Gaurav

SE offroad than just SE are super rare here to find. SE offroad has better ground clearance in front due to no lower air dam, bash plate, off-road shocks and tow package (optional).

@yunus Kazi and @Baskaran P.R you have been added to this drive. Please confirm.

Well if its for only 1 or 2 person commute and offroad then you can look for mid-size or smaller 4x4 that will last you longer till higher levels of offroading. Because with these bigger, heavier 4x4 you will limit your off-roading capabilities to great extent very soon. Armada is good offroader if you already have one in family and take it out for spin, but not as a dedicated off-road toy for weekend dunes. Its roughly 110 hp/ton P/W ratio.

No it wont feel much different as per size, weight and power they are almost same to each other. Any specific reason why you are choosing Armada as a second vehicle when you already have LC200?

Congratulations @Niki Patel for reaching the Intermediate Level with Carnity Offroad Club. Looking forward to seeing you growing further and helping others to learn the art of offroading in a safe environment. Please make sure your Carnity user profile is always updated with all the latest Emergency contact details. P.S. Trip lead might deny your participation if you don't have required off-road gear. INTERMEDIATE Drives Attended (Indicative) Minimum 10 drives are required after fewbie promotion and within last 6 months. (Drives can be a mix of Newbie, Fewbie (50%) and 2 Fewbie plus, depending on your adaptability, learning progress and Marshal’s feedback) What you'll learn Basic GPS and navigational skills Basic tow rope and winch recoveries Extreme side sloping and long hill climb Tall dunes ridge riding and criss crossing Precise control over technical dunes Fast pace desert driving Clear radio communication skills Advance recovery skills Self recover from dune crest Soft sand recovery Pop-out fixing Skills required Adventurous and thrill seeker but in a safe manner Level headed under stressful situations Responsible, dependable and accountable Car Worthiness Capable 4x4 vehicle with low range gearing Suitable approach and departure angle High profile tires Off-road gear required Safety flag, tire deflator, tire pressure gauge, shovel, fire extinguisher, medical kit, radio (walkie-talkie), air compressor, tool kit, rated recovery rope and 2 rated shackles, GPS. Drive teamwork Manage center forward position with Trip Lead’s permission Learn/assist recoveries under Trip Lead’s supervision Re-route convoy and coordination, when needed Learn to lead small portion of Intermediate drive under Marshal supervision Drive Joining Join Newbie, Fewbie, Intermediate and Exploration drives only Forum participation Active participation on the forum Share drive experience + feedback Share drive pictures in the gallery Post trip report after the drive

Congratulations @Shehab Alawadhi for reaching the Intermediate Level with Carnity Offroad Club. Looking forward to seeing you growing further and helping others to learn the art of offroading in a safe environment. Please make sure your Carnity user profile is always updated with all the latest Emergency contact details. P.S. Trip lead might deny your participation if you don't have required off-road gear. INTERMEDIATE Drives Attended (Indicative) Minimum 10 drives are required after fewbie promotion and within last 6 months. (Drives can be a mix of Newbie, Fewbie (50%) and 2 Fewbie plus, depending on your adaptability, learning progress and Marshal’s feedback) What you'll learn Basic GPS and navigational skills Basic tow rope and winch recoveries Extreme side sloping and long hill climb Tall dunes ridge riding and criss crossing Precise control over technical dunes Fast pace desert driving Clear radio communication skills Advance recovery skills Self recover from dune crest Soft sand recovery Pop-out fixing Skills required Adventurous and thrill seeker but in a safe manner Level headed under stressful situations Responsible, dependable and accountable Car Worthiness Capable 4x4 vehicle with low range gearing Suitable approach and departure angle High profile tires Off-road gear required Safety flag, tire deflator, tire pressure gauge, shovel, fire extinguisher, medical kit, radio (walkie-talkie), air compressor, tool kit, rated recovery rope and 2 rated shackles, GPS. Drive teamwork Manage center forward position with Trip Lead’s permission Learn/assist recoveries under Trip Lead’s supervision Re-route convoy and coordination, when needed Learn to lead small portion of Intermediate drive under Marshal supervision Drive Joining Join Newbie, Fewbie, Intermediate and Exploration drives only Forum participation Active participation on the forum Share drive experience + feedback Share drive pictures in the gallery Post trip report after the drive

Welcome @Wadepat2 to Carnity and its off-road club. You will surely have loads of fun here depending on your appetite as you keep growing in ranks and asking for more and more. Sand offroading is totally different than rock or mountain trails and once you join the absolute newbie (we have one every Friday) drive you will understand that. These drives are designed for people who have never driven in sand before and it start with easy introduction to sand driving and then gradually head towards the dunes with an easy pace and lot of breathing time in between. For sand offroading diff-lockers are not must tbh, as much as they are critical for rock crawling. Over 90% vehicles in sand don't have rear diff-lock (let alone front) and still self-recover most of the time with help of LO gearing and central diff-lock. If you already have factory rear-difflock then it's a blessing in self-recovery. You really don't need front lockers for sand here, so you can save that money and decide to spend on other mod after your first few drives with stock LC100.

What @Srikumar mentioned here is the end of lower control arm that goes in sub-frame and not under the spring. When we have a tire pop out we cannot place Jack under the spring as tire is fully flat and expanded. Sub-frame is fully rated jacking point (please confirm), center to lift the whole car or left and right to lift one side. We prefer one side to put less stress on 2-ton jack within 50% of jack limit (to be safe). Just out of my mechanical curiosity, how will spring explode if jack fails? Isn't spring is seated behind the wheel hub and axle and secured from 3-4 points? I rem seeing guy changing my Pajero rear spring last year and he took good 30 minutes of unbolting all around to get spring out.

Thanks Niekku, in that case you can join this Absolute Newbie drive or any Newbie drive depending on your off-road gears availability. Absolute Newbie: Tire deflator, tire pressure gauge and compressor Newbie: Tire deflator, tire pressure gauge, air compressor, safety flag, shovel, fire extinguisher, medical kit, radio (walkie-talkie)

To stay completely unbiased to safeguard every Carnity member interest, we have restricted brand promotions and sharing of car business details here. As in past, many car businesses have motivated Carnity members to promote their brand and products by flooding meaningful discussions. Hence we have decided to stay focused on practical, relevant, and unbiased solutions, rather than the solution providers. Thank you for your understanding.

Hi @Hamad Al ahbabi, @Niekku, @Dan Abela, and @ARAGON Welcome to Carnity. If you plan to join the off-road drive on coming Friday, 2 April, then RSVP on this Absolute Newbie drive, which is mandatory for everyone for the first time with Carnity. PLEASE RSVP ON BELOW EVENT IN THE EVENT CALENDAR

Post 2005 Pathfinders are not bad, but not very good either as compare to R50 shape. You might spend some money in improvising its ground clearance and other minor issues. I personally haven't seen many of that shape pathfinder in UAE Desert, and few joined here too in the past but for short term only. If you have budget till 20K, then you can also search for Xterra (road driven), which are practically very good offroader and many offroaders here are driving it regularly without much trouble (in stock state). Why I mentioned SWB is to achieve a better power to weight ratio which is key in sand offroading for better climb capabilities, which will become your pain point in some LWB vehicle due to underpower power to weight ratio, especially in LWB Pajero and Prado.

Congratulations @Batuhan Kulac for reaching the Fewbie Level with Carnity Offroad Club. Looking forward to seeing you growing further and helping others to learn the art of offroading in a safe environment. Please make sure your Carnity user profile is always updated with all the latest Emergency contact details. P.S. Trip lead might deny your participation if you don't have required off-road gear. Fewbie: Drives Attended (Indicative) Minimum 5 Newbie drives are required within last 3 months for Fewbie promotion. What you'll learn Basic dune and sand reading Self-recovery techniques Shoveling at right place Crawling out of difficult situations Blip Blip - Coordinate steering and gas control Advance side sloping and hill climb Basic ridge riding and criss crossing Basic control over technical dunes Slightly faster pace desert driving Ability to manage stuck/refusals with radio Learn to control and avoid fishtailing Never fight or challenge gravity Skills required Enthusiastic and positive attitude Willingness to learn and help others Presence of mind and attention to detail Car Worthiness Any 4x4 vehicle with low range gearing Suitable approach and departure angle Off-road gear required Safety flag, tire deflator, tire pressure gauge, shovel, fire extinguisher, medical kit, radio (walkie-talkie), air compressor. Drive teamwork Manage second lead and sweep positions upon request Intuitive and proactive to support Trip Lead Observe recoveries and offer help, when needed Drive Joining Join Newbie and Fewbie drives And Fewbie Plus, after 5 drives at Fewbie level only Forum participation Active participation on the forum Share drive experience + feedback Share drive pictures in the gallery Post trip report after the drive

Indeed, 3.5 liter Pathfinder (R50 shape) until 2005 is far better, reliable and capable 4x4 and have good chance of buying a road driven vehicle easily. For Pajero avoid 2008 - 2011 model for gear upshifting issue. Gen 3 from 2001 - 2006/7 (I think) are pretty good. Prado will be tad expensive, but if you like them, they are awesome too but stick to VX (6 cyl model) and not GX (4 cyl). If this is your off-road toy then worth buying the SWB option in case you consider Pajero. Buying SWB in Prado VX will be extremely rare to find one and even super rare to find clean one.

I was the one who had a 2006 Nissan Patrol 4.5 liter SWB from 2008-2010 where I experience the above mentioned issue. Having said that, if your Patrol is 4.5 liter engine it will still have same bad gearing, but if its 4.8 liter then it's a different (good) gearing which can stretch 1st gear for higher speed. 4.5 liter bad gearing is indeed a dealbreaker as you will not be able to do any sort of long hill climb, which is quite essential for sand offroading. Even if you think now, that you can settle without it, but soon you will regret having a beast that cannot climb half of what other cars are doing. Been there, done that. Next anyone considering buying a Nissan Patrol should be 200% sure that it has not been abused, heavily modified and not extensively used for offroading. Patrols are famous for heavily abused or modified (engine wise), and once usable life is extracted, then they sell the shell patrol for road use only. If you buy such shell patrol, then for offroading you will be spending lot more money to bring it back to stock workable state. In short, make sure to get pre-buying inspection done from two different independent places to identify if that Patrol has been modified or used regularly in the desert. If it is, then simply walk away and search another.

Sorry Barry, you missed optical illusion on above pic that Zed, played, lollllllollololol. It's not the same car with same height. One without running board is highly lifted with bigger size (added lift) offroad aggressive tires (to look badass). @Zed removing these will not bring any difference in getting stuck or not, as its just outside the car what you see. What you don't see is under the car and that ground clearance limitation will remain same and that's what make you stuck or not depending on your skills, angle, approach, and the momentum. As far as I know RTA has no say with these (I think, not sure though).

Welcome back buddy, so good to hear from you and glad that you've decided to come back. Fuel has become like a stock ticker now so every fuel-up you go, roll the dice and fill up. Good luck with your new car place, hope it brings peace and happiness this time.

This route is really fantastic as it covers almost whole Sharjah sandbox in one drive. I'm sure with Velociraptor in front and Extreme level drivers, this gonna be an epic drive.

Leading a desert drive is the most amazing experience to have, where you can combine the fun, freedom, creativity, strategic thinking and survival skills all at once. Leaders lead is the drive where all participant of that drive will lead for a certain period of time. Backed with the right techniques, experience and supervision so that you can learn the art of leading with a peace of mind without any fear or pressure. Due to the basic experience required to read the sand and have basic navigational sense, this drive is only suited to the Advance level off-roaders. You will be learning the basics of leading the convoy in the desert in three different sessions: Advance sand reading, plan your lead, plan your exits. Use of navigational software for selecting the right course of path. How to systematically scale the lead for all the cars in the convoy. Level: Selective Advance only - @Nivin, @Islam Soliman, and @Nabil Bishara When: 2 April, Friday Meeting time: 3:00 PM, (Sharp, without any exceptions) Meeting Point: https://goo.gl/maps/PLc9YuWMhqKWShaJ9 (Mahafiz Tree Shade) Type of Car: Any proper 4x4 with front and back tow hooks and 8-10 inches of ground clearance. Approximate finish time: 7:00 PM Please RSVP on the below calendar:

This drive is organized in full compliance with the COVID19 guidelines. We expect every member that joins this drive to go through below information and and strictly follow these guidelines in order not to jeopardize someone's health, and to ensure we can keep organizing these drives safely. MUST READ AND TOTALLY AGREE: COVID19 Precautions MUST READ AND TOTALLY AGREE: BAN POST Two Way Radio Guidelines Every Offroader brings his own radio, programmed to the frequencies described in below advice topic. We will not share spare radios or program your radio on the drive. If you need assistance in programming the radio, post a topic on the Carnity website with your questions and we will help you out. Make sure your radio is fully charged. It will be your only way of communication while driving. Before buying, please carefully read below advice so you are informed properly on which model / cost / shops... No radio = No drive. It is an essential tool and you should make sure you bring it on every drive and learn/practice how to use it. MUST WATCH: NEWBIE VIDEO BRIEFING Drive Details Level: Newbie and Above (All Levels) When: 2 April 2021, Friday. Meeting time: 6:00 AM (SHARP - Without any exceptions) Meeting Point: Mahafiz Tree Shade - https://goo.gl/maps/eB2tZAf8mTpmawxh6 Type of Car: Any proper 4x4 with front and back tow hooks and 8-10 inches of ground clearance. What to bring along: Loads of water, snacks (for yourself), smiles, face mask, rubber gloves, enthusiasm, willingness to learn and your own compressor for tyre inflation. Approximate finish time: 10:00 AM LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE: Limited to 12 cars only. RSVP will close on Thursday - 9 AM. If the RSVP is full and you wish to join, please mention your name on the drive thread to add on the waiting list. Latecomers will be returned back - without ANY EXCEPTIONS. Members without RSVP will be returned back - without ANY EXCEPTIONS. Please withdraw your RSVP, if you aren't joining, so your spot can be taken by others. Repeated no-show members after RSVP will have their account suspended for a month. PLEASE RSVP ON THE BELOW CALENDAR EVENT

Usually it's not needed, but in case of serious repetitive mistakes caused by distractions, not adhering to trip lead instructions, lack of communication definitely demands the clearance of red flag raised by the same trip lead. Hope you understand the bigger concern we have with every promotion is to keep you and all other safe, at all times.

Congratulations @Kailas for reaching the Expert Level with Carnity Offroad Club. Looking forward to seeing you growing further and helping others to learn the art of offroading in a safe environment. Please make sure your Carnity user profile is always updated with all the latest Emergency contact details. EXPERT - Carnity Exclusivity Carnity Benefits Off-road Certification with rank and skills achieved Full access to Carnity without any paid subscription Join any drive in “Manage” tab even when drive is full Carnity Contribution Committed to drive with Carnity off-road club only Lead/Support: 3 drives or more per month at least Forum contribution to earn Carnity points Drives Attended (Indicative) Minimum 10 drives are required for Expert promotion along with mandatory attendance to leaders lead drives. (Promotion will be based on Marshal / Crew feedback.) What you'll learn Navigating with or without GPS on the fly Trip planning, safety exits and recce skills Basic firefighting and first aid techniques Basic knowledge of car and overheating issues Minimal response to vehicle breakdown and accidents Skills required Resilient, calculative and rational thinker Self-reliance, positive attitude and forward thinking Kind, selfless and considerate to other’s concerns Car Worthiness Capable 4x4 vehicle with low range gearing Suitable approach and departure angle High profile tires Off-road gear required Safety flag, tire deflator, tire pressure gauge, shovel, fire extinguisher, medical kit, radio (walkie-talkie), air compressor, tool kit, rated recovery rope and 2 rated shackles, GPS, Floor jack and jack board, tire repair kit, tool box, tie-down straps, fluids. Drive teamwork Lead Fewbie or Intermediate drive with Marshal permission Inspect vehicle for safety before the off-road drive Support Marshal to learn 1:1 Desert Driving Course Drive Joining All Levels Forum participation Active participation on the forum Share drive experience + feedback Share drive pictures in the gallery Post trip report after the drive

Congratulations @Kenneth Bollhardt for reaching the Fewbie Level with Carnity Offroad Club. Looking forward to seeing you growing further and helping others to learn the art of offroading in a safe environment. Please make sure your Carnity user profile is always updated with all the latest Emergency contact details. P.S. Trip lead might deny your participation if you don't have required off-road gear. Fewbie: Drives Attended (Indicative) Minimum 5 Newbie drives are required within last 3 months for Fewbie promotion. What you'll learn Basic dune and sand reading Self-recovery techniques Shoveling at right place Crawling out of difficult situations Blip Blip - Coordinate steering and gas control Advance side sloping and hill climb Basic ridge riding and criss crossing Basic control over technical dunes Slightly faster pace desert driving Ability to manage stuck/refusals with radio Learn to control and avoid fishtailing Never fight or challenge gravity Skills required Enthusiastic and positive attitude Willingness to learn and help others Presence of mind and attention to detail Car Worthiness Any 4x4 vehicle with low range gearing Suitable approach and departure angle Off-road gear required Safety flag, tire deflator, tire pressure gauge, shovel, fire extinguisher, medical kit, radio (walkie-talkie), air compressor. Drive teamwork Manage second lead and sweep positions upon request Intuitive and proactive to support Trip Lead Observe recoveries and offer help, when needed Drive Joining Join Newbie and Fewbie drives And Fewbie Plus, after 5 drives at Fewbie level only Forum participation Active participation on the forum Share drive experience + feedback Share drive pictures in the gallery Post trip report after the drive