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DRIVE REPORT As with many other Carnity convoys, the fog was making it a slight bit more difficult to reach the deflating point, but all made it on time, and that marks a good start of the day. With @Sinol in my second lead, the first part of the drive was quite easy and went smooth, maybe a bit too smooth as we reached the base of Pink Rock within one hour. The sand was churned up in the area and it was quite busy with many other clubs, motorcycles and whatnot doing their thing, just like us All made it up to Pink Rock easily, and I decided to play a bit on the backside, and then go around it. During our ascend on the backside @Senthil Kumar hit a rock that was a bit difficult to spot with a big vehicle and shredded his front right tyre. We had to google on how to remove the spare wheel from underneath the car, as the ingenuity of car manufacturers really has no end. I will save you the details but it was a very strange experience, and we had a good laugh at it. @Ajiesh George Kannankara helped us out to loosen up the wheel nuts and get the spare wheel in place. I knew we had a Superman in our club, but Ajiesh is a mighty Hulk, and without him we would probably have to be very creative. Well done buddy and thanks for the help ! As it was getting a bit late, we descended quickly from Pink Rock and passed some of the bowls that for Newbies might be a bit challenging it seemed. It didn't help that the whole are was really churned up, so making our way back to Second December Cafe came with quite a few refusals and stuck. All made it out in one piece, and I was really impressed with the skills all of you have shown. My initial fear of having @Abu Muhammad @Ammar Naji and @Malachy McGrogan in our convoy bringing in the heavy weights, showed that they can make it easily through this terrain and they did ! Also the Patrols @Ajiesh George Kannankara @Senthil Kumar were driving were sliding/slicing through the terrain easily ! The Pajero crew @Sinol @Baskaran P.R @Syed Raza Hussain @Rizwan Waheed @SyedObaid all drove well and are starting to feel really at home in their cars. Keep an eye on the pressure gauges, and in case you have offroad tyres, bring it down a notch to 11-12psi and see what works best for you. @Ali Abas Ali driving the mighty 4runner, you are doing a great job every single drive. Impressive ! @Ashy and @Brette with the Black Stallions at the back were the perfect end of any convoy, thanks Brette for the ever as always "super support". See you guys soon in the sand again ! PS For the people that have completed 5 Newbie drives, you can apply for a promotion to Fewbie by going through the following article, and clicking on the "apply for promotion" button. Once applied your application will be reviewed asap.

As a part of Carnity taking over every square in of Qudra this morning, I was supporting a fantastic drive led by @Jeepie this morning. Starting a little late due to the fog, we (eventually) entered the South Qudra dunes and enjoyed a route punctuated by wide swooping dunes all the way to the bike track that directs this route. The whole convoy drove amazingly well, keeping up with the level and speed that it soon became clear that the level could be elevated, and challenged we were. Where ever you look in Qudra, there are soft sand traps and our route took us through all the challenges that the area offers. @Veedooshee in second lead was probably the one suffering most from this. That's the disadvantage of being in a LWB vehicle following a SWB lead (and being followed by a trail of SWB cars @Nabil Bishara@Kailas and me). As we expect on a drive like this, we were awarded with some prefect crests, and some side slope Stucks, but nothing that took much time to sort out. A tug here or there @Mehmet Volga and @Kailas were very quickly sorted out which let us continue playing through the dunes for the whole drive. @marks did a great job at sweep as he had to navigate through some quite sticky sand at the end of the convoy, left for him by @Nivin, @Heisem @Mukundan Nair and @Mehmet Volga. Between you, it looks like there was great support for any refusals. Convoy and COVID discipline was also great today. Thank you for the continued support on this. It makes it easier to manage knowing that everyone is taking this seriously. See you soon in the sand.

Thanks a lot @Srikumar for another nice and exiting drive... almost 50km over 4hrs .. thanks all Carnities on today’s ride.. enjoyed driving with you.. the last bowl was the highlight of the day was full of fun see you all soon on the sand IMG_6481.MP4

TRIP REPORT So it all started with going to bed early to be able to wake up early. Mission successful. Got up and got ready in time, but as I was about to move out 2 of my cats ran out. To make things worse somebody left the door to the stairs open and both ran to the stairs. I found the first one in 10 minutes, but needed my daughter's help to find the other one and it took us a little over 30 minutes. Thank goodness I tried leaving early anyways so I arrived just 6 minutes late by which time everybody was deflating. We had another group convoy also meeting up ahead of us by the trees. The fog was not as bad as Qudra or Pink Rock area, but it surely is sign that weather is changing. One thing noted while deflating was 2 of the cars had got screenless radios where channels could not be programmed. I request all members to go through the forum for important information as @Frederic has taken a lot of his time to give full description with model numbers for everyone's convenience. As we went through our last minute brief, we found the other convoy getting crested right in front of us. What did we do, we just went around it. I would like to thank everyone on the trip to take Covid precautions seriously. It was smooth sailing for us for the entire trip and we found lots of play areas to exercise and polish our skills. As we played on the third set of dunes just before the grand final @Athula Dharmadada. Had a jump with a very bad landing which ruptured the radiator. Leaving the convoy to enjoy the play area with @Rizwanm2, I took @Tbone to help me out. After about 800 meters the JGC would not start and any water being poured in was just dropping out. So I decided to use my tow truck again to pull him out. We were just 2 dunes away from the tracks when I had my first refusal pulling out the JGC. Second attempt also turned out to be untruthful. At this point I noticed my heat gauge going up so I decided to take a break to refresh my thoughts. @tbone went for a sshort recce which to set the tracks, but after taking a walk with the farmer from the farm near by I saw clearly what I had to try. I had already asked @Athula Dharmadada to deflate to 12 PSI. When I checked my car the pressure was up to 14 PSI. I quickly deflated to 11 PSI and explained to @Athula Dharmadada what my plan was. After a little turn around I got the momentum to go through the first dune, what a difference 3 PSI makes. I knew I had to fly like Superman to get through the second dunes to get to the tracks and in one motion went through. @Tbone was the eye witness of that jump to change his route for safety. Within no time we were on the track and out. At this point we realized that the front number plate for the JGC was missing. On the way back @Tbone and I took the same route to find the number plate and found it on the dune I had to fly over. When we reached the rest of the convoy I saw huge smiles as everyone had their fill at the playground in @Rizwanm2 supervision. @Rizwanm2 had been on a diet not wanting to do sideys before he understood the dynamics of his new ride, the White Xterra. But seemed while I was away his gear would not budge, so he opened the complete centre console of his car to make way to change his gears manually through the cable that controls the gears. We took the same route going back and I believe the convoy understood the difficulty when the first crest of the day took place just where I had to fly across. @Tbone not only successfully pulled out the White Prado but also rerouted us through the track he had made earlier. It just wonderful to watch people learn and grow within the structure of the club. @jose Shanu was my second lead and managed that position with ease. @tcarrimjee Tariq impressed me when he kept up with that front part of the convoy. But even more impressed with the way he handles his Y62 on sideys. So much grace and good use of power with great steering and throttle control to go in and come out with finesse. @Yasas Dharmadasa who also did well on the sideys, but at times the distance between him and the front of the convoy was a bit large. Once he realizes the dynamics of convoy gap he will be amazing. @Athula Dharmadada who did very well through the trip except for the last play area where he had too much speed. Hope the JGC is up and running in no time. @AviG who looked very comfortable in His Prado and really handled it well throughout, but also had a good idea on how to handle sideys. @Hatim Patharia, @Shaaz Sha @Shyam Karat and @Arun Mathew our Wrangler boys who made it look so easy and were a treat to watch while doing sideys. Last but not the least @Tbone who was my centre forward and @Rizwanm2 who supported me in the sweep position kept the convoy safe and moving throughout. I have my pics uploaded in the Gallery below. https://carnity.com/gallery/category/316-newbie-mahafiz-sharjah-18-sep-2020 For the people that have completed 5 Newbie drives, you can apply for a promotion to Fewbie by going through the following article, and clicking on the "apply for promotion" button. Once applied your application will be reviewed asap.

Thanks @Rahimdad @Tbone and @Rizwanm2 for a wonderful drive. The start was superb and very informative . I was thrilled to drive down those steep inclines and cud do well in play areas. It was a treat for eyes from @tcarrimjee and @Hatim Pathariaand @Arun Mathew at their sideys ( I couldn't see how I performed 😀😀). Unfortunate that @Athula Dharmadada had to exit with a raptured bumper and radiator, radiator ( was expecting some good convoy pics from him ) and hope to catch up with you in other upcoming events. Special mentions to @Shyam Karat and @jose Shanu for those good moments at the final play area hope to join u I'm some other drives. Thank you guys 👍

@Rahimdad great morning drive today with lot of chance to play around with my jeep . Made new friends of-course with social distancing & masks . drive safe everyone !! See you next week

I am as well looking for a skid plate. I don't like the ones turning front and having xterra logo on them. I want something shorter to keep my plate on original place but I don't know where to get those. I like keeping the look as original as possible.

Thank you @Rahimdad for a wonderful morning drive. i feel much better after stretching my legs and soul in the sands after long time. weather was perfect and day was even better after spending time with wonderful new faces. as mentioned today's key highlight was @Athula Dharmadada jump and the aftermath. wish for a speedy recovery of your JGC and see you soon in the sands. i took todays drive slow and steady to get feel of xterra in the sand for the first time and also did not want to take any risk since i did not had the skid plate on. when @Rahimdad and @Tbone was away recovering JGC my xterra's gear cable got disconnected from lever and was not engaging to any gear. with help of google and Youtube able to find a temporary solution to shift the gears. after little research, it seams a common issue with Xterra's. will do a seperate post for fellow members information. hope to see you all soon. TC.

I appreciate your comment @Rizwan Waheed, yes it’s really fun to be part of your team. Hopefully we will see soon. My beast is going to have a make up soon so next time you may not recognize it.

@Frederic thnk you, for making us learn with fun, for making us feel at home, for injecting confidence in us all moreover for your patiance. Looking forward for more rides ahead..;) @Abu Muhammad @Ammar Naji i have always loved seen you floating your beasts on the sand.unfortunatley, i missed today as i was positioned ahead. Looking forward for more jouful rides ahead I.A. Thankx & Regards,

I owe you guys an apology. I overslept this drive and literally wasted my spot for today. I know how frustrating it is waiting for a spot as I also was on a waiting list for my first Fewbie drive. Today I missed my chance and wish I had something to other to blame for this (traffic/flat wheel/hangover) rather than just not hearing my alarm clock! Hope to see you guys out there soon.

Since there are plenty of Xterra owners in carnity community, How about sharing solutions, thoughts, Do's and Don'ts for all future and current Xterra owners. Thank you in advance Xterian's 🙏

Don't Defy the Drive God's Sometimes things just don't go your way. When that happens, there is no point fighting it, just like there is no point fighting gravity in our drives. It started so well, with everyone raring to go, but a totally innocuous recovery that happened on almost flat ground, that turned into the impossible pop out was clearly a message from the drive gods to watch our step. We tried everything to get the pop out sorted, with the whole team coming up with solutions and suggestions. No matter what we tried, the end result was a change of wheel. Even so it was possible to see that @Ilya Golubinsky and @Jun Zamorashowed as usual that the Jeep is a great tool for all drives. @David Ortells grows well in the FJ and @Jolly Abraham was unstoppable when ever help was needed. @Tero Vallas you are starting to understand so much better how the mighty Prado moves Back on the move again, we made it to Pink Rock without incident, finally able to push the pace and complexity a little. To say Pink Rock was busy is like saying that the Burj Kalifah is quite tall. It was full of convoys and crazies and cross tracks, so with @Kalahari in the lead we moved on. The drive gods clearly had not determined we would reach Big Red. Too many refusals to deal with had eaten into our daylight and we were simply too far to propose driving in the dark all the way there. Everyone was doing really well @Ashok chaturvedi and @jodha singh shekhawat as new Fewbies realised this game gets more exciting as you get promoted. Talking of promotions @Lorenzo Candelpergher did a great job in C.F. and @Shiju Manuel showed why he earned his recent elevation. @Jeepie, as ever kept everythj my tidy at the back. Will this drive go down as one the best ever in the pantheon of Carnity drives. Probably not, but it's one that will be remembered for not quite making it to the moon, but getting important learning instead.

@Vanessa8580 @sertac @Brette @Kalahari @Tbone and @Rahimdad Please note that the meeting time has been changed to 5:30 AM instead of 5:00 AM.

As per recent developments where recommendations turned out to be a hidden brand promotion and duly benefited for spreading wrong ideas, modifications and incompetent businesses we have restricted this lately. Unfortunately this idea of genuine recommendation and helping others has been abused heavily in suggesting the name of businesses in every help seeking post, rather than focusing on solving problem. We being an unbiased car community want to understand the process rather than brand naming. Once you understand your vehicle better and how to manage what you're looking for then you can approach any car business near you.

Hi today morning was foggy dense in some area at alqudra , by the time the clearing was gradual as the sun ray got through so were our hearts along the dunes . @Srikumar it was Epic drive and I enjoyed it very much , thank you for this wonderful day. @Janarthan your contribution as sweep was fantastic I like your spirit every one drove nice today thank you all indeed and see you soon desert wanderers 😎 it was nice @Gaurav To see you passing . True spirit of Carnity caring one for another below link enjoy https://www.relive.cc/view/v1vjAZnM2Yq other pictures put in Gallery also check the discussion of greatest of recoveries . Added some cheers 👍🚙😎

Rope recovery

Thanks @Frederic for yet another fantastic drive. It is always a better experience driving with you in the lead. @Brette, pleasure meeting you...have known you by name and finally met today... thanks a lot for the tips on JGC... had to face few challenges at the end of the trip with the tyre pressure increased. As suggested, I will be keeping the pressure at 12PSI for the future drives... thanks again guys 👏👏👏

In Xterra Mafia whatsapp group they sell stuff like that. That is the one I had before, shorter and not covering the license plate area, got it for as low as 350. Additionally, the tuning with the Xterra logo is optional, when you get it brand new made for your car. You can just ask them not to.

That's a great little summary Islam. Thanks for sharing, I might just get the app myself.

There is heavy fog in Qudra area. So please drive safe.

Good Morning Moonshooters, Here is the convoy numbering for Friday evening's Drive. We will be using Carnity Channel 2. Start time/meeting time is 4.30pm (not 5pm as stated in the topic). Please be sure to get there on time. Evening Fewbie Desert Drive Pink Rock 18 Sept 2020 Attendees Level Car Radio Pos # Wrangeld Expert Mitsubishi Pajero SWB Y 1 Lead Kalahari Advance Nissan Xterra Y 2 2nd lead Jodha singh shekhawat Fewbie Nissan Xterra Y 3 Ashok Chaturvedi Fewbie Mitsubishi Pajero LWB Y 4 Ilya Golubinsky Fewbie Jeep Wrangler Y 5 Lorenzo Candelpergher Intermediate Nissan Patrol Y62 Y 6 CF Jun Zamora Fewbie Jeep Wrangler Y 7 Tero Vallas Fewbie Toyota Landcruiser Prado Y 8 David Ortells Fewbie Toyota FJ Cruiser 9 Jolly Abraham Fewbie Toyota Fortuner Y 10 Shjiu Manuel Intermediate Mitsubishi Pajero LWB Y 11 Jeandre Bezuidendhout Fewbie Jeep Wrangler SWB 12 Jeepie Expert Jeep Wrangler 13 SW We will save some of the surprise details for you until the breifing Friday. See you all soon in the sand @Kalahari @jodha singh shekhawat @Ashok chaturvedi @Ilya Golubinsky @Lorenzo Candelpergher @Jun Zamora @Tero Vallas @David Ortells @Jolly Abraham @Shiju Manuel @Jeandre Bezuidenhout @Jeepie

An impressive first night Offroad experience.. reminds me of my first night dive .. technical dunes at the beginning of the drive was a good practice and observed for the first time the use of Fredric’s winch for recovery.. sunset was breathtaking specially with the small dunes scattered all over the place and the reddish sun fading away behind the trees popping up from that small oasis .. then the fun starts with some nice side sloping in the darkness of the desert while enjoying the quite birth of a new moon.. thanks @Frederic and all the drivers for the nice company .. looking forward for going back soon to greet our friend haunting this spot😂 IMG_6535.MP4

I had a great time in the morning drive session today. But my over-confidence broke my radiator, front bumper of my JGC and ate a lot of time for the rest of the drive. @Rahimdad did a great recovery of my car through the dunes after the overheated engine refused to go any further. The recovery video will be uploaded after some editing. My garage proposed to replace existing plastic bumper with a steel bumper with steel skid plates. Stock engine-armour was deformed and that hit the radiator. Yet, I'm not too interested in installing a steel bumper as of now due to restrictions in the UAE. Instead of that, I informed them to trim the plastic bumper to match the damaged side. Hope I meet you all next Friday for another exciting newbie drive.

Dear @Ale Vallecchi, Thanks for the nice and very smooth drive today. This 100km marathon was my 1st intermediate drive and, as announced, we had a lot of criss-crossing and ridge riding, which made it particularly fun, while exploring very different landscapes. Driving in a small and well experienced convoy makes the ride much more enjoyable as it rolls out uninterrupted. I really look forward to the next one.

@Abu Muhammad would love to see it

Pleasure driving with you @Frederic, Me and my son really enjoyed it Thanks for giving us your time, Support and knowledge hopefully see you more. Have good weekend everybody.

I am following the whatsapp group but these days no one is selling one. I will be on hunt.

@Heisem I got mine from @Rahimdad who gets them from time to time. If you ask him, he may have available.

Thx Franco.. hope your Pajero is feeling better now.. she deserves some rest and may be some ⛽️ too 😂

Thank you. Very enjoyable and lots of learning today. We missed seeing you tow over the dune. Regards.

Custom made from a garage in RAK and bolted on to the roof rack and it fits well. Any good denter can make it will cost AED50-80.

Welcome to Carnity @Luca Palanca Falsini. It feels strange to see you as as an absolutely newbie after having driven together in the desert at least 20 times this year! Looking forward to be togheter in the next Carnity rides.. P. S. @Gaurav, Luca was the one who first brought me on the sand and drove ust in front of me during most of my initial rides. I insisted very much so he would join Carnity. Put him to the test!!

Thank you @Nivin

@Mohamed Seidam I've got the same from Torque, Bought it used. @Sajit Modiyil New ones they charge 1200 with the radiator bracket. Can find used from 500-800 but it goes like hot cake in no time. @Mukundan Nair Got a deal as well recently.

Will give you spare one for tomo.

Any time my friend @Sajit Modiyil cheers 🚙👍

I had this in my previous car, which was kind of short. The new one has a better one, one piece but without the Xterra cutout. @Rahimdad you forgot @Tbone 😁

To put things in perspective, I have driven my stock Pajero with stock bash plate for 8+ years and had occasional bending scenario (once in 2 or 3 years), which can easily be hammered while oil change. Just after I installed the winch, my stock bash plate wasn't fitting so I went for a custom made bash plate. Installed in winter and coming summer my car was overheating on road due to absence of ventilating holes. @Dagdag Sofiane chance of you hitting rock causing an oil leak is next to none in sand, unless you drive like a Dakar rally champions at 100 KM speed in the rocky terrain. If you as a driver is cautious on rocky terrain and drive slowly and sensibly you really don't need such heavy fabricated armour, it's simply an overkill and brainwashed with fabricated sales stories with 0.00001% scenarios. I have even climb Jabal jais (unpaved in olden days) and several other mountains and wadis with stock bash plate and never had any incident. All my incidents were purely based on my high speed stupidities where I supposed to slow down and I didn't. This is the car crushing games, I meant as a metaphor.

Thanks for your feedback. You got our objective, we want something effective not fancy. I just don't want to have a bad surprise with a massive oil lickage because i hit a rock or because I made a bad decision one the path. Do you think its relevant to pay around 1 000? Said in an other way do you think the risk is real or its just very unlikely? Can you explain what do you meant in this point @Gaurav? ''yes it increase the rigidity but if you are playing car crushing games.''

Few things to clarify for everyone: Original company bash plates are usually 2 mm thin, so upgrade to 6-8 mm is plenty. Fabrication houses love to bump to 10+ mm to increase price. It's simply an overkill, overpriced and heavy on nose. Installing metal frame behind is another new way of extracting more money, yes it increase the rigidity but if you are playing car crushing games. Even for rocks here in UAE it's of no use if you know how to drive. For sand they will make your car nose heavy and restrict your hill climb, marginally. Unless you intend to drive at extreme level, simple and lighter bash plate is more than enough. Make sure design you pick, have holes for ventilation but not so many that it weaken the strength or holes close to the border of the bash plate. Few equvi-distance hole in center is perfect.

Done, see you next time

@Mohamed Seidam Check your fuse box first to make sure which fuse is for traction and ABS. Pull that fuse and then check the errors on your dash, besides the traction and ABS errors there should be nothing else. Even when I installed it, the first time it was done it showed an error with 4 low so made them check again and figured there were 2 separate fuses that deactivated the traction and ABS, in addition, 1 also deactivated the 4 low. Before leaving the workshop, turn on of off everything that you do before the drive just to make sure no errors pop up.

please add me in wait list

@Lisa Pemberton, I think based on carnity regulation, I am not allowed to mention the name of Workshop but this is my mob. Number and I can share full information by WhatsApp. 0523918064 However, rear plate cost AED 450 and front frame+ plate cost AED 1,200

Thank you @Gaurav and @Frederic for the valuable comments and paying attention to the smallest detail regarding any rope recovery is very important in order to avoid or minimize the risk to the minimum and if occurs God forbidden to ensure damage is almost zero.

We started using additional rope support on every soft/medium/hard tugs. It cost additional 30 seconds but safeguard everyone life and expensive damage.