Gaurav

For any type of off road driving in the UAE you need to reduce your 4x4 tire pressure. For mountains and wadi it's easy to reduce between 20-25 PSI irrespective of the tire brand, shape, type and load.

For sand the tire pressure deflation is little bit tricky and if you follow below steps, you can decode this better.

Before that you also need to understand that why deflation for off road driving is so important:

• Deflated tires are hard to sink in or dig in the sand due to lesser resistance.
• Deflated tires increase the sand flotation to reduce the load on Engine, 4x4 and Transmission.
• By deflating tire pressure you increase the footprint, that help you stabilize & offer better directional control.

Image shows the two tires track: One with 35 PSI (left) and other with 12 PSI (right).

Finding a perfect tire pressure for off road driving for your specific tire and 4x4 is based on bit of learning and experiments. Of course the lower the tire pressure better it is for dune bashing, climbing and self recoveries but too low is also dangerous for popping the tire out of its wheel.

You can follow the below chart, if you are totally new to off road driving as an indication (ONLY).

• If you have a pop out on normal driving, then increase 1 PSI next time to find the best tire pressure for your 4x4.
• If your 4x4 is Long Wheel Base (LWB) with full load then increase 1-2 PSI more than below indications.
   

Disclaimer: If you can't find your tire brand in the list then rely on HT / MT / AT section to be 90% safe.

For knowing how to deflate the tires, please speak to any of the Marshal or senior member to show you how its done properly. There are more than a couple of ways and tools off-roaders use to deflate depending on their choices. All tools, ways and method are correct as far as you achieve the correct tire pressure.

If you are new to offroading, I highly suggest to double check the tire pressure twice once you are done. Borrow the fellow offroader tire pressure gauge and check again, as many times your new gauge might go wonky and give false readings. Once you are 100% sure that your gauge is correct always, then you are fine to rely on your own readings.

PLEASE DON'T DEFLATE WITH KEY AND STOPWATCH AND ASSUME IT'S 14 PSI.

Secondly, always check / adjust tire pressure again after 30 minutes of sand driving as it might increase due to the heat and stress. If you are facing constant refusal at the beginning of any drive, I bet your 14 PSI has shot up to 18 PSI and you need to reduce the tire pressure more to bring it down to 14 PSI. This happens on almost every newbie drive, so it's fine and proven gazillions of time.

Do you know your roles and responsibilities while off-roading?

Offroad driving is one of the most famous adventure activities in the UAE. Everyone during the offroad drive is always nice and very welcoming to help each other.

Due to the nature of this extreme and adventurous motorsport, sometimes things do get unpleasant and everyone involved needs to know their roles and responsibilities clearly.

• Desert worthiness vehicle: While off-roading every vehicle get pushed to its limit and for this reason, every off-roader needs to maintain, check and fix vehicle problem before every drive. Follow your owner's manual schedule maintenance for extreme driving (harsh environment) intervals and not standard road driving intervals. Preventative maintenance will save you much hassle and time in the long run.
   
  • We are not mechanics - As much as Carnity trip lead and support offer the first level of vehicle assistance when things go wrong, but they are not mechanic and no one should rely on that emergency support to avoid any maintenance.
     
  • We are not an Insurance provider - In case of an accident, please follow the UAE road accidents procedures and check with your car insurance company about off-road coverage and recovery plan (if any).
     
  • We are not a desert recovery company - If your vehicle breaks down during the drive, Carnity trip lead and support will try as much as they can to help, but their vehicles aren't tow trucks to recover a dead vehicle or partially working vehicle out of the deep desert. There are professional desert recovery companies like AAA to assist you and take full responsibility for not causing any further damage while recovering a non-moving vehicle from the desert.
     
  • We will never leave you alone - In case you ever need to leave your vehicle inside the desert to arrange insurance or recovery, then Carnity trip lead and support will drive you down to the nearest tarmac exit.
     
• Mechanical Damage / Failure: Every offroader is responsible for his/her own car failure/damage. Especially in the offroad use some minor long-pending issues might amplifies due to the off-road stress and it should not be blamed on anyone other than the owner of the car. If you have any remote doubt that something might fail in the upcoming off-road drive, then please get that fixed first and then join for next week's drive, rather than taking chances and/or increasing the existing damage.
  
  It's always a good practice to join a newbie drive first after some crucial repairs or maintenance to test your vehicle again and then join the Fewbie drive and then Intermediate (as per your off-road rank eligibility).
   
• Breakdown log reporting: Every trip lead is reporting the vehicle breakdown after the drive. Occasional breakdowns or accidents are totally acceptable, but repeat breakdown of the same vehicle will not be appreciated. Please look into repeat vehicle breakdown seriously before it becomes a concern for everyone.
   
• Two cars involved in an offroad accident: Please decide on the spot, whose fault it is, and report to the neighboring police station for appropriate green and red paper for repairs. Most insurance companies don't cover offroad damage so please make sure if you drive expensive 4x4 with comprehensive insurance, please check your offroad cover properly. Take a lot of pictures and videos of the accident site as Police always ask for this and also save the coordinates of the location as sometimes police like to revisit that area to verify the accident.
   
• Single car damage in offroad: In case your car flips or rollover or have any impact damage, take a lot of pictures and videos of the incident as Police always ask for this and also save the coordinates of the location.
   
• Tow point failure damage: Every offroader is responsible for their own car tow point strength, integrity, and load taking capacity. If your car tow point fails during "ANY" sort of recovery and damages the other offroader car, then you will be liable for all the damages including the car, driver, and passenger bodily injuries.
  
  To avoid such a situation always recover gently and gradually increase the intensity of the tug. If you still suspect that a lot harder tug is needed use the support strap, dampers, or sandbag to secure both ends of the tow rope.
   
• Damage while recovering: As much as every trip lead and support are trained to prevent the damage while recovering any vehicle, but the ultimate responsibility of any damage while recovering lies with the owner of the stuck car.  
  
  Scenario 1: In some cases when your car nosedive in the sand pocket, the front bumper damage is already done, but it becomes visible when your car gets fully recovered out of the pocket.
  
  Scenario 2: While recovering a stuck car by a tug, if the stuck car doesn’t stop early enough after the recovery and hit the recovering car, then the stuck car owner is at fault and liable for all damages involved.
   
• Lubes / Spare Sharing: Many offroaders do carry a lot of spare fluids, oil, coolant, and other spare parts for emergency situations. If your car breaks down and someone offers you their spares or lubes, have the courtesy to pay or replace that in the next drive.
   
• Offroad Gear: Every offroader is 100% responsible for his/her own off-road gear, tools, and equipment and should know how to use them safely and how to take care of them in terms of regular maintenance (if any).
  • If you lend your tow rope to someone, it's your responsibility to make sure that it doesn't have a knot.
  • If you lend your metal shackle, brief that person to unscrew the last round so as not to get stuck.
  • If you lend your jack, either stay around to see if it's placed on flat ground to not bend or brief them properly.
  • If you lend your toolbox or tools, you need to make sure it's used as intended and they don't break.
  • If you winch someone, you should know your winch capacity to do the recovery safely.
  • If you lend your compressor, make sure it's not overheating or wait for it to cool down.
  • Shovel, flag, radio, etc. is also your own responsibility & share it at your own risk.
     
• Off-road Promotions: As per Carnity Off-road Structure every off-roader has been assigned an off-road rank based on your driving skills, vehicle capability, and overall attitude towards off-roading. These promotions, ranks, and structures are in place to make sure that everyone is completely safe including you and your vehicle during all off-road drives. Due to safety reasons, there is zero-tolerance while promoting offroaders in Carnity off-road club.
  
  Once anyone applies for the off-road promotion, the request goes to all trip lead with who you have driven to access your off-road progress. Mostly all promotion requests are accepted immediately. For some, we request them to do a couple of more drives with the feedback in which you need to improve. Please accept and respect this club policy to help us maintain a safer off-road experience for everyone.
   
• Emergency details for all off-roaders: Please fill up all Emergency details here and also take a print out to keep the same in your glove box. It is mandatory for all off-roaders driving with Carnity Off-road Club.

Just like any other sport or hobby, off road driving too has it's own etiquette's. Often times these are not spoken out loud or mentioned in public to not to embarrass anyone.

If you like to continue off road driving, you should know these basic offroad driving etiquette's and follow them.

• Pay 100% undivided attention to the instructions: Whether it's in briefing or on radio communication while recovering, give your 100% attention and if you cannot due to some incoming call or passenger distraction, ask them to repeat. Most of the instructions are given so that you can drive safely. If you still live in the mobile world or loud music or radio volume turned down, you will miss out on critical safety instruction that can end up breaking your 4x4 or bones, seriously.
   
• Follow the instruction PRECISELY: From as simple as deflate to 12-14 PSI, drive in HI gear, engage to LO as soon as you get stuck. These instructions have been given to YOU for YOUR safety and enhancing your offroad driving experience. If you deflate to 22 PSI instead of 12, you will have endless refusals, stucks and A/T Transmission & Engine will soon overheat. If you don't engage on LO as soon as you get stuck, you will lose the most critical surface area in which LO gear could have saved the day, rather than toiling in HI gear for first few minutes and making the stuck even more worst for your car.
   
• Acknowledge the message: Always acknowledge the radio messages as the reliability of radio communication is highly questionable.
   
• Step out and help: When you are stuck and someone is helping you, it's a BASIC MANNER to step out of your car and help the Marshal or senior member who is helping you. You can help them clearing the sand, fixing the rope or inspect the stuck or plan of recovery. Sitting inside a stuck vehicle and waiting is the worst and most offending thing to do. If someone is helping you to check tire pressure, then step out and observe, how to delate to precise PSI.
  
  Disclaimer: In some 1% tricky angles or situation, if you have a doubt or difficulty to come out, ask the Marshal or senior member: If its safe for you to step out? Please don't assume and sit inside.
   
• Observe and learn: Every stuck and recovery has a lot to teach. Observe and learn from your stucks and discuss with Marshals how to not to get stuck again in a similar way. If you don't observe and learn you will end up doing the same mistakes over and over again. 
   
• Learn Vs Serve: All the knowledge and experience are there to help you learn offroading and not just to serve you. So that as soon as you learn, you start practising it and become more capable offroader and be able to help others in the future.