Gaurav

Central mounted tow hook is always better than tow hitch for recovery. Hitch are designed for constant load and not strong tugs, although hitch will work fine for soft or medium tugs.

Recently friend of mine gave me a tug and and his hitch came off from the bolts, luckily his car was at an angle and I saw hitch flying 50 meters ahead of my car like a catapult. Maybe it was a bad installation of weak hitch but proper rated tow hook is always better.

The best in class is the Pintle hook that comes standard in LC and Patrol.

7 minutes ago, shadow79 said:

Mobil 1 is pretty expensive...

Yeah you are right, 180 for 4 liter instead of 90 dhs for 4 liter is double the price but not at all expensive considering the quality and peace of mind while hitting your car at redline every week.

One fuel tank cost 125

One engine cost 7000 - 12000

One engine swap cost 1500 - 3000

Downtime for busting engine: 7 days - a month time, in my case 3 months as sourcing rare engine is painful.

And this 100 dhs extra on engine oil will last for 6K kms for offroad and 10K for road use.

I have used this Mitsubishi same Engine oil which is manufactured by LUKOIL (check at backside) and within 1000 kms it turned black and started giving some strange knocking noise from my Pajero engine. Switch back to my all time favorite Mobil 1 and never heard those knocking again.

Yeah very good made by and we forgot to ask this primary question.

What do you mean by offroading?

1) hard core dune bashing, long hill climb

2) easy to medium dunes and tracks, camping.

If you buy for 1) u can do 2) but not vice versa, as it has to be different animal for 1) than 2).

@Adel Muradov please RSVP on the drive calendar if you are joining tonight. 

@Michael sammy please confirm from maybe so that we can reach 30 mins early to the meeting point for newbie briefing .

I had 2006 swb manual gear and it never climbed big red, let alone iftar bowl, faya and other tall dunes. It was a total disappointment. Stay away from that shape I think 2004 - 2010.

@baselsm83 had old shape nissan patrol, maybe 2001 model, if he is reading this then he can share his experience as I have seen him doing quiet good offroading with us.

In 20k budget try for Xterra, as you might get on road used version. Best for offroad + less maintenance. 

Second could be jeep wrangler as a play toy but not very reliable tbh and expensive to maintain compare to nissan.

Third could be old shape Jeep Cherokee, 3.5 pathfinder until 2003 shape, but finding these clean one now is very difficult.

This is making me excited again to do it.

I give up on self stitching after reading few reviews

13 minutes ago, Sidshk said:

I never found a good shop selling quality Steering Wheel cover here  

I agree and Isn't that supposed to be the basic most thing any accessory shop should keep.....?

Unfortunately price race to the bottom killing the quality, now.

OK Thanks @Javier M after going back from your link, I think I found something that can fit.

Real leather cowhide, stitched one. 

https://www.amazon.com/AULLY-PARK-Universal-Steering-Genuine/dp/B071F1C7X7

Oh yes, let's bring all the breed of radios you are collecting and give Adel some work to answer our concerns

11 minutes ago, Javier M said:

I think this will fit very nicely to the pajero. 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PFS2T2V/ref=twister_B07PK8FN7G?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

I swear I had a funny feeling before clicking on your suggestion. Damn, I was right.

Isn't pink goes well with Sexy Jeep's.....?

Hi @Adel Muradov as far as you have done few day drives, you should be fine with night drive too.

Please come 30 minutes early for the newbie brief that involves lot of 4x4 and safety training, which is mandatory for all newbies joining the carnity offroad club.

In your model Patrol, front bumper is the main concern and though you have addressed it very nicely, so you should be good to drive by yourself.

This thread becoming like a ship and a hammer story now.

Everyday new suspense popping up with thrilling angle.

Well there are only two ways to reach engine oil: Drain plug or dispstick.

From opening drain plug you will risk of loosing more than required, unless you have some precise control over a spanner. Dipstick is much safer and controlled way to reduce with the suction pipe.

As a general rule of thumb you should not overfill engine oil above the max line and 1 cm sounds quite as much. I always buy an extra 1L bottle to top next day rather than overfilling.

@Barry, @treks and @shadow79 might advise the drawback of overfilling as Im not that technically educated.

Which steering wheel cover you are using and from where did you buy it?

It's such an important stuff that your hand is always in touch but at the same time its of such a low priority that you will wait till it breaks down to pieces.

I always buy the best steering wheel cover and every time it only last for couple of month and then I keep on prolonging to change as its so low priority item and drive with flaking steering cover most of the time. I really appreciate some heads up to buy some F. Good quality steering wheel cover that can last a long time.

Hi @Michael sammy Please read all below important topics before joining the drive

MUST READ: Offroad Club Structure, Levels and Rules

• Off roading - Everything you need to know
• Off Road Driving - Roles & Responsibilities
• Tire pressure deflation for off road driving
• Off road Club Grading Structure
• Off road Driving Etiquette's
• Levels of Offroad Drive
• Off-road Convoy Rules

You can go to any petrol station service guys and they have a thin suction tube that can suck excess oil from dipstick hole.

5 hours ago, shadow79 said:

if asking for help is being stupid then my friend you really have to reassess the values on which you make those assumptions

Dont over read the things, I meant for mechanics who go wrong 8 out of 10 times and still dont ask anyone for help as stupid.

Asking for help is never stupid, that's how we all learn.

Welcome Michael to Carnity and its offroad club.

If drive lead Rahimdad allow you for this drive, then please come 30 mins early for newbie briefing - very important for new joiners.

Just arrange the flag, for lights you can use high beam until you are convinced with your new hobby. Same for skid plate.

Hope your Pajero rear bumper is sorted, if not @Srikumar can guide you here on what's needed to remove it for the drive.

60K or less would be a good price if car is super clean and no accidents.

If it was not black, I will say upto 63 can be good deal, depending on your base price finding.

Approx math for Korean depreciation (not very conclusive though).

2016 - 130K - 20% = 104
2017 - 104K - 15% = 88
2018 - 88K - 15% = 75
2019 - 75K -15% = 63

After this price finding, you need to do lot of plus and minus based on real condition.

If any tire change, battery, major service is due in next 3-6 months it will lower the value further.

Which engine size is that?

8 minutes ago, shadow79 said:

Fortuners here are petrol with 2tr and gr engines that is of diesel...

That's why I asked him to check his owner manual to be sure.

Just now, GumbyAKhan said:

How does this guarantee thing work? I mean I can ask for guarantee, but if it's just a verbal thing, anyway I can't enforce it right? Just curious . 

Verbally yes its more than enough to gauge mechanic's honesty and shaking them enough to do a proper job.

It works majority of the time. Fake or greedy mechanic will simply not take up your job and you will end up running 4-5 garages for the finding the real NEO.

Also dont trust your most trusted garage so easily, as businesses here have tendency to impress you first with 50 dhs job and then on second or third billing hitting the jackpot for thousands.