Barry

124

It’s been a while since I posted on Carnity. I still can’t believe Gaurav is gone. I was just talking to him recently. When I first heard the news I couldn’t believe it. I still can’t. We were the same age and he was taken from us far too soon. When I first came to Dubai more than 10 years ago, Gaurav was one of the first people I made friends with. We bonded over the love of cars and I eventually became involved with Carnity writing articles, how to diagnose and fix your car yourself, how to save money, things like that. When Carnity moved more to the 4x4 side of things, I kinda fell away. I’m more of a track and racing guy. Off roading scares the hell outta me and I have massive respect for what you guys do. I spent many hours in the garage with Gaurav, working on his Ship of Theseus Pajero, rebuilding engines, raising and lowering suspension, fitting coolers for random systems, discussing upgrades, and more importantly, discussing life over a few beers. He was always someone I could ask for an opinion on whatever crazy situation I was planning on getting into next and he would always give me an unbiased opinion. I have so many stories involving Gaurav, some good, some funny, but never bad. I will never forget when he got his new Range Rover and he wanted to show me the radar cruise control and we nearly ran into the back of a Nissan Sunny. Or when he showed me how to fishtail in a Mustang and we ended up facing backwards on Al Khail road. Fun times I will never forget. I will be out of the country this weekend but rest assured, I will be with you all in spirit. I am so happy that you guys will continue with Carnity. This is Gaurav’s legacy. Hundreds and hundreds of people connected forever because of the dream of one man. Gaurav bhai, gone but never forgotten. Barry

The team spirit and community of carnity are like nothing else. I joined Carnity 4-5 years ago as a mechanic looking to share advice and tech tips with like minded people. I met people like @Gaurav @Rahimdad amongst others and made some really good friends. I am not as active on Carnity as I used to be. When it turned from a technical advice forum to an event organising forum, I took a step back, I like to talk about fixing cars and it just isn’t as common place here now. I have done more than a few off road drives with carnity but it just isn’t my scene. Off road drives can get expensive fast once you start breaking transmissions, breaking bumpers etc and it all adds up fast on a low Dubai mechanic salary. I am so happy to have met the people I have met through carnity and I look forward to meeting more of you in the future. It feels like a true brotherhood

Having driven many, H2 every time. It’s rugged and tough. The H3 is for people who want to cruise around car parks attempting to look cool whilst reminding everyone on Instagram that they own a Hummer.

If you have space, time and tools to DIY then go for it. With the amount of guides and YouTube videos available now, it makes things a lot easier. When I started all I had was Haynes books with fuzzy black and white pictures. It always helps to have a tamed mechanic on the phone who you can call if you get in trouble.

Ramadan Kareem Carnity brothers and sisters ❤️

Use a detailing brush or paint brush with long bristles to poke through the speaker grille and agitate the sand while holding a vacuum close to suck the sand out. If you are getting a crackling sound, I would say it’s more likely there is a bad connection or problem with the speaker cone.

The spring won’t explode. What I mean is it will explosively decompress. The simplest way to explain, take the spring out of your pen and squeeze it between your finger and thumb. Now remove your finger and the spring will shoot across the room. If you jack the car up at the lower arm and compress the spring and the jack slips, the spring will push the hub down with enough force to chop your hand off. Coil springs are dangerous things if you don’t know what you are doing. I know garages in Dubai that won’t even change a spring in a McPherson strut, they send it out to a machine shop to get done instead.

So, I’ve been away for a while. I went home with the intention of never coming back but the cold weather and extreme covid lockdown conditions were killing me, it was impossible to do anything productive, plus the UAE kinda got into my blood. So I came back and opening a new car care centre with some friends next month. What’s new on the car scene? What did I miss? I heard petrol is getting more expensive. Still cheaper than paying 7dhs per litre at home 😂

Jumping had nothing to do with the cv failure. The boot was already leaking and sand got into it which is what killed it. A stitch in time saves 9. Fly high brother.

Remove. Increases ground clearance and it looks badass.

Sorry to correct you Sri but jacking a car up by the lower arm is one of the most dangerous things you can do. Not only are you lifting the car but you are preloading the suspension. If the jack slips, the car will fall and the suspension will unload with explosive effect. The only safe place to jack a car is on a solid point such as the original jacking points, the chassis rail or the subframe.

Thank you for all the kind wishes!

The front axles can give problems but they are easy to check. Turn the steering on full lock and accelerate and listen for a clicking sound. Used ones aren’t worth buying as you may have to try a few before you find a good one. Other than that, just use due diligence and check the usual stuff like bushings, oil leaks etc. especially between the engine and transmission. If the rear crank seal or torque converter seal are leaking, it’s a big job to replace.

Al Saja’a industrial area would be a good place to start looking. It’s on google maps. A lot of the sellers there import US spec cars for dismantling