Srikumar

@Gaurav another point to be added is whether you have the option of '1' and NOT '1-2' for long Hill climb in an auto car. I drove an Xterra up Iftar Bowl and it was easy mainly because you had the option to select only 1st gear. The auto upshifting is the main issue with an auto car in my opinion P.S. I just read your earlier post and you had covered this point. So just a repeat

Near the old fish market in Deira on Friday evenings.

Hi, Came across this website where the workshop manuals and electrical wiring diagrams are available for free online viewing https://manuals.co/workshop

Also one more thing that can be added that in the event that they were forced to do such a recovery the Hummer should have at least used his rear recovery point instead of the front. He would have still had a smashed windscreen but the personnel injury could have been averted.

Love the challenge this area provides and with the final climb to top of Iftar bowl. Will most definitely be there.

The thing for me is that I have never seen him driving live as he passed away in 1994. Definitely one of the greatest legends.

Jacque Villeanue and his father. Dont recollect his name. Both were from Canda. F1 was never popular in North America. Its mainly a Europe based event.

This is one of the greatest overtaking moves I have seen in F1. As much as I adored Schumi, you had to take your hats off to Mika. To overtake a back marker and the race leader in one go with 3 or 4 laps remaining on the race, phenomenal!! I was fortunate to meet Mika Hakkinen once at Abu Dhabi airport after the Abu Dhabi GP sometime in 2015 and the first thing that came to my mind was this overtaking move and I had mentioned it to him. View from Mika's Car

Mine was Schumi as I started watching at the time he was racing with Ferrari. There were a couple of seasons where he used to drive an underpower Ferrari and compete with McLaren's DC and Mila Hakkinen. Enjoyed those seasons the most, especially his drives in wet conditions. I always admired his thirst for victory by pushing the limits both in terms of the car as well as the rules. It's a pity that today he is confined to a bed.

@Faraz Ahmed and @fa793. Please mention your contact numbers as well in case of any coordination

I am in, subject to a minor work on my car being done by tomorrow.

you can pass it anywhere and apply for the Mulkiya through EVG after getting the insurance

I guess in this country you also have a lot of cars that are auctioned due to loan defaults. Banks uptill a while back were willing to fund anyone and everyone without checking any credentials. So the guy is unable to pay and the bank siezes the vehicle.

It's been a while since I had led a drive so I was kinda anxious as well as excited about the drive. We all met at the deflation point and after a check up of one of the cars we entered into the desert. @Gaurav was my second lead and wherever I made an error he was there correcting the route for the rest of the convoy. We had @EmVarlet who was joining us on his first fewbie drive after driving quite a few newbie drives and boy did he do well!! He was matching everything that was being done from side sloping, ridge cutting, riding the ridge and that to at quite a brisk pace. Was very happy to see how much his driving skills had improved. While the first part of the drive was relatively easy with some medium range dunes, the second part of the drive was a patch of small technical dunes that we had to cross to reach the long range dunes. This area tested everyone with a few refusals and stucks. Rahim Bhai saw the opportunity for some spare time and started teaching Emmanuel the finer art of desert driving. I am sure it was a very valuable session for him. By the time we exited out of this area we all were looking forward to the long range dunes for which Faqa is famous. And once we reached there we could not control our temptations. The dunes were so awesome, that some of us started attacking one range after the other causing a break in convoy. The wise voice of Rahim Bhai brought us back to our senses. By then it was getting dark so we stopped for our evening snack and then we had an exciting good paced exit out of the desert in night conditions fantastically led by Gaurav. Thoroughly enjoyed the pace and smoothness of this part of the drive. Once again an excellent convoy comprising of @shadow79 @sertac with the full support of @Gaurav and @Rahimdad ensured that it was a fun filled drive. Thanks!!

My Cherokee XJ is my project. Yes, I have spent some money on it with 50% of it being my fault. But I just love the fact that I can do things to that car not worrying about the impact on how it looks or feels while driving. I hope that I can build the audio system as the next step on the project. I had no idea about cars and it was never an outright passion, but I always wanted to learn. Possibly never had the right environment to learn till I met the Carnity members. I completely agree with what Gaurav says, that you need to be confident on the vehicle before you start investing money.

Appreciate the point you have raised. Updated the OP.

DW is quite different than unbalanced tires. Unbalanced tyres especially having sand in it will cause a lot of vibration but in isolation it's not a death wobble. DW is like how a manual car vibrates when the engine is about to die at low rpm multiplied by about 10 times at a much higher speed. Yes unbalanced tires in combination with other loose joints can lead to a death wobble. I have edited the post to include the effect of sand in tyres.

@Ren13 and @BENNY THOMAS you can post your pictures in the drive gallery. Link is provided below https://carnity.com/gallery/category/70-newbie-fewbie-drive-maliha-30-march-2018/

Some of you who drive a 4x4 with a solid front axle might have faced the death wobble from time to time. The below is a comprehensive check on how to analyse and find a remedy to the death wobble. This was posted on another forum which I have copied it here for the benefit of those who need to find a solution to it. Death Wobble isn’t similar to a wobble from an unbalanced tire which is usually only felt at about 48-56 mph, DW is by far worse. When Death Wobble hits you will know… it’s a violent shake from the front end that feels like the Jeep is about to fall apart. Usually when it happens, the only thing you can do to stop DW, is to slow down. The first steps to eliminate Death Wobble should be a visual inspection of each component, checking the bushings, the tire balance and the alignment. DW is usually caused by a combination of several of the following causes, and is not caused by one single part or item that needs attention. These are some common things you must check anytime you lift your Jeep. Death Wobble is experienced mostly on lifted Jeeps, however it is not uncommon for someone without a lift to experience the dreaded DW. Listed below are a few things you can check. -Check your Tires 1. Out of balance tires can cause shaking in the front end, which can lead to Death Wobble. If you have had a pop out in the desert its definitely advisable to get the tires cleaned up completely. A tire/rim that has been balanced can still have internal defects that lead to DW. 2. Make sure all of your lug nuts are tight, (it happens to the best of us) -Make sure you have a good alignment 1. After you get an alignment done, have them print out the numbers for you. An XJ should have a 7* positive caster angle. A lifted XJ can’t always have that high of a number because the pinion would become out of alignment with the front drive shaft. Pinion angle takes precedence over caster. 2. Make you sure you go to a shop that will adjust the caster if necessary (either by shims in the frame side of the LCAs, or adjustable LCAs). -Check your Track Bar, play in this can cause the axle to shake. 1. Bushings - check to see that they are not worn. Looks for cracks, and excessive play) 2. Angles - this angle should be the same as your draglink. Use an angle finders you can get at sears to determine this, don’t just eye-ball it. 3. Bolts – Make sure all bolts are tightened down to spec (some lift components have a different torque spec then) -Check the Axle, your mounts may be worn 1. Check the axle mount. Here is a good write up on a wallowed out bolt hole Jeepin.com - Fixing a trackbar bracket 2. Check your Universal joints, a binding or lose U-Joint can cause DW 3. On the frame end if you still use the conventional Tie Rod End or (TRE) make sure that there is no play in this, as play can cause DW. 4. Look/Check for worn/torn boots on ball joints/tie-rod ends. -Check your Frame 1. Small cracks in the frame can cause the steering box to feel loose; shaking from DW can only make this worse. 33’s and larger should have some form of Steering box brace, or frame brace in. 2. If you have upgraded your frame mount, make sure its cranked down nice and tight. (best to use an impact gun) 3. A busted Frame Mount can cause play in the front end causing DW (Keep a watchful eye on the welds as welds in sheer can break over time. -The more adjustable parts the easier it is to tune in your lifted suspension. 1. Adjustable Track Bar 2. Adjustable Upper and Lower Control Arms (upper ones above 4” of lift). Not only are they adjustable, but they are stronger. -Things to remember: 1. After any lift, get your Jeep professionally aligned, this is a REQUIREMENT, not a suggestion. 2. A Steering Stabilizer (SS) is not a quick fix for DW. 3. Make sure that the lift you purchase comes with all the required parts for a safe driving vehicle. (as long as its going to be a DD) 4. PLEASE ALWAYS DRIVE WITH YOUR FRONT SWAY BAR CONNECTED! Entire list of everything that can cause death wobble: -Front tires out of balance. Clean the tires if there was a pop out in the desert -Front alignment out of spec -Loose track bar -Worn track bar bushings -Worn track bar end -Needing an adjustable track bar -Bad bushings/joints in control arms -Worn/damaged steering stabilizer -Worn/damaged shocks -Worn/damaged tie rod end -Bad U Joint -Bad ball joint -Loose frame mount -Steering box looseness -Need drop pitman arm -Drive shaft(s) not balanced -Bad front hub assembly Torque specs: Item .........................……......Torque Ft. lbs. .............. Nm Lug nuts (1/2 X 20 w/ 60* cone) .... 85-115 .............. 115-150 All tie rod ends .....................…..... 55 ...................….. 74 Steering (both ends) ..............…..... 55 ................….... 74 Shock absorber upper nut .............. 16 ................….... 22 Shock absorber lower nuts ............. 17 ................….... 23 UCA frame end .....................…...... 66 ..............…..... 89 UCA axle end .........................….... 55 ................….... 74 LCA frame end ......................…..... 85 ...................... 115 LCA axle end .........................….... 85 ...................... 115 Track bar frame end ..............…..... 60 .................…... 81 Track bar axle end .................….... 40 ..................…... 54 Track bar bracket bolts ..........…..... 92 ...................... 125 Track bar bracket nut .............….... 74 ....................... 100 Track bar bracket support bolts ...... 31 ....................... 42 Hub bolts (3) ..13MM................…. 75 ....................... 102 Hub - axle bolt…36MM...........….. 175 ..................... 237 If you have a lifted vehicle, make sure that the alignment shop you choose knows the variant specifications for lifted vehicles, and that they do NOT set it to the "default/stock" settings. Factory Original Alignment specs (stock): Angle ............. Preferred ........... Range ............. Max R/L difference Caster ............ +7.0* ....……….... +5.25* to +8.5* ......... 1.25* Camber ........... -0.25* ....………... -0.75* to +0.5 ........... 1.0* Total Toe-in .... +0.25* .………...... 0* to +0.45* ............. .05* Thrust angle....….* to ± 0.15* Information provided by Jeeps Unlimited Above information is taken from the below link http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f11/small-lift-death-wobble-969090/#/topics/969090

Just an update on the post. I went ahead with the aftermarket Crown Mounts for both the motor as well as the transmission. I could immediately feel the difference in terms of the immediate torque (on new mounts) vs delayed torque (on worn out engine mounts). Crown has been manufacturing the rubber mounts for Jeep vehicles for the past 40 years so they do come with some reputation. However in my first desert drive, I hit a cross track while climbing up a dune and heard a loud metal noise. On inspection I found that my clutch fan had kissed the radiator causing it to leak. After checking the car at the garage we found that the rubber on the Crown mounts were softer than the original mounts which caused more flexing and allowing the clutch fan to touch the radiator under some severe offroading conditions The strange thing is this never happened when I was running on completely worn out motor mounts. Possibly because the the engine had sagged back closer to the firewall. I changed the mounts to the original but also needed to increase the space between th clutch fan and the radiator so that this doesn't repeats. One options was to change the 4 core radiator to the original 2 core radiator which is slightly thinner and thus creating more gap between itself and the clutch fan. Other option was to remove the clutch fan and replace it with an electric fan. In the first choice it would have caused heating issues especially with upcoming Summer months. Fo the second option, I had read a lot that at higher rpm the clutch fan gives better flow rate than an electric fan plus for some people a clutch fan is more reliable than an electric one. So I researched and found a third option which was to push the radiator closer to the front grill by half an inch. This was done by making additional holes on the frame in which the radiator sits. Also I had to change the condenser piping a bit. Taken the car for a couple of drives and have had no issues so far. Hard lesson learnt. Thanks @Gaurav and @shadow79 for the suggestions and inputs to help find a solution.

@BENNY THOMAS There is a Newbie Drive posted on Mar 30th led by our Superman @Rahimdad. You can probably check the drive and enroll to have a first taste of the sand. Also, by posting some details of your vehicle you can get a better advice from him on what needs to be done to ensure that you have an enjoyable ride.

Being an old model car, it kinda depends on your luck on how clean a car you can get and whether you are patient during frequent visits to the garage for maintenance. It's a good car for the desert. I drive a manual XJ and I prefer the manual to the automatic version especially for desert driving. The car also is prone to over heating and the cooling system might have to be upgraded.

While i do agree with @treks, the most mandatory requirements would be a shovel, two way radio, tow ropes, shackles and flag , front and rear tow hook points on your vehicle. You can get the air compressor, jacks, at a later date once you a regular to the offorad circuit.

With the new group of Newbie Drivers who have been with Carnity Off Road Club over the past few months, the time is right to up the difficulty challenge to a Fewbie level at Al Faqa Desert. This area offers a varied terrain from short to long range dunes with plenty of opportunity for side slopping and ridge cutting. Depending on how the convoy feels the route can be altered a bit along the way. As the evening weather is still quite good, those who wish can stay back for a nice relaxing chat in the desert. When: 6 April 2018 Meeting time: 12:45 PM, convoy will move sharp at 1:00 PM after the Friday prayers Where: Al Faqa mosque https://goo.gl/maps/NWZXyUUD47C2 Level of drive: Fewbie - Expert - Advance - (absolute newbie and newbie as passengers only) Type of Car: Any proper 4x4 with front and back tow hooks and 10 inches of ground clearance Plan: Afternoon drive through the Al Faqa Desert What to bring along: Evening snacks - whatever you like with little extra to share, water, liquids, smiles, stories, and enthusiasm. Approximate finish time: 7 PM - 8 PM