Rahimdad

5 hours ago, sertac said:

@BENNY THOMAS there is newbie drive this friday. 

More like next Friday, have a whole week to prepare.

It's time to have a relaxed newbie to feeble drive in our much-loved sandbox - Maliha - Fossil rock. Looking forward to an easy relaxing drive for everyone with plenty of opportunities to learn and grow, hill climb, and ridge riding. Newbies and Fewbies will have great chance to see and learn the real fun that off-roading offers in a very safe and organized environment. Level May be changed upon convoy level.

When: 30 March 2018
Meeting time: 0630 am, convoy will move about 7 am
Where: Adnoc Petrol Station Maleha Road

GPS Coordinate: https://goo.gl/maps/mzb26kxzte72

Level of drive: Newbie - Fewbie - All are welcome
Type of Car: Any proper 4x4 with front and back tow hooks and 10 inches of ground clearance.
Plan: Drive, train and enjoy till about 11 am
What to bring along: Loads of snacks, plenty of water - 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

Yes. My wife's Pajero has the bullbar and how hitch installed from So Habtoor Motors, but at the time of passing removed them, for the car passed and reinstalled them.

Yokohama Geolanders ATS are a good choice for aggressive tire thread look, are light and good choice for tires.

For the spacers do not get the Iranian home made ones, get proper branded Australian or American ones, but the tires should not be showing outside the car body, so you will have to change your fender flares also.

LESs inside the car no issues, but head lamps is a no for RTA unless they come factory installed. LED bar should be covered at the time of passing.

Hope this helps.

Welcome @BENNY THOMAS to your place for everything to do with cars.

I am glad you are deciding to join us for your first taste of off-road driving. We will soon post an absolute newbie training which will help you understand the basics and know your Keep Grand Cherokee that much better. Is it the penta star V6 or the V8 version?

Be very cautious with the lower lip of your bumper, better to remove before you come and try to find out the fuse for your ABS and airbag. Better to remove those while off-roading.

Best to have a flag, radio and air compressor to start with. You will find more information here...

Try in the Musaffah area.

@Jeh it's not just the places visited or not being adrenaline packed, it was a journey to brag about. We thoroughly enjoyed the drive and the climb to the top of the Du tower. What a breath taking view. Thanks for the great post. Loved every moment including The company of your guests, they were fun to be with. Looking forward to more such drives.

Let me start by thanking @jeh for posting sosomething really different and ended up is one of the days to brag about for a lot of reasons.

It all started in the early morning hours and a good stretch of drive on road with some scenic mountains on the way in the early morning hours as the Sun tried to make its way up was such a visual treat. Upon reaching to wadi we had a quick driver brief, deflated and were on our way. We saw some more early risers on the way which gave a really good vibe. After all the camels and Gazals and Oryx we finally got to see a donkey which was different.As we drove through the wadi @Gaurav commentedvdo you remember this from last year Rahim bhai and I was like but that was a different place. Right towards the end I had to eat my words as it was the same wadi with a different entrance. On the way we came across a mountain where Du had its tower, it was a steep but easy climb to the top which gave us an awesome viewpoint. The drive, route chosen and company of some awesome people made it an amazing experience.

But it did not end here, as we continued to drive towards Barra the anticipation grew. We stopped on the way to inflate and kept on driving through some scenic mountains. As we reached the point we were greeted by the tallest painting on the wadi wall of the late HH Sheikh Zayed and the late HH Sheikh Rashid which made us stand up and salute the pioneers of this amazing place UAE. As we drove to the top of the dam wall another visual treat awaited us. The beautiful calm water in between the mountains and a lot of activities going on, mostly kayaking.

At this point I started to miss my family and it was too close to Friday prayer time. So bidding Jeh and his friends Adieu we headed to the Mosque just in time to offer my Friday prayers. After the Friday prayers and everyone missing the sands we headed to Maliha where we started a completely different track to attack the Fossil Rocks and found steps to climb it one step at a time. Unfortunately at one stage we had a burster radiator, but once again with good team effort we got the vehicle out on the road without ever having to start the engine.

We inflated our tires once again as we waited for the recovery truck to arrive and with snacks and drinks flowing time became irrelevant. Many thanks to Jeh once again for such a brilliant day out and this gives us an idea to make a family trip to use the kayaking to the maximum. Until next time I bid you farewell.

12 hours ago, EmVarlet said:

Unfortunately I really can’t on 16th. Feel bad about that but no choice. Sorry guys.

No need to feel bad. It happens. You might not be able to make it this time, there will still be plenty of more opportunities. It would help if you could shout it out to your family and friends. More crowd we have more efficient and effective to clean such a large area which is so badly effected. Any help will go a long way.

Wow, been waiting for this. I am not so familiar with the wadi and mountains, good to have an expert in this witin the Carnity group. Thanks for posting such a wonderful outing @Jeh. I'm in and need full support.

Welcome Anna to your very own forum. We are looking forward to your experiences, tips and tricks. Please feel free to ask any questions, we are here to share.

I read this almost 10 years back.

BTW the Land Rover borrowed the 4x4 DNA from Jeep.

Looks  the Bushanab. Toyota Land Cruiser truck.

Great initiative. Long awaited. Finally here. I am in with full support.

More suggestions from all members are most welcome. This is our community and we need to have it our way. This will not happen if we don't share our point of view. Lets make this community truly ours.

Congrats @skumar83 and @Asif Hussain you have won many a hearts and are true stars.

This morning driving to office I saw a strange but familiar looking vehicle. Was it a Chevrolet Trail Blazer, was it a GMC Convoy. Picture posted below, please advise?

Good question @skumar83. The hearing ratios are slightly different but not all that much, with a good automatic transmission you can get the job done, but with a manual it is a breeze, plus you get better petrol consumption on road.

@Vinod Krishna Murthy you have a wonderful spirit and you're a good team player. Good to have you on board and looking forward to many such adventures. Surprised with the generous power and torque produced by you 2.7 on 4 cylinders.

Thank you Carnity for the honour and the chance to contribute within our community. Like any community it needs fresh and engaging ideas to improve it and make it a better place. I feel honoured to be a part of this change and looking forward to more contributions from everyone. Some one wise once said there are no bad questions or ideas, just bad answers. Lets keep our minds and hearts open and speak up. Remember that nobody will know what you're thinking of you don't speak up.

Lets all contribute with an idea each at least to get this journey started.

Thank you Sertac for the brief on our drive, yet I would like to add my own version.

The morning was a brilliant choice, specially with some cloud cover which made a long drive very pleasurable. Beside a delay in start we headed to the Tawi Nizwa farms where after deflation and driver brief we started of an easy patch this time we just headedin to a patch which was a bit soft and quite a few bowls, We just played on top of the dunes and made it to Pink Rocks, as usual we had our play time. While at the play area i gave a choice to the group if they would like to head to Big Red or Faya and Fossil Rocks, the quick decision was to head to Faya and Fossil Rocks, and off we went.

We crossed over to the other side and every one performed so well that we reached the opposite side of Faya within no time. As Sertac already mentioned there were zero stucks, just a few refusals which were managed in a very timely manner. At this point we had another short discussion where unanimously all decided to head to Faya first and then to Fossil Rocks. As soon as we reached Faya everyone anted to try to reach Faya from the front, whcih none of us was able to do, I decided to show them the cheat route where Sertac and Emmanuel were able to reach the top, but Vinod and myself decided to take another easier route from the back as 4 cylinder is just a littel under powered. After a few refusals from the back we all made it to the top and were treated to a magnificent view. Time to move to Fossil Rocks.

To my surprise these new comers are fast learners and managed very well to reach Faya to Fossil Rocks in just over 20 minutes. The decent from Fossil Rocks is very steep and requires a brief after which we all tried our hands at this challenge. Once again everyone followed the instructions well and we all reached the bottom of Fossil Rocks safely and thrilled with this experience. While on the way out from our normal route we came across a Land Cruiser Truck stuck, so we all headed towards him to check if he needs help, but he claimed that it was due to not deflating, so we finally headed out and inflated at the Adnoc Station close by.

Over 50 kms completed in about 4 hours and 30 minutes, an amazing feat when you think couple of these guys have only been on their very few outings with us. Great patience, spirit, execution of instructions and convoy discipline. Thank you @sertac, @EmVarlet, @vinod krisna murty for their participation, i now pronounce you Fewbie plus level, except for Sertac who is already at an advanced level.

I always got lucky and never regret any of my buys. My first car was a Handa Civic DX 1991 model manual everything, even glasses, no power stearing, no cry, loved it.

My second one was a Mitsubishi Eclipse GSR4 1990 model with Turbo, manual and tuned by AMG,, AWD, my favorite most.

Once I got married I had to sell it and buy a Toyota Echo in 2001 which I drove for 7 years, trouble free car and gave me a good resale value within no time of posting the ad.

2008 is when I wanted to go off-roading so bought myself a Jeep Commander 5.7 Hemi, what a beast and my first taste of American luxury and the Jeep off-roading DNA.

2011 I sold the 5.7 Hemi for a 3.9 V8 Land Rover Discovery 1998 model, British Luxury at its best. This is when I really learned to drive in the sands.

2011 also I bought a Renault Clio 2008 model which I loved but destroyed in 2009 with no insurance.

2012 I bought the Renault Megane, drive was fantastic, but I hate the dealership and they really hurt me bad, loved the car, hated the expense in maintaining it, lost loads on the resale value and that was the only bitter experience about the buy.

2016 my current R50 Nissan Pathfinder 2001 model, very basic, very capable.

How much did you enjoy your first drive?

My first drive came after 6 months of reading all kinds of material on off-roading, although I knew exactly what was written in the books, everything seemed fresh to me and my first drive was fearful.

What did you enjoy about the drive?

I enjoyed learning from the experience, seeing everything I had read for 6 months come and present a challenge to me, I needed my peers to get through that first experience.

Which part of the drive you think you enjoyed the best which you would like to repeat?

I enjoyed the concept as a whole and wanted to learn more and more and got more comfortable with time, I enjoyed it so much I have been repeating the experience week after week for over 10 years now.

Do you think there was a good mix of lecture and practical, was the lecture too long, and any part that can be avoided or done in a shorter or different way? Do you think anything else could be added to the lecture?

I always felt that even if I knew what was to be done a driver's brief in the beginning helped revise the rules to be followed and gives you a sense of the day's proceedings and keeps you focused.

Do you think prior reading material would help?

It helped me to read everything about off-roading for 6 months, but nothing replicates the experience.

Would you know where on the Carnity forum you would be able to find the information you are looking for?

Although i know where to find the information, I am trying to index it in a way where it could be easier to find, any suggestions will be very helpful.

Is there anything you think could be done in a better way?

What I do is because I think it is the best way to learn, but I need constructive criticism to better myself.

How do you suggest to make things better for the new comers?

Any suggestions are most welcome, I am trying to do the best I can from my experience.

How do you think you can progress within the current atmosphere and learning opportunities provided?

I thank Carnity for this opportunity as there are many things I have learned from all my fellow off-roaders in the past one year.

With a 10 years experience in off-roading I have learned from my seniors to part the knowledge I have gained from them and from my experiences so that driving in the sands is a safer bet. I have always enjoyed coming across like minded people who want to learn and step up to learn and practice driving in the sands safely. In turn the best part is that I get to learn from all the newbies every time. As a part of this growth I would like my off-roading buddys to share their experience with me so I can get better at the sport I love and can offer a more competent and complete set of training.

I have designed the below set of questions which would help everyone to share their experience in a structured way. You may copy and paste these questions to the reply page and type out your answers from your experience. I will start by sharing my experiences with all.

How much did you enjoy your first drive?

What did you enjoy about the drive?

Which part of the drive you think you enjoyed the best which you would like to repeat?

Do you think there was a good mix of lecture and practical, was the lecture too long, and any part that can be avoided or done in a shorter or different way? Do you think anything elese could be added to the lecture?

Do you think prior reading material would help?

Would you know where on the Carnity forum you would be able to find the information you are looking for?

Is there anything you think could be done in a better way?

How do you suggest to make things better for the new comers?

How do you think you can progress within the current atmosphere and learning opportunities provided?

Thank you all

Thank you Sertac for a first and most amazing drive. Talking about flavour, you bring it all buddy. I am sure everyone enjoyed and had an amazing time.

We started a bit late, but for me its always the quality of the time spent rather than the quantity of time spent. It was well worth the wait. After a quick driver briefing and deflation we were off for the most amazing lead in a long time. Sertac, proud of you buddy, learning really fast. As we drove 1 dune over the other, we were joined by our very own Gaurav Bhai, and the fun continued.

We even got a chance to play on our favourite set of dunes with some awesome side slopping, we could not stop as once was not enough and everyone wanted to better their performance from their previous try. We again headed toward the track and then took a deviation towards a nice shade to have our breakfast. By now I am sure we were all hungry, I certainly was famished. To our surprise Asif Bhai and his family had prepared a special treat in the form of a cake for Gaurav Bhai and Sohini Bhabhi's wedding anniversary. As we filled ourselves the time just ran ahead of us and we started packing up and heading out towards the mosque for the Friday prayers.

In the rush to head for the prayers and some confusion we had a bit of a crash which ended up in a 2 day affair, a cast, a few X-rays and coming across some very rude authorities, but as always as a team we faced the challenges and ended up with all on the bright side.

Until next time ride safe and catch you on the dunes.