Rahimdad

@RohanH the truth is bitter. Off-roading is a sport which if you take seriously and want to develop yourself will require a commitment and a cost incorporated to it. You might be able to answer your own questions. As you said this is your family car, what he opens if the damage is not just a bent bumper and requires serious 2 weeks at the garage, what are you going to fall back on? Luckily good and most used off-road toys don't fall below 10-12k and have already been through the depreciation cycle. Most off-road toys like Wranglers, X-Tetras, FJ have not lost their resale value in the last 3 - 4 years. Which means you can use and resell your off-road toy without a big loss. Just the extra cost involved. Another question is would you rather loose a 30k car or a 12k car? If you can still get full comprehensive insurance I guess the 30k car lose will mean with proper off-road insurance will give your money back to you, with a 12k car with 3rd party insurance it's a total loss. If you advance to the next level and want to drive say on intermediate level I can think of terrains you would hate to take your Pajero. My preference is to have a cheap second 4x4 for off-roading.

Was one of them Shan? I remember my brother being very upset. Shan was a good swimmer and saved himself, but went back to save one of his friend and was able the save her, but drowned himself. His body was found later on the shores of Oman. It was a very sad day indeed.

A sincere request to not venture out to the desert or Wadi alone. Also a word of caution to anybody heading towards the wadis during the rain, it is very unsafe due to the threat of flash floods. https://m.khaleejtimes.com/uae/sharjah/video-four-people-found-dead-in-sharjah-as-floods-swept-wadi

I have had a good experience with Toby's light bars available at Dragon mart and through their own shop in Deira Car Accessories side near Hyatt Regency. I had 3 friends I helped getting those lights, they are well priced, not cheap, and as per the feedback they have served well for over 2 years now for 1 of my friend and about a year and a half for the other 2. Hope this helps. However 24 inches means you are going to have it around the front bumper which will give you god visibility in front, if you are looking for a far vision it is better to have a roof mounted one atleast 50 inches.

Hi @Nacho, since you are on this drive I will bring your rope set along with me. I thought you were travelling, hope not out of Dubai as you need to quarantine yourself if you travel abroad.

@Foxtrot Oscar welcome to your own individual ID. Dr @Chaitanya D congrats on your new desert toy. Welcome to club X.

It's great to see someone make an effort and go through old threads and videos to see our achievements. With the current heat I will not suggest it, however in college months we can have a desert clean up drive. One thing I have realized over time, people are not respectful and you can have a clean up drive every week and the following week you will find the same amount of garbage lying around. In my opinion an educational mindset would be more helpful. So having our facts right and approach anyone throwing anything out of the car and educating them about the cleanliness being a safety requirement for the animals and insect living in the desert. I was pleasantly surprised to see the ladies in @Ale Vallecchi car jumping out every time we had a stuck and picking up the garbage people had thrown away. Surely there must be several ways we can tackle this issue, and any ideas to educate the less respectful will be appreciated.

Happy birthday @Xaf and congratulations on your promotion. Very well deserved. I have a soft corner for Dutch people and you're part of another group we belong to, so all the more happy to have a fellow like you promoted to the Advanced level. Who better to understand getting the hours under the belt than a pilot. Very happy to see you grow and develop your skills so quickly.

Congratulations @Ale Vallecchi. You are a true gentleman and off-road enthusiast. I still remember when we first met at 2nd December Cafe and you needed a tire pressure gauge. I invited you to join us at that time, you surely took your time. However I am glad you joined and are enjoying yourself by expressing yourself openly. Really happy that you are part of our team and family to take this sport in a positive direction. Congratulations on making it to the advanced level, well deserved.

Congratulations @Anish S.

Congratulations @Najeeb Mohammed.

Congratulations @Nacho. Well done.

Congratulations @Matti Brockman, amazing improvement.

Congratulations @Jolly Abraham. Well done bro.

Congratulations @asifk

Great @Emmanuel thanks for sharing. With number of Xterra's increasing in our community this thread is definitely going to help loads.

It will be a good idea to change your engine mounts before changing the pipe or you might have a second casualty.

Trip Report - what a bag of mixed feeling starting up for the drive. It’s almost 2 months since my previous drive and being locked down in the house with only time out for grocery shopping or a hospital visit. Either ways there was so much nervous energy and the first block in my path was the Bidayer area being completely dug up. As I reached close to our meeting point the area was all dug up and I had to go back to the bridge and come again to the right spot. My second attempt was successful and it was a pleasure to see everybody reach on time and deflating. as I started to deflate there were a few quick hellos exercised with caution for the respect of rules set for Social distancing. This set my mind to some peace, but it was hot. In normal situations we are more into night drives which are cooler. As we finished deflating the voice of @Gaurav bhai carried instructions for the drive and lots of reassurance. With that we were handed our convoy position for the drive. it was @Desert Dweller first time as sweep, did she manage to impress, read on to find out. As expected the sand was soft, but for many who started driving in the winters when sand was hard had an experience of the softer sands which had baked all day under the sun, @Gaurav bhai tried to lower the level and we would have a great quick run, but as soon as we would encounter a soft medium dune we would eventually get a stuck or a refusal. With every stuck and refusal we were challenged and it came with a lesson for all of us, by now my excitement was in total positive note and I had no doubt observing such a civilised crowd to follow each and every instruction as told. just towards the end of the drive and thankfully close to the fence @Denizzalbayrak car started heating up. The we decision was for me to lead out everybody with @Desert Dweller as my sweep, while @Gaurav and @Xaf would help @Denizzalbayrak with his dilemma. As we rode through the track to the Tawi Nizwa shops we were lucky to see an Oryx. After a few quick clicks we were on our way out. I was again pleasantly surprised to see everybody parked at a safe distance following the rules set to combat the Current situation. As we inflated we saw @Gaurav bhai and @Xaf ride out and join us for inflation. The Chevy Trail blazer was missing and as I later found out was fur to time constraints. As I headed out and back home, I had to break my fast on my way, lucky for me, my wife had packed some goodies for me. All in all a wonderful drive with law abiding citizens and long awaited comeback for me. I would like to thank you all for a warm welcome back, specially the weather. Around 6 pm while inflating a realisation crept in as to how we have to go back home at the cooler time e we hen we should be starting the drive practically. And no I have not forgotten, I was keeping one eye on our @Desert Dweller and she did an awesome job at sweeping. Well done, amazing to see you learn and grow, looking forward to one of our First Lady Marshal in Carnity if she’s not the first girl there. i have posted my pictures in the Gallery so enjoy.

Thanks for sharing, I had no clue on any of these.

@Janarthan if really only 140k driven than 9k seems fair price, but remember it is 17 years old car and requires so.e maintenance so try to bargain and bring down the price close to 6 or 7 k after you like it. Any amount saved is extra cash in your pocket for repairs and mods.