Rahimdad

With the season in full swing and amazing cool weather it's time to have another absolute newbie or newbie level drive. All first timer absolute newbie will be given a proper introduction of sand off-roading before they start, from seasoned offroaders having over decades of UAE offroad experience. Idea is to make an absolute newbie comfortable with sand off-roading and in some of the most approachable set of sand dunes in Tawi Nizwa side. It's a perfect drive for people aspiring to start dune bashing or offroading in the sand as a new hobby and wish to explore the UAE offroad, natural beauty and unleash the hidden power of your 4x4 vehicle. For newbies, it's a perfect drive to learn more and advance to fewbie level and start enjoying more advance level drives as per your offroad grades. All experienced members are requested to join in helping newbies by imparting their off-road expertise. When: 18 Jan 2019 Meeting time: 7:00 AM, and convoy will move sharply at 7:15 AM Where: Tawi Nizwa shops GPS Coordinate: https://goo.gl/maps/KKBUhkQ2y382 Level of drive: All are welcome Type of Car: Any proper 4x4 with front and back tow hooks and 8-10 inches of ground clearance Plan: Easy drive from Tawi Nazwa to Pink rock and relax with snacks, bbq, drinks, and chat. What to bring along: Loads of snacks - whatever you like with little extra to share, water, liquids, smiles, stories, enthusiasm and willingness to learn. Approximate finish time: 11 AM Please RSVP on below Calendar

@hossein brilliant videos and I missed you all too.

Glad you enjoyed @Frederic Nuyttens and thanks for sharing your views. You have an absolutely beautiful way of expressing yourself. I'm becoming a big fan of your write-ups. Sorry I missed the drive due to having high fever, but thanks to all your prayers I'm much better now and looking forward to Liwa.

My opinion is to get the oil checked outside if it needs changing, by texture and smell you can make out if it really needs to be changed. If it needs changing very much go ahead, but if you can keep it for some more time before you have to make the change than keep it in mind to do it as necessary. Even if you do just an engine oil change they will stamp the book saying serviced. Only when you go and sit with them and ask them for service history the stories will come out how you refused to change the diff oil as recommended by them.

Sorry to hear that @sertac. We love you and we will pray that you get a good job soon.

@hossein this drive is a level up and would be at a slightly faster pace and mostly medium dunes. @Emil you could bring the family along if their stomachs are strong, this will be higher level drive. @BIG T next week will most probably be intermediate drive in Liwa, you can join as passenger but won't be able to bring your ride.

@Keithryan sometimes we overlook the simplest of things. Just a thought, check if anything is loose in your wheel well, any plastic or rubber part that could be rubbing against your tire to make that sound. Michelin tires are very good. I ran Michellin Latitudes for 4 years and they were very quiet and smooth on road.

Wouldn't miss this and the newly awarded Fewbie should definitely try their skills and build on it in this area. @BIG T, @hossein, @jibransayed, @Javier M, @Emil, @Frederic Nuyttens, @Rana, @Jocreative, @Julien V. Ring ring.

@Keithryan for the roof handle and the brake light clips you can check with any of the spare part shops in Sharjah that has the Mitsubishi logo displayed including Divya. For the clips for the side step, that is a common problem, you can find it at any of the small spare part shops, they have it for something like AED 1/- each. Very cheap and easy fix. All the sops are on the First Industrial Street in Sharjah, I have just marked a shop as per the Google Map link below to help you get there. https://goo.gl/maps/TuAH1U6c66s Hope this helps.

@Sajith Kumar. Thank you for your participation and looking forward to many more drives with you. We will have our newbie drives as there are quite a few new comers who need to brush up before going to Fewbie level. You can still join as a passenger in drives above your level, this also gives you a chance to look and learn. As for the radio, I have the below thread which is very comprehensive, hope this will help.

@Keithryan welcome to Carnity. I am driving the Pajero 2014 3.8 LWB and changed the tires to Kumho KL21 265/65R17 as soon as I bought it 2 years back and have had no issues with any cabin sound. They are Korean tires and are very smooth and lasted me a little over 60K Kms already. I have used the slightly more expensive made in japan tires for my Nissan Pathfinder 2001 model, that is the Nitto Duragrapplers for which I have posted a review on Carnity. Regarding the increase in size, usually with a factory setup you might face some rubbing issues, best to try on and turn from side to side to make sure they are not touching anything in the wheel well. I would not recommend to increase the tire size unless it is for a specific purpose. For looks, quality and well priced tires go for the Yokohama Geolander ATS. They are very quite on road, have good looks and long lasting. Hope this helps.

@brandan thank you for sharing such a wonderful post, however I like to show my left turn signal while overtaking rather than flashing my lights or honking. i also use my left turn signal in overtaking lane if someone wants to pass me to show them that i am overtaking and will move out of his way as soon as I get the way.

Following the introduction of a new number plate design last year, the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has now kicked off a campaign urging all motorists to upgrade to the new plates, ahead of mandatory upgrades from July for select codes. The upgrade is currently available for all types of distinguished and special number plates across all codes, and from May it will also be available optionally for unowned (allotted randomly through vehicle registration) plates. A guide on how to get a new Dubai number plate According to RTA, over the next couple of years, all categories of vehicle number plates will have to be replaced. As the RTA presses ahead with its new plates regime, unowned car plates with codes A, B and C will be among the first to be up for mandatory replacement from July. The new number plate design that includes either a black and white or colour Dubai logo, depending on the amount you pay, was launched last year after the introduction of double codes necessitated a redesign. “The RTA has developed a new strategy for number plates resulting in a new generation of number plates with double codes. This has accordingly resulted in the whole design for the number plates to be changed to adopt the single and double codes with the same design language,” said Sultan Al Marzouqi, director of RTA’s Vehicle Licensing. The double codes are being introduced as the RTA is running out of single codes, as the number of vehicles continues to rise at an alarming rate in Dubai. According to RTA, over the next couple of years, all categories of vehicle number plates — whether purchased online, bought in an auction or allotted through the vehicle registration process — will have to be replaced in phases. In the next phase, beginning January next year, plates with codes D, E, F, G, H and I will have to be replaced, while in January 2020 replacement for codes J, K, L, M, N and O will start and following that in January 2021, it will be the turn of all unowned plates with codes P to Z as well as other types of plates. Depending on the size of the plates and colour of the logo, the prices of the plates vary. A regular short number plate with a black and white logo will cost Dh35, while a long number plate in the same category will cost Dh50. For those who already own number plates with colour logo of Dubai, the replacement for the long and short plates will cost Dh35 and Dh50, respectively, while those who want to buy a new plate with coloured Dubai logo will have to pay Dh400 irrespective of the plate’s size. As for the distinguished or special number plates, the replacement will cost Dh500, with the process to be completed mandatorily by the end of this year. Al Marzouqi said motorists with owned number plates willing to get the plates replaced can either proceed immediately to any of the RTA-affiliated vehicle testing and registration centres or get it replaced at the time of their scheduled renewal, while those with unowned number plates can wait till May to do the same.

@Frederic Nuyttens thanks for posting a very interesting topic. Like @skumar83 I prefer the valve remover, as you rightly put it have to be very careful not to loose the valve. Unlike @skumar83 even after over 10 years of off-roading I keep my pressure gauge with me to use science instead of doing guess work.

Very detailed explanation and most people end up doing this. This post will definitely help all JK owners.

When it comes to ownership of cars, I've gone through a few. With a very boring line up of cars here for the middle east market and very stringent rules, when the USA car market opened up I saw a lot of Mercedes, BMW and 2 door Honda Accords. I finally managed to sell my first car, my Honda Civic. With money in hand and standing on the car market in Sharjah my eyes could not move from the 1991 Mitsubishi Eclipse GSR4. After the test drive I found out it was a double clutch, turbo charged 5 gear manual. When I popped the hood the engine was tuned by AMG which really got me interested. For a very decent price, the only hassle was to get it registered in Dubai. Besides that hassle it did not give me a Dirhams worth of trouble. But when I got married and with a family, I had no option but to sell it and get a family saloon.

A beautiful day with wonderful people. My hats off to everyone for their patience and very happy to have such amazing people on board. Thank you to @Frederic Nuyttens, @MansourZ, @hossein, @Panda82, @jibransayed, @amir.rophail, @Sajith Kumar, @Jocreative, @Javier M, @Emil and @Gaurav for supporting the drive. My hearty congratulstions to those who have qualified for the Fewbie level. Finally my long awaited wish to be able to take the newbies down Fossil Rock was granted, all thanks to the favourable nature with lots of sand in the area. The best part for me was to be able to sit back, relax and enjoy some snacks and chat. As everything comes to an end, so did our drive, but really looking forward to many more drives together.

Congratulations @jibransayed. You have truly driven well and we'll deserved promotion.

Congratulations @Frederic Nuyttens. Well deserved, great improvement in confidence and handling since your first drive. Great attitude.