Gaurav

Engine oil color if dark, is not an issue. The later part of the comment is an issue where it says clump of old oil etc. If the car has Full & Regular service history from the dealer, then go ahead. Irregular services are a big concern for the longevity of the engine and transmission. Hope you also notice that the car has a frontal accident to have the front fender repainted, but that's fine and not a deal breaker tbh, if the car engine, transmission and 4x4 are well serviced and without any fault - 90% of the job is done. Good choice and thinking.

Nice research and thought process, can you explain a bit more about your off-roading expectations?

Sorry to say but this car doesn't look in good shape and had many service issues skipped, which may cost you a lot of time, hassle and money in the near future. These two are enough for me to walk away.

Thanks @Davie Chase and @Imteeaz for your kind words, but the whole credit goes to the amazing convoy that made the whole morning beautiful in Lisaili dunes. Everyone drove amazing and big kudos to @Arun Menon for the first FB drive, he managed very well, even in a little tricky situations.

Thanks, guys for all the valuable advice. I checked the CV first as I have a special relationship with them (with extra lift, I shot too many CV in the past) and know very well how to check the shot CV, torn boot, or clak clak noise (tire revolution-based, regular clak at each rotation). It's sure not a CV. Same for shock, as it's not regular squeak or claking and only comes when the driver's front tire side is up, while the passenger's front tire is down. My mechanic checked it and his advice matches with @Stumpy Paj too that it seems the stabilizer bar bush is a little old, although not yet broken, torn or shaking. He didn't find anything else other than 50% doubt on that one bush. Also with the symptom, this diagnosis matches fully, as the stabilizer bar holds the balance between both wheels. Will get that change and test it again. Thanks guys.

Hi All, my Pajero is making clanking noise when one front wheel is up and the other is down while offroading in sand dunes, not in any other angle or terrain. Any clue what I need to start looking at first? Thanks in advance.

Congratulations @Theo09 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 Basic 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 Forum participation Active participation on the forum Share drive experience + feedback Share drive pictures in the gallery Post trip report after the drive

Sure most welcome, will be good to see you after a long time.

Many thanks @Frederic and @Vanessa8580 to put all this detailed trip report of your amazingly planned holiday to the last minute with tracks, coordinates and pictures. Real treasure buddy. This will def help and inspire many others for repeating this in your footstep. I hope I will be among one of them as soon as possible.

Please find your convoy numbering below We will use Radio Channel 4 @Alphin Aloor @Arun Menon @Emanuel @Glenn W @Davie Chase @Imteeaz Gaurav Silver Pajero Alphin Aloor Nissan Patrol Arun Menon Black Xterra Imteeaz Golden Patrol Emanuel Silver Pajero Glenn W Montero Sport Davie Chase Red Rubicon

Very valid point raised by Pavel, I myself have seen a few times that person jump in offroading with the fully-loaded vehicle and that charm for offroading fades after a few drives. So it's always better to test the water and then if you have 100% interest in offroading, switch to whatever your heart desire. Possible and probably reasons, why few ppl don't like off-roading, are: Adventurous but risky at times (totally scalable) Fun but get the car dirty with sand (unavoidable) Amazing to start but get physically taxing at times (if you are not in good health) Great to tinker (modify) but get backfire with wrong choices or damages I love what Mark said, And to understand that the fine line between fun vs stupidity comes with a lot of experience, hassle, cost and failures. As per my experience of training new ppl, I feel more under-power the car better you will learn the intricacies of offroading and then when you switch to a powerful beast (like 392) you will be more capable and sensible yet safer. The simple reason is if you start with 392, about 80-90% of the job will be done by power and not skill. In reality, your skills will make you shine and also avert danger before it happens. In off-roading most of the stuff that we do is pure physics (science) based to know our and our vehicle's limits to take the climb and when to turn down to respect gravity. With an under-power car, one tends to know these rules faster and agree to abide by them without any second doubts.

@Haneef Thayyil if you continue driving in manual, your Auto gearbox will never learn and adapt to desert driving shifting. Give a few drives a chance and when it's failing on you, press full throttle. That's a way you make Auto Gearbox learn and adapt to new shifting habits. Autobox driving in Manual - if you constantly over-run each gear - soon you will damage the gearbox. That's why we only drive on manual 1st and/or 2nd gear for a couple of seconds to max minute or two while doing extensive sideys or long hill climbs. Sorry to say, but you can't learn off-roading from YouTube. Your wisdom (knowledge + experience) is prime.

This is exactly, what I am going to do (learning from you buddy) to enjoy different scenic landscapes both ways.

Extremely valid point, that every auto box behaves differently and one needs to experiment and learn with time. Very nice vehicle-specific suggestion and it's smart too to limit the upper range, so it basically becomes a controlled Auto than fully Auto mode. In my car, I have an OD (Over Drive) button on the gear shifter, which does the same and also delays the shifts to 4-4.5K RPM rather than 3K and above. Fair point, but you also run the risk of over-running in any gear and producing more gearbox and engine heat at 5K, whereas the auto would have dropped RPM to 3K. Very good point added, that feel your car, gear and terrain on Newbie and Fewbie first. Later from Fewbie Plus onward start experimenting with gearbox behavior.

Hi Vishnu, you should always drive any automatic car in Auto gear in the desert. Auto is 90-95% able to do whatever you want them to do and the more you drive on Auto, the Auto will learn the downshift pattern and be able to serve 95-98% of the time. Only 1-5% of the time we use manual 1st gear for long hill climb if the gearbox upshift from 1st to 2nd. Main advantages: You will never over-run any gear by mistake. Auto will efficiently serve you with the best gear as per the rpm. You will have one less thing to worry and stay focused on desert driving skills. In short, your Auto gearbox is safer, more efficient and long-lasting in Auto mode.

We have had a few Bronco's here in the past and let's see what those owners have to say @Marco B. @Vivek Khetan @Mark Stark and @Mehek Merchant I have done Masterclass with two of these guys and Bronco seems as ready as FJ and Wrangler based on the first drive.

Nil, create a new topic relevant to each car for better visibility and responses from respective owners.

Double-check the weight of 4Runner, if it's lighter than your Prado and offers more power-to-weight ratio, then only it makes sense from a performance perspective. I would any day stick to the GCC model more than an import because parts and mods are locally available quickly. So the difficult repair or major services can be handled easily. I once had EU spec Lexus GS430 and remember how badly Al Futtaim used to treat that car like an orphan.

We request every member that joins this drive to go through the below information and strictly follow these guidelines, etiquettes and responsibilities. MUST READ AND COMPLY Environmental Policy Offroad Flag Guideline Two Way Radio Guideline Off road Driving Etiquette's Emergency details for all off-roaders Off Road Driving - Roles & Responsibilities DRIVE DETAILS Level: Fewbie and above When: 29 July 2023, Saturday Meeting time: 05:30 - Sharp (Without any exceptions) Meeting Point: https://goo.gl/maps/UDzJ7FKT2Aq5HcyFA Approximate finish time: 09:30 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, enthusiasm and willingness to learn. Mandatory off-road gears: Tire deflator, tire pressure gauge, compressor, walkie-talkie radio, off-road flag, shovel, first-aid kit, Tow Rope, 2 Shackles and fire extinguisher. LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE This drive is limited to 10 cars only. RSVP will close on Friday - 12 PM. Please withdraw your RSVP, if you find you are unable to join, so your spot can be taken by others in the waitlist. If the RSVP is full, you can add your name to the waitlist, if an RSVP attendee removes themselves, you will be moved from the waitlist to the RSVP list as an attendee. A convoy list will be sent out the day prior to the drive. Latecomers will be returned back - Without any exceptions. Members without RSVP will be returned back - Without any exceptions. Repeated no-show members after RSVP will have their account suspended for a month. PLEASE RSVP ON BELOW CALENDAR

Congratulations @Arun Menon 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 Basic 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 Forum participation Active participation on the forum Share drive experience + feedback Share drive pictures in the gallery Post trip report after the drive

Congratulations @Hugo for reaching the Fewbie Plus 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 PLUS Drives Attended (Indicative) Minimum 10 Fewbie drives are required within last 6 months for Fewbie Plus promotion. What you'll learn Advance dune and sand reading Advance recovery techniques Rocking and crawling to make path Learn to flatten/compact soft sand patch Self recovery from crest Advance side sloping and long hill climb Advance ridge riding and criss crossing Advance control over technical dunes Slightly faster pace desert driving FULLY control and avoid fishtailing Never fight or challenge gravity Skills required Enthusiastic and positive attitude Willingness to learn and help others Extremely attentive and focused while driving Car Worthiness Any 4x4 vehicle with low range gearing Suitable approach and departure angle Bash plate and skid plate protected 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, Fewbie and Fewbie Plus drives Forum participation Active participation on the forum Share drive experience + feedback Share drive pictures in the gallery Post trip report after the drive

Amazing and detailed trip report for letting poor ppl like us enjoy with words and pictures. Very well planned Fredy, ofc your level of planning is always meticulous, but I like the idea of the whole round trip to cover a long drive from both sides is very intelligent. I did it in a messed-up way due to unexpected changes. @Frederic and @Vanessa8580 enjoy your well-deserved break and drive safe.

@Varun Mehndiratta also shifted to Rubicon recently.

Wow, I never knew about this transfer case ratio is an issue for Rubicon. Thanks for sharing this. Do you mean the top speed in HI gear is restricted or are you comparing LO gear top speed of Rubicon vs sandrunner?