Gaurav

Rahim bhai as we always say, that everyone should bring their breakfast and little extra to share. Yesterday was a living proof that God blessed our table with plenty of choices and good quantity irrespective of your contribution, community always win. Secondly It's eating together and sharing each other food brings us closer to extend our trust on each other in most grueling and unforgiving terrain.

I am not that technically well versed with TPS diagnosis, and I shared what happened and cured my stalling and dancing RPM with change of ICV. @Barry, @treks and @shadow79 can you please advise further on above situation....?

Today was my dream come true moment, as I always wish to have / conduct proper desert driving training. I have been in UAE off-road circuit for over 10 years and never seen any group / club delivering this and I always felt a big gap to fill this in. Many thanks to @Rahimdad for supporting and helping develop this idea, content and experience from grass root level in designing the structure to deliver the content with practical knowledge and research. Thanks for sharing the same vision. I was so glad, when in end every one of you walked up to me saying that you have learned something new today and appreciated all the efforts. This willingness to learn is something very much required in off-road driving and one should never feel or think that they know it all. We had total of 11 cars from 2.0 liter Rav4 to 4.8 liter Patrol and Ford Explorer, very good mix of different vehicles. We started the session almost on time and kick-off with the theory lesson at briefing point to touch the essential topics and explain the reasoning behind. Almost all topics has some valid question from the members, which shows the willingness to learn and knowledge sharing. From deflation point until way point 2 for 4-5 kms we all drove in 2WD, just to break the myth that one should always engage 4WD while in off-road. This toggling from 2WD - 4WD extends the vehicle life as we drive in high stress climate, so this periodic switching help relaxing the car engine and transmission load. Second session involve the driving on side slope through connecting / rolling dunes and mastering the perfect throttle control to not to get stuck or dig in. With very few stuck and refusal everyone did great and soon they graduated to learn another trick of climbing the step-dunes with mix of fast and slow throttle response. Third session after the breakfast was shoveling a fully crested car on sharp blade and recover without towing, the amount of exercise this task offered, I think everyone must have lost good amount calories to justify their Friday gym break. After the tiring part, everyone enjoyed the 2WD fun doing donuts and drifting in a very organized and controlled manner. I was surprise to see even the AWD driver (Jason - Grand cherokee and Saleem -Rav4) could manage to splash some good amount of sand. Fourth session added some real adrenaline pumping, when we start doing tall dunes ridge riding and steep falls. Everyone did very well and all my experiments kept increasing the notch little by little. At end of this session everyone had a big smile and conquering expression (priceless). As per the amount of content of this training, I think it's better to split this in two drives, as we missed out on some crucial session (practical and theory) that we will continue in next training drive. Thanks everyone for bringing awesome selection of breakfast, drinks, stories and smiles. Last but not least, thanks everyone for waking up so early on Friday morning and also for coming from Abu Dhabi (Asif). I really love to hear an individual feedback on this training (good / bad), so that we can optimize and keep it engaging.

Although bit strange, but nothing to worry. Drive for few days with screw adjustment until ICV re-learn and then slowly release RPM adjuster completely. May be it's just taking longer in your case or I don't remember 100% on how long it took in my case as this is not my daily driver. Is engine idle rpm (on neutral) has stabilized than before or not? Mine is like stand still at 900ish once fully warm and when on D it drops to 600ish (like it should). Is your engine stalling or RPM fluctuating (dancing) at all now?

Hahahah, don't worry it's a very versatile area for newbie - fewbie that offers plenty of different terrain for practice.

Alright guys, looks like we already have full house turn out now. This shows that we have enough car enthusiast's who have been bitten with sand bug in the past and want to graduate their skills further. And I'm equally excited as every one of you. This desert training is always a kind of wish list training for me and Rahim bhai, that we wish someone has done it for us when we were learning and new in desert. We could have learn and understood the stuff faster in one or two drive than learning from our failures over multiple drives. And I strongly urge and request everyone to learn and pass on same in the future to help others. Plan for tomorrow is divided in 5 waypoints as below, just to keep everyone updated: Mahafiz Training Entrance - Intro + theory Mahafiz medium dunes - theory + practical Mahafiz Sabka - Breakfast + theory + fun stuff Mahafiz long range - Drive + practical Mahafiz tall dunes - Adrenaline drive and exit Please bring your camping chairs if you have so that we can sit over the breakfast and run theory session.

If I am not wrong I think you got to change the whole instrument panel with GCC specs or similar car that shows in Kms. More experts can comment here: @Barry @shadow79

Yup because Lexus is among one of the best built cars and their scrap parts from accidental cars run forever.

Off course get it sooner than later before they change their mind (you never know).

Off course Basit, you are more than welcome anytime. Rahim bhai was sharing some of your 4x4 hunting details with me and I'm happy that you are choosing second car as a weekend warrior. Smart thinking.

Here is the video of our last week drive:

When you fix a new ICV, RPM will be little rough and don't worry it will slowly re-learn the ideal idle RPM. After 5-10 km in stop and go drive pattern unscrew the whole RPM adjuster, car will stall for 2-3 time and after that automatically adjust the RPM when cold and hot. After all that's what the job of ICV (Idle Control valve). Some people also says if it doesn't re-learn then unplug the battery terminal completely for 5-10 minutes and it will reset all ICV reading. In my case 6G74 engine, ICV re-learn the perfect setting in 15-20 minutes drive in internal roads where you slow down and speed up every 300-400 meter (not highway).

@Hbahrameh Any update if you have fixed your problem.....?

@shadow79 If you bring cycle make sure it's 4x4 to meet drive requirement. On a serious note, try to join as you might add some value from your workshop expertise.

It is indeed mental satisfaction, as I have felt the same when many many years ago I tried few times in my Range and felt nothing. Then through 100's of forum and thousand's of user experience I realize it's called snake oil in Internet slang. https://www.yahoo.com/news/bottled-magic-or-snake-oil-the-truth-about-118805206027.html

Unfortunately there is nothing "Best 'out of the box' 4x4" in this existing world as every top performer lacks in one or the other element and require either bit of adjustment or upgrades.

Well done @Asif Hussain great point made (added above), thanks for your community contribution.

As per enough momentum on desert driving since last few Carnity drives, it is advisable to run a proper desert driving training session for all carnity members. This will be based on theory and practical to explain the techniques and then allowing each car to implement. This will be a must have training session for every desert enthusiast: either to learn or to impart their knowledge as per their experience. Training outline Why and how much to deflate as per various terrain Best selection of gear for different terrains Choice of 2WD and 4WD for different terrains Choice of tires for different terrains How to read the sand dunes How to approach and depart sand dunes safely Radio etiquette's in a drive Importance of convoy numbering How to manage car engine or transmission overheating How to deal with desert wild life and any mishap Self recoveries In soft sand patch - rocking method On side sloping - face the gravity Cresting - best use of shovel Cross pocket - use of diff lock / hand brake Deep bowl - gain momentum and exit Recoveries When and how to use tow rope and shackle Safety while using tow rope and shackle How to Identify the best and safe tow hook How to secure the tow rope with assist Communication and coordination while doing recovery Multiple tow rope recovery How to avoid tire pop-out and repair Use of Jack, wooden plank and compressor Fun stuff How to use 2WD for sand fountain How to do sand splashing donuts How to safely side slope - basic level Safety How to navigate - basic level What to do if involve in a car accident What to do during a roll-over or flip What to do after a roll-over or flip When: 12 May 2017 Meeting time: 4:45 AM, convoy will move sharp at 5:00 AM Where: Adnoc Petrol Station Maleha Road GPS Coordinate: https://goo.gl/maps/mzb26kxzte72 Level of drive: Absolute Newbie - Fewbie - Expert Type of Car: Any proper 4x4 with front and back tow hooks and 10 inches of ground clearance Plan: Theory, Practical, Breakfast and Drive What to bring along: Breakfast - whatever you like with little extra to share, water, liquids, smiles, stories, enthusiasm and willingness to learn. Approximate finish time: 10 AM List your name and mobile number in this drive thread and RSVP the below calendar:

Here are the pictures from my and Asif bhai camera, waiting to see pictures from rest of the guys. Please upload it in the gallery below: https://carnity.com/gallery/category/17-lisalli-to-margham-5-may-2017/