Leaderboard

Dear @Hisham Masaad @munkybizness @Aisha S @Abdul Rafay-S @Looper @S Jacob @Naveen Raj, It was a great pleasure to lead the drive with such a nice convoy where everyone performed very well given the challenges of the terrain and the pace. I was expecting and prepared for lots of refusal and stuck which actually did not happen and instead i got most of the refusal and stuck 😜. It was great to see the team spirit and i really like the fact that you were not shy at all to get your shovel and offered to help. I am very thankful to @Hisham Masaad, under his assistance and support all recoveries were done within minutes. It was reassuring having @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ in the drive and thank you for your help. @Naveen Raj had the most challenging job as second lead on this drive which he did successfully by staying focussed all the time and taking necessary action whenever need. Well done and i am even more impressed knowing that your Pajero actually has a 3.0L engine. @munkybizness and @Looper, other than being fantastic drivers and team players, thank you so much for making such a descriptive drive report and statistics covering the trip. I really appreciated it👏.. Looking forward to see you in another drive, take care.

Receiving your report @Anish Snow, reminded me that I did not post any thing about the drive. And after all what said, I have nothing more to add, except thank you very much for the drive, and thank you @Naveen Raj @S Jacob @Aisha S @munkybizness @Abdul Rafay-S @Looper @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQfor joining and supporting. As I mentioned during exiting the drive, all has done a fantastic job, driving and supporting. Look forward to see you again in sand

@munkybizness for the best sound performance , do not forget to add sound deadening material on the inner sides of doors - which inturn make the door compartment in effect a sound box rather than a rattle box Enjoy and have fun

Congrats @Damien Ranjit. Well done

Curved is always better to squeeze flood and spot in one bar.

I've been told the same and have seen already a couple more Y61s with Squadron Pros installed as fog lights. In my case I've used them only while driving on sand, the spread and intensity are just right. The headlamps is another story, the bulbs I installed deliver a clear white light, which I use only as low beam while on the road. Check this chart from Philips https://www.philips.ae/c-e/au/car-lights/headlight-bulbs/led-headlight-bulb. You can find the LED bulbs in any car accessory shop, Philips or any other brand, they will install them on the spot for you.

Hi, for what it helps, this is what I did in my Y61: replaced the stock fog lights with Baja Design Squadron Pro Round, with amber lenses to help cut through dust and fog (https://www.bajadesigns.com/products/squadron-r-pro-led-wide-cornering-amber.asp), and I replaced the headlight bulbs with LED lights. This set up so far provides a good light source whilst driving. I had four X-Vision flood lights mounted in the bumper, but have now removed them as I suspect they were blocking airflow into the cooling systems. Two of those X-Vision were relocated as cornering lights, but I feel amber lights will work better. In future I plan to have installed STP heat shield, which I understand doubles as sound proofing. *** Edit: just added two pictures so you can see the lights. The four smaller white lights in the bumper were removed for the same reason @Gaurav mentioned in his comment.

For many offroaders, navigation looks like a scary thing, and finding your way in the desert used to be a daunting task with old obsolete maps, navigation with sun or stars, and many other old tricks of crossing the deserts. Until 5-6 years ago, companies like TomTom and Garmin were ruling the navigation software and hardware, until our phones became smarter and smarter, and nowadays there are tons of free or paid navigation software programs available which are tailored for hiking, offroading, cycling, or other outdoor activities where you would like to record your tracks. In this post i will give some basic essential advice on how to get started with navigating by using GaiaGPS, which is an amazing app that allows you to: 1) Create routes at home via your desktop/tablet through the GaiaGPS website. 2) Use different types of maps like topographic maps, sattelite maps, to find your perfect route you'd like to explore. 3) Save and manage all your tracks, waypoints, areas. 4) Automatically sync all this data with the GaiaGPS Mobile App that is being used to record your track or follow the route you have created beforehand. 1) Registering for GaiaGPS account https://www.gaiagps.com/membership/ You can choose for a FREE account, which works fine for basic topographic and sattelite maps, but will not allow to use them offline. The PREMIUM membership is recommended for around 3.3 USD per month. Once you have become a member, you can head over to Gaiagps.com, login with your account name, and have a look at the basic functionalities. I've posted a short video below that gives a small demo on how to use the GaiaGPS website functionalities. As you can see in the screen, there are many tracks i've recorded with my phone that remain saved in the website. You can remove these, or hide them. The red zones i have marked are called "areas" where you can identify tricky areas that you would like to avoid. They will appear on your phone app as well so you can easily avoid them. Waypoints Waypoint, or pins, could be points of interest, landmarks, entry and exit points, or any place where you want to mark the location and save for later reference. They will appear as a "pin" on your map. You can assign a color to them as you like. This might be useful as you can categorize them. Next to the classic PIN icon, you can choose different other ones, like fences, skulls, forest, or anything that will help you in identifying the waypoint. Sattelite Images Having crisp detail in the sattelite images you are looking, is essential so you can create a route which focuses on the nice bigger dunes instead of the small technical or bushy areas. Gaia comes standard with the Mapbox "Sattelite with Labels" Imagery which is not bad, but the best one i have found so far is the ESRI Sattelite Imagery Map. Below you will find some information on how to add custom maps. The map called "WORLD IMAGERY" in the Premium version is the same as the ESRI Sattelite Imagery Map. Which phone ? Gaia GPS will work on any smartphone that has a decent GPS antenna built-in. In my case i purchased a separate dedicated Android phone which is mounted in my car that i solely use for navigation. This allows me to keep using my own phone as backup device. That dedicated phone has the offline maps downloaded on it, so i do not need cellphone coverage (no sim card). App functionality On an Iphone, this is how the app looks like. The buttons like "RECORD" and "PICTURE" are customizable, and by keeping your finger on it you can select something else you would like to see on the home page. The Magnifying Glass allows you to enter coordinates. You can copy them from within Google Maps. this button toggles between full screen or normal screen. The crosshair button is very important. Click on it once and it will appear green and bring you to your live location and follow you while keeping NORTH up. Click on it again and another logo appears, looking like two reversed triangles. This is the mode that keeps your live location but constantly rotates the map based on your direction. You can experiment with both modes to see what suits you best. I like to stick to the first mode because it allows me to see in which compass direction i am heading. The + Button contains all your other useful functionalities, like adding a waypoint, creating a route, download an offline map, or create an area. Once you hit the record button, the app will start recording your track. Once you finish, click again on it and select "Finish Track" It will then be saved. (and also appear on your GaiaGPS website once you have synced). On the bottom, you can see your trip details, open the list of saved tracks, or go to your settings. Note: In the settings you can put your units/distances in miles or kilometers (whatever you prefer). You can also enable or disable the autosync function, but better to keep it on. So as soon as you have Wifi/Internet on your phone it will automatically sync your tracks between the app and your GaiaGPS account (website). These things will take a bit of practice, and i can recommend you to use your Gaia mobile app for a while on your daily commute, and experiment a bit with the settings until you have tailored it to your own needs. Exporting Maps Most navigation software use .gpx or .kml files which you can import in Google Earth / Maps or any other navigation program. On the GaiaGPS website, and also on the app you can choose to "export" your track. It will create a .GPX file that you can share with fellow offroaders or import in the Relive app Adding Custom Maps for the GaiaGps app users, the Google Maps like Satellite, Terrain, or Hybrid, are not standard built in, but can easily be added by using the GaiaGps website. This is the procedure to add for example Google Terrain. 1) While logged into Gaiagps.com, add a custom map source via TMS here: https://www.gaiagps.com/mapsource/add/ 2) Fill in this TMS URL to get Google Terrain: https://mt0.google.com/vt/lyrs=p&hl=en&x={x}&y={y}&z={z}&s=Ga 3) Give it the name "Google Terrain" 4) Set the Min and Max Zoom level on 4 and 19. 5) Click on "Add this Map Source" The next time you will login it will appear in your mobile app. Some other map links. To add them, follow the same steps as above: Google Maps: https://mt1.google.com/vt/lyrs=r&x={x}&y={y}&z={z} Google Satellite:https://www.google.cn/maps/vt?lyrs=s@189&gl=cn&x={x}&y={y}&z={z} Google Satellite Hybrid:https://mt1.google.com/vt/lyrs=y&x={x}&y={y}&z={z} Google Terrain:https://mt1.google.com/vt/lyrs=t&x={x}&y={y}&z={z} Google Roads:https://mt1.google.com/vt/lyrs=h&x={x}&y={y}&z={z} ESRI Sattelite Imagery:https://server.arcgisonline.com/ArcGIS/rest/services/World_Imagery/MapServer/tile/{z}/{y}/{x}

Congrats @Damien Ranjit. Well done!!

Thanks @Islam Soliman looking good for the weekend, not long now!!

Awesome! I love the purity of your Y61 🤩

My instagram is Abu_Tizou the pics will be on there once it’s done I’m sure and the suspension is on. . Feel free to follow

@munkybiznessthey fit I’m getting them put in Thursday with a couple of Baja design spots also

@Adam James congratulations !!

This is the one I am looking for be it day or night drive . It’s possible when you have a lead like @Anish S and a sweep looping when in need like @Looper 😄

wow - you will genuinely make the most of this investment knowing you are holding a library in true lossless quality. The ground Zero Amp with DSP is awesome and i just wish i went that route (it wasn't available in the store so guess what - they didn't even mention it as an option). Ground Zero was sourced locally (drop me a whatsapp and i'll share the supplier 0551092859). That said, it is painfully obvious in the UAE you only get advice and info on what they have ready to sell you... so this store is back to holding Rockford and Hertz so are pushing that (all are great however reinforces the value of you doing your own research!) My opinion - please wait for the headunit that you genuinely want... even if its 6 months on the stock feeding the amp etc... its better to just get it right vs changing multiple times or having any regrets, especially seeing the care you take to go lossless and research the right setup. @Frederic is genuinely the audio guru with competition grade setups in his youth so once he's back from holidays def catch some time with him to go through specs/designs. ps. for my sins i was a student in the late 90s so trance and apache indian is in my library but i can longer move as fast so tastes have changed to match my pace!

@munkybizness this is my cell 0554045278 feel free to what’s app me so I can send a short night clip so you can see how lights work in the dark , but there will be no strobing 🤣

@topgear I purchased the H4 size pro5000 there is an even brighter set, the pro9000k however I couldn’t find out if these are street legal in UAE so didn’t gamble. If they are, these would be a better option. 100% you will benefit from these when doing a night drive … all the advice given by the marshalls was spot on, in that if you are mid convoy you really don’t need additional lights … bumping up the weak stock headlights works perfect!

Thanks @Gaurav for bringing me into this conversation…. I now have stereo envy … Hey @munkybizness I have to say you are making the best first mods … audio! We spend longer on tarmac than the dunes and being able to enjoy our music makes every journey better! Apache Indian and trance music… I am personally grateful I am not your passenger 🤣 but that’s for a different thread (the Spotify play list discussion). I went the path of Ground Zero products (speakers and amp). These are not in the same pedigree of Hertz … and that’s why I have envy! You have put together a great set of options and the fact you have a sensible budget for sound deadening is testimony to good research! The y61 is basic by design and the sound deadening is critical! I decided against a subwoofer even though I love bass! So I went with the largest mid range component set up that would fit the door so put in 8” in the fronts and was only able to fit 4” in the rear! If you likewise will not have a sub, do consider sizing a pair of your speakers slightly larger to offer a nice level of bass. Also a 4 channel amp is ideal as if you add a sub later on a seperate amp is easy and recommended. a seperate GPS module is potentially overkill but not an expensive add and I have one in the FJ! That said I use the phone via CarPlay to run Gaia and never have lost signal … I don’t use it to navigate yet as am just following the car in front and blindly trust the marshalls 🤣 .. so if you are genuinely navigating yourself then I would add the gps module from garmin! Headunits, I wouldn’t have previously classed pioneer above alpine/kenwood/Sony for headunits .. I have typically considered them equals. However I didn’t spend time researching actual headunit as stuck with the built in unit (not out of choice). Wireless Apple CarPlay is desirable but if not an option a 500aed add on achieves the same (avoid Amazon options and I will share details if you need that later). I would avoid a headunit that project out of the dash for exactly what @Gaurav warned about - sand etc! When the weather improves and we drive with the window down, sand will get everywhere and it’s impact is real to our electronics etc.. I like your midrange option above- top end is wasted for our desert cruisers in my opinion. If you consider a larger component setup for the fronts to bring you a decent amount of bass without a sub! You have an enviable setup! As for lights … I personally decided to wait even longer and just changed the weak standard bulbs to some high powered philips ones and get a decent spread when in the middle of the convoy! I sneak in behind or in front of @Alex Raptor or @Lakshmi Narasimhan in any convoy and you are not short of light pollution … they both throw out 20-30k of lumins for fun!

Got it! Would a straight lightbar be enough, or is it better to put in a curved bar to follow the curvature of the bumper?

I did the same but for me there was no cutting involved. There was number plate bracket i removed it completely and stick number plate to the bumper. this is the switch panel. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08BLB7F3G/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Thank you Thank you

Congrats @Damien Ranjit, another R51 on sands!

Congrats @Adam James

@Damien RanjitCongratulations!

Congrats @Damien Ranjit

Thanks mate

Congrats @Damien Ranjit

Congratulations @Damien Ranjit! You're going to be amazing in the Fewbie drives. See you there

Thanks @Anish S and @Hisham Masaad for another exciting drive today morning… Though I missed the high dunes and the play areas from our last week’s drive, this terrain threw in different set of challenges with inconsistent soft n hard patches and the vegetation (got the opportunity to field test my new bash plate)… the drive was a different learning experience.. @munkybizness: Excellent drive writeup… @Looper yes.. even i felt i shud hv steered it better and had better throttle control to avoid digging in, as I thought about it later.. anyways now hv a better hang of it, lesson learned for my next refusal opportunity….the SWB definitely offered the advantage of better pwr to weight ratio..

As I spend more time in my Y61 SS LWB, a few things are beginning to ramp up on the modification list. My intention is to leave most elements as stock as I don't believe I'm nearly good enough yet to be exploiting the full range of this car's capabilities. So far, I've only added a front skid plate and recovery points. Furthermore, I am building my car up to be an overlander - part of the reason why I bought a LWB. With that in mind, I'm not touching suspension or tires at this time. These will definitely come when my wadi crawling become more continuous. My current two areas for upgrades are the Lighting and Head Unit + Sound System. LIGHTING For the Lighting, after listening to a a roof-mounted light bar on the highway (pretty much every road in Dubai), I'm steering towards putting in to two (2) x Spotlights on the front bumper. Ideally, 7inch maximum as I find the 9inch units to be too big for the front fascia. On the A-pillar, I'm looking to mount one spot+flood combo light each. So here comes the first question - would you folks recommend going for Amber lights in both or White lights with Amber covers? I see the value of Ambers for dusty driving but so far in my night drives, I've only seen very dusty conditions when covering flat patches. Otherwise, the sand seems to settle very quickly after being flung about by the cars in front. The last area that I'm struggling to pin down is if I want rocker switches or an sPOD. The shops tell me that I can program multiple levels of the lights across low beam, high beam + strobe (for that trance party I will be hosting in Liwa). But wanted to get a view on what the consensus is around running On/Off switches vs a programmable pod? HEAD UNIT + SOUND The current Clarion Head Unit in the Patrol comes out of Malaysia but no matter how hard I look, I can't find firmware updates for it. The system settings say that its BT version is 0.9 which is quite literally Gen 1 and head units today are pushing BT 5.0. This head unit has a notorious skipping problem with BT where I feel like a wannabe DJ... Has anybody here done upgrades on their head units? Do you have recommendations? I would like to install a double DIN unit and not bigger than 7 inches so it's not floating out of the space. Furthermore, with the semiconductor chip shortages, finding Pioneer head units in the market has been extremely challenging. I've found similar units in the US. Are these universal and can I just have it shipped over and install it here? The second reason I would like to use an upgraded head unit is to use CarPlay and run Gaia on the larger screen than my mounted phone. Here, I'm also planning to add a Garmin GLO or a Dual XGPS160 to augment the GPS/GLONASS signals coming in. Is this overkill, or have your phones + offline maps been reliable enough? For the sound system, there are quite a few upgrades available in the market across the spectrum with Kenwoods & Alpines at the lower end to Hertz & Focal at the higher end. The latter also require increased dampening, and an additional amplifier. I have sourced an internal A-pillar with a tweeter cutout so building a component here is ideally the way forward for me.

Congrats @Adam James. Well done !!

@Santoso Marjuki thanks for signing up to the drive, however, it looks to me like you did not yet complete an absolute newbie drive that is a prerequisite to being able to sign up to any other drive. Here is a link to that drive this week. If you sign up to this I look forward to seeing you on future drives. I will as a result sign you out of this drive.

Thank you for directing me to the source! Will look these up. I think the Whitevision Ultras seem to be the clear white light for the Patrol. Will enquire about them or similar profiles.

I would say mount it on top of bumper, as small opening in bumper is mostly needed to cool radiator or air cooled tranny cooler. These slim LED bars can perfectly sit above and also little more far away from impact zone.

hey @munkybizness The most powerful light i have it is on my front bumper. its 21 inch latest LED laser technology by Tobies its much slimmer than the older version and its much brighter as well. also i have installed 2 amber lights inside front grill with some modification and 2 side shooters on the hood and 1 small light at rear roof. These are not expensive lights, but it does the job and im happy with performance.

Got scared when accidentally did this on the highway 🤭 luckily no cups were around 🤪🤣

Hi I personally chosen the option of bumper LED bar and side shooters mixed white spot and amber at the periphery ( see my profile pict 😄) also like that 👇 ( pict curtesy @Anish S ) so far I am so happy with it on night drives and no sounds on high ways both I purchased it via Amazon

You know it... 😎😎😎

Hi @Wrangeld, is the drive of Thursday or Friday?

@Adam JamesCongratulations!

Congrats @Adam James

Thank you all. Looking for the next level of challenges.

Congrats @Adam James!

congratulations @Damien Ranjit well done

To criss cross, the most important is the technique: The approach angle to the ridge, getting your self parallel to the ridge, ridding it and then crossing over. In my opinion, this can be done in most dunes if the basics are followed, unless ofcourse if there are rocks on the other side. But that's the risk the Lead takes. The Lead also keeps in mind the convoy level that is driving behind and whether everyone would be able to do it safely. On bigger and taller dunes, in addition to the possible fear factor one should do it with the least amount of indecisiveness. If you are at the middle or the back of the convoy, you need to trust that if the cars in front have done it, I can do the same.

@Frederic I totally agree with you. Was wondering if we can have a training /demo on how to use the Gaia maps . I am sorry if my request is very naive but it would be great to learn from someone who has already mastered it.

Great - I learned my map navigation in the army, about a 1000 years before GPS was invented (I think the first compass just came out!). So love topo maps. With my premium account I try to overlay Topo on top of Sat, but visibility is crap. Maybe I will glue a 52” screen to my Xterra dashboard and pair it with my phone?

Absolutely Fantastic efforts put together by @Frederic, this is real gold mine for many offroaders here. Especially to our new leaders in making, please invest some time and get familiar with this app, as MotionX (my fav) is slowly fading off and on the verge of getting discontinued. @sertac @Chaitanya D @Kalahari @Tbone @Brette @Vanessa8580 start using this app and start getting familiar, as from second leaders lead drive you will be required to do planning and leading with navigation app or stand alone satnav (if you prefer). Feel free to post your questions here, so that everyone can learn together.

It's been a while since I posted anything online about IronHide. Yes.. I named my truck after an AutoBot and its not a GM vehicle. I could go on how the original IronHide wasn't a GM vehicle and was based on a Dodge Wagon / SUV, but that is not what this is about.. It's been 4 years since I have had my vehicle and its currently done just over 75,000 kms. The notion of owning a pickup truck seems rather agricultural or signs that you are a someone who uses his vehicle to haul stuff. You would rarely think of a pickup truck being a family oriented vehicle. But nevertheless, looking at what the modern pickup truck has become you would do well to give them a second glance. Noticing the number of large SUVs on the roads of Dubai, you get the notion that having a big vehicle is pretty much a status symbol as well as a necessity if you have a large family. But to be honest, most people in Dubai do not need anything more than a 5 seater. Initially when I was in the market for a new car, I was hesitant in choosing a large American pickup truck. But now that I have had it for 4 years, I'm very glad that I did. Those interested in seeing how I made my choice of a pickup vs a sedan, please click links below: This is Dodge Good Bye Alfa - Ford or Dodge Hello IronHide The biggest caveat of purchasing a brand new vehicle in Dubai is trying to keep the paintwork as prestine as for as long as possible. Truth is you cannot stop the actions of the "inconsiderate idiot". You know this type.. he/she is the one that parks so close to your vehicle in a parking lot and "rams" their door into your's whilst trying to get in or out. I even had infuriating encounter where the person peeped into my car, looked at my face and then proceed to vandalize my vehicle. I can only explain it as he was making sure that I wasn't an Emirati or a European / Western expat. Forget confronting such people.. They would easily dismiss you with, "So?... This is Dubai... It is normal." However watch such people make a huge fuss when the same is done in return to their vehicle. Mind you, I still treat another's vehicle with respect; regardless of who they are. But I guess it is pointless to expect the same in return. After a couple more dents were made to the paintwork, and I had my first accident with the truck, I gave up trying or caring. Now I just try to maintain it the best I can and find the grace to ignore what I can control. Getting into the technical aspects of the truck: Ram 1500 SLT, 2014 4x4 5.7 ltr V8 HEMI with MDS (Multi-Displacement System), 8 Speed Gearbox CrewCab configuration with a shortbed 5 link multicoil suspension At the time of purchasing the truck, the SLT package comes with the cloth seats as well as the 8.4" display in the center. Rosella from Trading enterprises was exceptionally helpful in the whole buying experience and I can't thank her enough. It is amazing to think that I entered the showroom with the intent of buying a Charger or a Durango and came out with something better.. IMO. While I can praise the sales team of Trading Enterprises, I can't exactly say much of the same for the staff in the service center. With the exception of a two individuals who have been exceptional brilliant in handling my agency services, I can't say much about the rest. There are certainly things that I would like to see improve with the service centers here; for all the agencies, not just Trading Enterprises. However I will say one thing, dealing with Trading Enterprises is far better than with Toyota's service center. Getting back to the truck, in the 4 years, nothing has gone wrong yet nor has skipped a beat. Everything works well. The rotary style shifter takes some getting used to initially, but it quickly becomes second nature after a while. After two months with the truck, I drove my brother's Camry and kept putting air conditioning up while trying to reverse into a parking space. The gearbox in the Ram is excellent and has really smooth shifts. I have been informed that it is the same 8 speed that is in the Rolls Royce Phantom. Having said that, I do notice a slight jerk as the vehicle comes to a halt; as the autobox changes down from 3rd - 2nd - 1st. Looking through the online forums you do notice that this is a common minor annoyance with the 1st generation 8 speed boxes and is nothing major to complain about. There are fixes and I will be looking into it. Another common flaw in the design of the Ram comes from the seals around the 3rd brake light on the back of the cab. Those in wetter climates will notice their headliners will start to stain as it retains water. The seals are exceptionally tiny for what it should be and do a pretty bad job keeping out the water. Ram isn't the only truck with this flaw. This has been noticed among Fords and the GM trucks as well. The sad thing is that though this is known as a common fault, it has not been attended to by FCA at all, even amongst the new 2018 models. So my suggestion to anyone buying a Ram truck anywhere, please do follow the instructions in the link below as soon as you take delivery. It won't void your warranty and actually will save you a lot of grief. 3rd Brake light fix In the city, parking is pretty much the Achilles heel of the Ram or any large vehicle. You would think that in a city with a large numbers of SUVs around, malls would be more accommodating, but that isn't the case. Some places you go, you struggle to find a sport large enough. Even the standard size length of the parking bays slots are not long enough at times. You need to take that into consideration wherever you go in the city. Having said that, I haven't been too inconvenienced to concede that the Ram is a poor purchase. On the road, the truck is never wanting for power; especially given the size and weight. The engine is smooth and immediate. Anyone who has driven a Dodge with the current Magnum Block HEMIs will find the experience quite similar. The on-road manners of the Ram is certainly better than the other pickup trucks. Sure, the Ram is no sports sedan like its FCA stable mates (Charger, 300C), but the 5 link coil suspension is a certainly a testament to its on-road performance. Ram is the 1st and to my knowledge, the only one that does use coils in the rear of its trucks and also the online one to offer air-suspension as an option. Other manufacturers still use leaf-springs. Certainly leaf-springs are more hardwearing and "old-school", but the coils do a far better job in keeping the Ram stable during heavy cornering. The air-suspension wasn't an option when I was purchasing the Ram and came into the region later with the Ram Rebel. I certainly would have liked to have it, but again comes the age old argument, "less complicated, less to go wrong later on." Certainly is true. With the current coil setup, it is easier upgrading later on for better off-road capability. Talking about Off-road, I can't say much as my experience is limited. However the brief instances over soft sandy patches near Al Qudra proved extremely easy for the Ram. The just glided over it easily. I am sure that I would have gotten better performance if I had aired down the tires, but being my 1st off-roading experience, with no one else around, I didn't have an issue. I got stuck one, reversed out and then the truck plowed through with ease after. Ever since, I have been educating myself on the off-roading dos and don'ts. I have nothing but good things to say about the 8" infotainment system. The Uconnect system is by far considered the best of all the factory infotainment systems out there. Adding to it is a screen which is far more responsive than anything that I've experienced with Ford's Sync, etc. Certainly leaps ahead of Toyota's standard system. Having said that, it would have been nice to get something with navigation or the current generation Uconnect that gives me Apple CarPlay. As I understand it, my current unit cannot be upgraded to the latest software release. Now to the business end of the truck. I can't express enough of how good it is to have a dedicated cargo area. Sure unlike those Hilux trucks you see around with rails and cages attached to their beds, my carrying capacity in terms of large volume items is slightly limited, but the bed has come in handy more times than I can count. Feels good when you go to IKEA and they offer to have stuff delivered by pickup and you say, "No need... I've got a truck." One of the amazing things about a pickup truck is how interchangeable the parts are with each in the model range. For instance, I can easily purchase bumpers of the 2017 Ram Rebel and put them on my truck. That should give the Ram a bit more clearance for off-roading. To add, all of this can be done in a parking lot or drive way; using a set of hand tools and the help of a couple of friends. If you read my articles linked above, you will notice that I mentioned there is a huge aftermarket supply for the Ram and other pickups in general. Certainly the Chevrolet and Ford vehicles have bigger aftermarket support. I guess that probably shows that those trucks need more improving over the stock than my Ram... (just my little joke).. 😄 That aftermarket supply is one of the reasons that I went for the truck over the sedan. This bring me to my next point. Another advantage of a pickup over most other vehicles. Pickups don't change their shape often and for the most part, they don't age. You can look at a tastefully modded '98 truck and it still looks modern and cool. Of course, looking at the new 2019 Ram 1500s coming in later this year and next year, I am tempted to trade in for a newer model. Certainly the new 12" tesla style screen of the new Ram will be a treat to have as well as the host of other features and improvements. But seeing that Ram will still be selling the current 4th Generation 1500 as a "Classic" for 2019 onwards, shows that still there is demand and it has been one of FCA's best and sought after models. I have a feeling the 4th Generation Ram will go the way of Toyota's own 76 - 79 Land Cruisers & Nissan's Patrol Super Safaris... You still see these older models being sold as brand new production vehicles. The reason is that people still love them and want the old school off road look. So those who are serious off roaders might prefer to have a 4th Gen Power Wagon over a 5th Gen luxury truck. I could go on and on what a great purchase this truck has been so far. Can't have too much of a good thing? Then you haven't yet tried the 4th generation Ram 1500.