Srikumar

@Barry, you can hop in with me and drive mine. You will like it. It's a manual transmission

There is an opinion poll on Carnity regarding the car insurance. That would give a general view of the insurance companies. Oman Insurance is better than many of the other insurance company in terms of service and road side assistance. Most of our company cars are on Oman Insurance

That depends on the level of income. Also in UK, you have an excellent public transportation system, the same cannot be said about UAE which is still looking to develop it and where still a large number of people are dependent on taxis. You would get a can of beer much cheaper in UK than you would here. So you can't directly compare.

Uber and Ola are very effective in India and have been a welcome change to the otherwise useless taxi and autorickshaw drivers who had attitudes like a king. But even in India the govt brought regulations which were meant only for taxi hailing apps such as the driver's criminal record verification etc. They never implemented such things for the taxi or the auto service. I think same thing is happening in Turkey were the govt is looking to protect the local taxi service. Competition has always been good for the consumer as it generally improves the quality of service. Here in UAE, I have never tried any of the taxi service as they are so God damn expensive.

Great to have you Noor

Always a pleasure to have you on board Emmanuel

Does taking office colleagues in your car defined as car pooling? How do the authorities differentiate ?

After a brief break, lets plan a desert drive starting from Al Shuwaib which is at the intersection of Dubai - Sharjah - Abu Dhabi. Its been almost a year since we last ventured into this area and would provide some new interesting challenges. This place has some big bowls and pockets. Plan is to start from this area and end the drive at Iftar bowl by sunset where we can set up a nice spot for an evening snack. When: 21 Sept 2018 Meeting time: 2:45 PM Starting time: 3:00 PM (SHARP) Where: ADNOC fuel station just before Madam roundabout. GPS Coordinate: https://goo.gl/maps/W4Kc5BFfQG92 Level of drive: Fewbies - Intermediate Type of drive: Adrenaline kicking fun drive with few breaks and food time on top of some awesome dunes Plan: Drive through some huge bowls towards Area 53 What to bring along: Food, water, liquids, smiles, stories, enthusiasm and willingness to learn

In a crowded and expensive city like Abu Dhabi this was the only way for the authorities to prevent shared accommodation which was widely prevelant. I stayed there from 2007 - 2010, and used to walk to office. You could park the cars on top of the footpath, or on the center of the road and get away with it. But with Mawaqif they ensured that people, because of parking issues, had to move away from the city, which also resulted in more cars on the road. So not sure on how this paid parking improves the system without proper public transportation being put in place. But hey, the authorities know what's best

@desertdude, yes possibly I am getting confused. @treks, my intention is not to modify any of the gear ratios. Its just that since I am have to replace my front differential, i was trying to get an identical pinion and gear as a replacement. Due to the difficulty in finding it, I started reading the reason behind it and found that most people move to a lower gear ratio. Again, my intention is not to spend any additional money and definitely not on something that would worsen the situation. Its just that I wanted some opinion or views on the topic.

@Gaurav I totally agree that as long as the vehicle climbs sand hills like Faya easily then one should not tinker with a working setup. Also I do not intend to change the gear ratio as that would mean also changing the rear differential ratio. But since there is this distinct possibility of replacing my front differential I started trying to find a rebuild kit for the 3.07 gear ratio, and found that it's quite difficult to get as it's very unpopular among the US Offroader. But @Gaurav coming back to the question, you had issues in your Nissan Patrol where the 1st gear was very short. Would you happen to know what was the gear ratio on that year model and later year models? Was it a low gear ratio (high number) that was causing the problem?

I am currently running a high gear ratio (lower numerical) of 3.07 and have found no major issues while desert driving. However, since I had increased my tire size from 29" to a 31", and since I am looking in the near future at a possible differential replacement, I wanted your suggestions on whether it would be advisable to go for a lower gear ratio (higher numerical) like 3.54, 3.73 or even 4.10. What I have understood from reading online is that when you mention a 3.07 gear ratio, the drive shaft would rotate 3.07 times for one rotation of the wheel. So that means that while driving on the highway you would get better mileage as the drive shaft is rotating less as compared to a 3.54 gear ratio. In the US, all the forums suggest going for a lower gear ratio (higher numerical) like 3.73 or 4.10 as a minimum, but then their offroading activity is more into rock crawling where you would need the car engine to be in right bandwidth of approx 3000 rpm so that you have maximum torque but with low speed to climb the obstacle. How would the gear ratios matter while doing desert driving where momentum is the main thing. By lowering the gear ratio to 3.54 or 3.73 I presume my speed would on the 1st gear would reduce which would reduce the performance. So bottom line for desert driving is whether a high gear ratio (lower numerical) better than a low gear ratio (higher numerical) ?

An update on the OP, the noise is due to some play in the front differential, which will eventually get worse with time. This is despite the fact that the differential has had proper oil levels and changes. Tried a thicker oil but it doesn't seemed to have worked. So either will have to look at a rebuild or try to get one from the scrap yard.

Regarding the sun roof, do you hear the motor running when you are trying to open it. If there is no noise, it could be a switch related issue. Regarding the tyres, if you are not planning Offroading then you can even check the Korean ones like Nexen or Sumitomo from Japan. I have put Nexen on my Pajero and they have done a fairly decent job. They are currently running around 55000 km and still have quite a bit more to go.

Another alternative if you really want to keep the front bumpers very close to stock, you can remove the mud guards in the front of the tyres and get a workshop to trim the bumpers in front of the tyres. Can work out to be quite cost effective as well. Prado, has quite a decent approach angle. If you intend to do more aggressive offroading then it would be advisable to go with what Gaurav has mentioned regarding the bumper along with some firmer suspensions.

@Gaurav you seem to be in the Pajero searching mode

I got my Indian DL in 2002, and the first car that I drove was my dad's old station wagon Tata Estate 94 model (2.0 litre diesel engine, manual transmission). It had the DNA of a diesel tractor with the shape of a car. But being my first car after years of public transport I thoroughly enjoyed it

would turning off the engine be any useful in such cases? As the only side effect would be loss of power steering and power brakes (but the brakes can still work by pumping them)

In cars that have tiptronics would that help to reduce the speed by engine braking?

I have read many times that the cruise control fails which can be extremely dangerous. What are the options that one would have in such a case? I was under the impression that putting the car in neutral would help, but it seems from the below article that even the brake fails in such a case. Like to have some opinions. https://m.gulfnews.com/news/uae/transport/suv-s-cruise-control-system-fails-at-130km-h-1.2274148

Thanks@barry. I yanked the front drive shaft and there is a slight bit of play while the rear DS is Rock solid. Guess the issue is with the U Joints. Will get them checked. Would it be a problem to continue running the vehicle with this issue?

In my last off-road drive I had a Tuck Tuck Noise coming from near the Driver side Footwell (felt like near the brake and accelerator pedal). This was quite prominent while driving on 4H mode and it would happen only while accelerating. The moment I remove my feet from the accelerator the noise would stop. I have been having a squeeching sound while in 2H mode in normal road driving. There is no exaggeration of noise while doing turns both in 2H or 4H mode. Is this a sign of failing U joints on the front drive shaft? Any suggestions or advise?

Thanks to everyone for their likes. Hope the remaining Carnity Members would Like the post as well and help me win

thanks @tamils_siva