Rahimdad

So it was supposed to be an exploration drive and it was just that in every sense. Although I had planned a slightly different area, but I received a coordinate from @skumar83 just a few hours before the drive and I handed it over to our trusted @Gaurav Bhai to study the area. Since it was all last minute we did not have enough time to recognize the terrain. We all met on time and headed to the coordinate given to us by Sree. As we entered and deflated and after the drivers' briefing we were off in to the unknown after midnight. The terrain seemed more of a forest than a desert and we were greeted by plenty of trees, shrubs and stubs with a lot of farm houses around, one even had a swimming pool. At the start Gaurav Bhai and I had decided that we were going to go on the other side of the road if the terrain was not suitable, it was time to do just that. So we returned to where we had started and headed to the other side which was fenced, so we drove down the road as far as we could and returned to find only 1 break in fence which had some trucks and heavy equipment. This could only mean 1 thing, the terrain was under some kind of construction and it would be unsafe, just to eradicate any doubts Gaurav Bhai had a quick run and came back with a thumbs down.

So a short conference took place and it was decided we we would head to a desert which was approximately 20 Kilometers away on Saleem Bhai's experience. This was definitely a desert but as Saleem Bhai had pointed out, there were a lot of pockets and plenty of soft sand around to keep us busy. Asif Bhai had bought a viking rope on the night and it seemed to be working overtime for this drive. We finally settled in some flat terrain to rest, discuss the details and our side of the experiences along with some tea and bites. By this time the Sun had come up and was making things hot and uncomfortable, so we decided to head back after quickly inflating.

To sum up this drive all I would like to say is that it was an exploration drive and it was not very pleasant terrain, but our team is the best I have ever experienced and the company of those around kept it interesting and bearable. Thank you to Gaurav Bhai for taking over the lead as I had my vehicle full + 1 as my family decided to come and for the food. Thank you to Asif Bhai for the tea, snacks, extra radio which he has given me for anybody who falls short and inflating a couple of my tires when my compressor coughed up in the heat. Thank you to Sree bhai who with his newly acquired Jeep Cherokee was always ready to help. Thank you to Saleem for once again being there with his Rav4 and for his helpful nature to give me for fuses to replace if the AC tripped the fuse as it would have been very unpleasant with the family without AC.

It looks very complicated and I am too lazy to drive such a dawg, moreover, I am not that big on mountain crawling as I do not have the patience for it.

The reason he did not flip was because he stopped at one spot when the car was lifting from one end, then the people came up on the side of the car that was lifting to prevent a roll over. If he had continued to push he could have easily flipped. coming down side ways and too much power is always a waste of effort and can result in unwanted circumstances.

Good point Asif bhai.

@shadow79 please bring some ready to eat food. You are most welcome to join me in my air conditioned Nissan.

2 hours ago, shadow79 said:

my 2 cents 

you will never learn by seeing others...until you yourself are knee deep going through it....

I disagree. You need to step up and take all opportunities to learn, whether it's your mistake or someone else mistake.

@waqaszohair this is indeed a great thread.

I agree with both @Gaurav Bhai and @shadow79, I would just like to add that he is not a skilled driver let alone driving off-road. He stalled the car several times and had to start it again and again. Secondly, when he turned to the right coming down with people mounting the vehicle to make sure it would not tip was foolish, if anyone fall down would come under the wheel of the car.

Best way would have been to start from a flat surface at a constant speed rather the trying to force the pace once half way up. Plus this driver uses to much brute force which I have seen plenty of times even in the desert drives here. i keep mentioning, all you need is momentum, the right speed at the right time, wheel spin does not get you anywhere, just makes all the sand flying around look good.

As for your suggestion @waqaszohair, you are now in charge of posting a scenario for us every week and we will share our points of view. hope this satisfies your urge to learn from others mistakes.

@desertdude don't worry, we have enough lights to turn night to day. Hahahaha

Thanks for signing up @skumar83, you are one of my key personal, you are in.

Thanks @Gaurav bhai for your appreciation, just to go with the spirit of exploring and re-exploring lost terrain, I thought this would be appreciated by most people who enjoy the spirit of adventure.

@Asif Hussain you are in too, can't have such an area to explore without your trusty help.

Looks like places are going soon.

Thanks @Gaurav Bhai. Brilliant initiative and I am in with full support.

Glorious moment being celebrated in an absolutely apt manner. I want the Carnity Flag though.:)

@sultanbr you can read my review on the Nitto Dura Grapplers, very comfortable and soft ride on-road, Yokohama Geolander AT-S are pretty good on-road and off-road. I would go for anything but the Dunlop Grandtreks.

I was really looking forward to this trip, but with the in-laws in town and having a 3 month visa, I cannot leave them and go, and I cannot bring them along. Let me check with my family and I will revert back within a week.

I also have some good rates for hotels, let me check and I will advise if I can get better rates for hotels in Salalah. I like @aatish suggestion though.

@amid I have realized one thing, that the less common rides are more expensive to repair and the more common ones are the ones which can be easily and cheaply repaired. If you are looking for an old vehicle I am also a huge fan of Toyota Prado, but not the VXR which is cramped with new technology which fails and is expensive to repair, but a V6 4.0 is must. The X-Terra Off-road version is a very good option. Never liked the FJ Cruiser, not good for family with half doors, restricted parking spaces like the mall make it next to impossible for the rear passengers to get in and out of the FJ. Pajero 3.8 V6 is a good option in 2014 model for both on and off-road, although a little plate to protect the rear bumper and trimming of the front bumper is compulsory for off-road use.

@Barry.all technology when newly introduced is expensive, but eventually new things get invented and you would find the technology being mass produced and cheap. I agree with @Gaurav bhai that they need to introduce a system to monitor exact volume of fuel. Although it never really bothered me, but when using a rent-a-car which I am not used to, sometimes it surprises me when the needle drops from half tank to below quarter within no time at all.

The point about the fuel tank being produced in any shape they can fit is even valid with mobile phone nowadays as the non-removable batteries are no longer rectangular, they shape it in any way they can maximize the space usage and increase the battery life by 2 -3%.

@waqaszohair I am glad you are one of those 15K members and your idea is amazing, I am all in for this drive.

The empty quarter will be filled in the winter months after some planning as we need to overnight camp, drive in the Liwa desert and some planning and good cold weather is always more than welcome on such a trip. Most probably we can do it in December on January when it is a bit cooler.

For any troubles with the wheels, axel or similar, i have used John Auto Balance and they have been a bit higher price than others, but their work is amazing. The guy you want to meet in John Auto Balance workshop is Abid, a short guy with a shorter temper, useless to ask him for discount as he will tell you there are garages that will do discounted work, but his work is thorough.

Let's be cool, but in a different way. Will try to conjure up something once my mind is free from all the work pending for me on my return.

What can I say for my come back drive? What a drive? It had suspense, drama, excitement, lots of food and variety of drinks.

We started at a good time, it was a bit humid and my car AC and Rav4 AC were not working, on the way a burned the AC clutch and we stopped momentarily for the belt to break on its own as we argued whether I should cut it or remove it. Waited for the smoke to settle and we were off, with the Rav4 AC clutch already burned, Sree had something bigger in mind and ended up burning his clutch plate all together before the end of the drive.

The area was challenging and everybody managed well except for the usual stucks and refusals. As the night progressed towards morning the breeze was nicer and cooler for the 2 cars without an AC. @Gaurav Bhai, nice selection of area and a great lead to further challenge the hardened drivers we have in our group by now. @Asif Hussain a great second lead to keep the convoy alert and occupied at the same time. @shadow79 great third place to keep the Rav4 moving amazingly smooth through some rough dunes. @Skumar83 to keep on trying your level best to manage the dunes with your manual shifter, it's not easy but you did very well, the only bummer was the fact that the clutch plate was burnt to keep you away from the awesome action at the end.

With a brief stop to eat some nice shawarmas and falafel sandwiches that @Gaurav bhai had got along with some nuts and chilled drinks, and @Asif bhai's coutesy extended with some amazing cup cakes and tea and Saleem with his own giant cool box that is really cool. After the break we headed towards Super Bowl which we reached close to day break, Cool weather in the early morning hours and good light made it a blessing to make first use of the front face of Super Bowl. We all had our turn and it was really fun, We than decided to head to the side of Super Bowl which was not that high, but the length of the dune looked amazing for some lip-smacking side sloping. However, after first use @Gaurav bhai advised us that there were some bumps which took away the fun and we need to be extra careful if we want to do the same. Next was Saleem and he soon realized the depth of the warning from Gaurav Bhai as after a jump his front wheels were swallowed by some soft sand as the car landed taking control of the steering and turning towards an upward direction with Saleem having no say in it. As a result the RAV4 flipped and was on it's side. Gaurav Bhai and I rushed to the scene with everybody else following us closely. Saleem had managed to do the one thing he was in control of, which was to switch the engine off immediately. After discussing for a while we put our plan into practice and soon Sreekumar had his rope with the shackles from the front to the rear end of the Rav4, my viking was attached to Sreekumar's rope and I slowly moved back to see if the pull would be what was required in the right direction. After making sure that we will have the desired result I made a first attempt which only slightly moved the vehicle in a sideways position down the dune, I had to than give it a little bit more power and the Rav4 was on it's 4 wheels, but had a couple of pop-outs. There were a few challenges but with the sun rearing it hot head and getting heated, we quickly popped the tires back in and were on our way to Iftar Bowl which by now had become a highway with loads of traffic. Only Gaurav Bhai made it straight up, with myself making it through my cheat route, Asif Bhai making it to the top of my car almost due to some confuion, but closely missed my car. and the Rav4 almost making it to the top just touching the peak. Unfortunately Sreekumar could not play because of his burnt clutch. All in all, the drive was challenging and eventful and I could not have asked for a better gift on my return.

If you are in Al Nahda, just make a 10 minutes drive from Sahara Center Road towards Sharjah and you will see a lot of shops doing brake pads for Pajero. My tested and tried workshop in Sharjah is John Auto Balance. I am not sure if Grand Service Station in Ghusais will change brake pads, but they are reliable and do a good job.

Try Mansoor tires behind Gold and Diamond Park, they are reasonably priced and do a good quality work as per my personal experience.

Just to add to what @Gaurav bhai has mentioned, it is always better to know your vehicle and check you Pajero Manual that comes with the car to make sure what is required on each service. If the garage people have a hint that you are not sure about the work you want to carry out, they will take you for a ride and at times be more expensive than the stealerships in town.

We need to find the ABS fuse and remove it for the drives, or you can install a switch to turn it off and on as required. Saleem might be able to help with the switch installation, but his garage is in Ajman.

I missed a great trip with some amazing people. Wishing @DiamondDallas all the best along with his family for his future.

Should be coming up soon with the birthday celebration for Carnity just around the corner. Suggestions are most welcome to make it big.

Firstly I would like to thank @Gaurav bhai for making the change of venue and to all participants to make it to the new meeting point and making this trip happen. The briefing was comprehensive and there was a surprise in it for all. The once banned Rav4 was not only joining us for the drive, it was going to lead us all for a while. How exciting!!! So we started cautiously, but tried to build up some difficulty level, unfortunately one of the dips meant we has a broken radiator again. Saleem was quick to the rescue and MSeal was once again our savior although Gaurav bhai had a few tricks in his bags other than our regular MSeal. So the bar was open for service and some tasty treats from Gaurav bhai kept us full while some snoozed away at the opportunity. Surprisingly, although the city was hot, but the spot we got had a nice cool breeze to keep us all comfortable. Stories were also exchanged and it was total fun.

By the time the radiotor was fixed the sun had also made its way to spread its light without making a full fledge appearance.As Saleem continued to lead the drive he was extra careful in selecting the route and took us to the spot where we love to do some side sloping. We had plenty of fun taking turns and although Asif bhai was a bit hesitant in the beginning, but eventually got his monster to growl, Saleem who was making rounds as if he wanted to reach somewhere yesterday and Gaurav Bhai showing us exactly how it should be done.

 We than drove to the top of Fossil Rock where we stopped for a BBQ breakfast which has been the highlight now for 2 drives. This is how health conscious we are. After that we came down on the other side and just before heading out we decided to play for a while. This too gave us a lot of thrills and some show-off time. Once again all I will say is brilliant time with amazing people. Gaurav Bhai treated us to some ice cream before heading back and it was another one for the books. 

Thank you from the bottom of the heart to all participants for being flexible enough for the venue due to my situation and well done Saleem for keeping everyone excited and well fed. I will be missing in action for a couple of weeks as I will be taking on a trip to the wild wild west and I will see you all on the other side of my vacation.