on your last newbie drive you have demonstrated skills required deserving this new offroad rank. Looking forward to seeing you growing further and helping others to learn the art of offroading in a safe environment. Once you have all the required off-road gear, you are most welcome to join the fewbie level drives with Carnity Off-road club. P.S. Trip lead might deny your participation if you don't have required off-road gear. Fewbie: Number of drives 10 (16 Newbie + Fewbie drives) Level of drives Willingness to learn + Enthusiasm + Basic dune reading Off-road gear Flag, deflator, tire gauge, shovel, fire extinguisher, medical kit, radio, compressor. Drive teamwork Observe recovery from a safe distance and offer help when needed Drive posting/joining Join newbie and fewbie level of drives only Forum participation Active participation on forum. Share drive experience + feedback on forum and pictures in gallery Forum participation and helping with community spirit is recommended for faster upgrades at all levels.

Congrats, well deserved @Foxtrot Oscar Enjoy the new challenges. see you soon in sand 😇

Congrats, well deserved @Jolly Abraham Enjoy the new challenges. see you soon in sand 😇

Congrats, well deserved @asifk Enjoy the new challenges. see you soon in sand 😇

Congratulations @Nacho for reaching the fewbie level with Carnity Offroad club. Based on your last newbie drive you have demonstrated skills required deserving this new offroad rank. Looking forward to seeing you growing further and helping others to learn the art of offroading in a safe environment. Once you have all the required off-road gear, you are most welcome to join the fewbie level drives with Carnity Off-road club. P.S. Trip lead might deny your participation if you don't have required off-road gear. Fewbie: Number of drives 10 (16 Newbie + Fewbie drives) Level of drives Willingness to learn + Enthusiasm + Basic dune reading Off-road gear Flag, deflator, tire gauge, shovel, fire extinguisher, medical kit, radio, compressor. Drive teamwork Observe recovery from a safe distance and offer help when needed Drive posting/joining Join newbie and fewbie level of drives only Forum participation Active participation on forum. Share drive experience + feedback on forum and pictures in gallery Forum participation and helping with community spirit is recommended for faster upgrades at all levels.

Congratulations @Ale Vallecchi for reaching the Advance level with Carnity Offroad club. Your passion for off-road and great team player attitude to support and manage any drive resulted in great progress to deserve this new offroad rank. Your helpful approach with open mind has always helped everyone around in a very positive manner on the drives and on the forum. Keep it up and its time for you to work on your exploration skills to demonstrate your skills and knowledge. Looking forward to seeing you growing further and helping others to learn the art of offroading in a safe environment. Advance: Number of drives 10 (36 regular drives) Level of drives Willingness to learn + Enthusiasm + Basic dune & sand reading + map reading & basic navigational skills Off-road gear Flag, deflator, tire gauge, shovel, fire extinguisher, medical kit, radio, compressor, tool kit, tow rope, floor jack, jack board & GPS Drive teamwork Actively participate in recoveries + drive in the second lead Drive posting/joining Join any drive and lead fewbie & intermediate drives under Marshal / Crew supervision Forum participation Share experience + feedback on forum and pictures in gallery + drive and route suggestions + post trip report + share route + track and waypoints Social media sharing & inviting friends & family to join offroad club is recommended for faster upgrades at all levels.

Congrats @Ale Vallecchi !!

Congratulations @Lorenzo Candelpergher

Congrats @Michael sammy

Well done and Congrats @Shiju Manuel

Congrats

My pleasure buddy 😊

Great leadership today Fred! It was a pleasure to join your drive, as always. Brit had a great time as copilot again too.

Thanks

Congrats @Ale Vallecchi

Congratulations to my neighbour @Xaf

Congratulations @Nacho. Well done.

@Ale Vallecchi you’ve been a constant key player in our convoys the last months. Always ready to help, curious to learn more, and a desire to explore the unknown are the main keys that explain your growth. Looking forward to many more drives together !

Congratulations Ale, well deserved

@Ale Vallecchi so, so deserved a promotion. I am delighted for you with this totally deserved moment. It's been a privilege to drive with you since we started on our journey. You've always been an example and so supportive. And.. once again. Thanks for the rescue this weekend.

Congratulations @Ale Vallecchi👍🏼

Congratulations

Congrats @Anish S

Hahahaha, No.

Congratulations

Congratulations @J J👍🏼

Brilliant article and sharing the real knowledge @Javier M, wish I can give 100 likes for this contribution. The only thing I like to add with my little experience for people to decide which is the best jack for offroad use is the one that covers the maximum surface area on the ground as in offroad - be it sand or rock you will never find a perfect ground like Tarmac. So for that reason, even fanciest scissor or bottle jack is out of the league. I have seen the bottle and scissor jack losing balance after few seconds and dropping the car down much before the repair work starts. Best is the floor jack, stable, reliable and safe to operate under any load or position. While getting floor jack you also need a stable wooden board to place the jack to even increase the surface area (only for sand). To avoid the cons mention for a floor jack, instead of buying 3-4 ton humongous jack you can get 2 tons jack but with a swivel neck and it lost around 150-200 dhs only from DM. 2 ton size is not huge and plus good enough to lift any ONE side of the vehicle as in 4 ton Hummer H2 any one side will not weight more than 1-1.5 ton. So using 2 ton is practically enough as we only need to work on one wheel at a time. I have used Pentax 1.5 ton floor jack for good 6-8 years and then upgraded to JZX floor jack 2 years back. They almost last forever if you are placing them properly and not in rush in some weird angle that will bend them slightly and loose its lifting strength. Exhaust jack, I have seen leaking after some time as underbody of the car is extremely hot in summer or stone or rock can easily puncture them too plus they are expensive compared to the floor jack.

No disagreement here. The CVTs can run high miles but there are a lot of complaints about them failing at low miles. I guess it just depends if you like gambling.

for the record, my 2012 qashqai has 260k km (bought it brand new ) and it never had a problem with the gearbox. Sometimes i think its better to have a CVT because of the vehicle's purpose.

The Duster is a Romanian car built by a company called Dacia. For the MENA market it is rebranded as a Renault because the majority of people won’t buy a car if they think it’s Romanian. The French badge adds a bit of flair. Engines are from the Renault range, along with the suspension. Mostly Clio parts. The running gear is Nissan. If you can, avoid CVT versions. Google Nissan CVT problems and you’ll see. It is a cheap and cheerful car and parts are available. A problem can be finding a mechanic to work on it. Most of the mechanics here, if it isn’t Japanese, they aren’t interested. But it is an incredibly simple, basic car with not much to go wrong. The 4WD version is competent on rough roads, if a little harsh, but it’s not the sort of car you want to take dune bashing unless you want to spend serious money modifying it. All in all, it’s a pretty reliable car but because it’s so simple, it can feel bland and uninspiring. I wouldn’t say no to owning one myself but it would be purely white goods, there would be no real love in the relationship.