Frederic

All these numbers and digits are quite meaningless and invaluable to me. I'd rather go for:

That’s exactly why we keep preaching to leave your egos at home during off-roading. It eventually goes wrong and the desert “giveth but also taketh”..😉

Looks like the SKIM module (immobilizer) that is not being recognized by the new PCM. I think only Jeep dealer will be able to re-program the PCM.

Apparently a brain aneurysma

Just heard about the surprising news of Grant Imahara's sudden death at age 49. He was involved in many shows such as Mythbusters, White Rabbit Project, Battlebots, and i was always in awe of his technical expertise and humble personality. Rest in peace Grant Imahara.

When replacing the PCM, the key and immobilizer will need to be reprogrammed, because it is not recognizing the new PCM.

"The Bronco, available in both two- and four-door models, starts at $29,995 for a base two-door and $34,695 for the four-door. That setup comes with a 2.3-liter EcoBoost inline-four (projected to make 270 horsepower and 310 lb-ft of torque) and a seven-speed Getrag manual transmission. Ford likes to call first gear a crawler gear, which, when paired with the optional automatic four-wheel-drive transfer case, delivers a 94.8:1 crawl ratio—similar, actually, to a Wrangler Rubicon. The shift pattern puts that gear, "C", below reverse, to keep it out of the way during daily driving. The manual is only available with the 2.3, which can also be paired with a 10-speed automatic. The optional 2.7-liter EcoBoost V-6 is slated to make 310 horsepower and 400 lb-ft of torque. So whichever engine you choose, your Bronco is going to be turbocharged"

Never been a Ford fan, but seems they did their homework on the Bronco. https://www.google.ae/amp/s/www.caranddriver.com/news/amp33277335/2021-ford-bronco-specs-revealed/ I do however have concerns over the turbo, and the toll heavy dune bashing in 45 degrees takes..

I see Fderik.... must be my native land 🤣

We shall never talk about it again.... PS i bought a USA spec 2007 FJ Cruiser TRD in Saudi Arabia some years back... SAME PROBLEM 😅

The price is based on how much the market or potential buyer wants to pay. So i think that's hard to say. If the car is in perfect technical condition, then it might be giving you lots of smiles and power for 25kAED.

Toyota US spec should be similar to a GCC vehicle i presume. But resale value will be lower (purchasing price also).

The Tundra is an amazing beast, and i also like those big trucks a lot. On the other hand i always felt this is more of an overlanding vehicle and less of a dunebashing vehicle due to the weight, but have seen them dunebashing too. Your petrol consumption in the desert will be mostlikely above 35l/100km so that might be the less fun thing.

On a regular basis, we get requests from the more "modern" SUV owners if their car is suitable for offroading in the desert dunes. There have been many new vehicles introduced in the market that are sold as All Wheel Drive vehicles, and the showroom will be filled with banners showing this car drifting through the Arabian deserts, enticing the potential owners and making them believe they can take on any terrain. Within Carnity, we are openminded about accepting SUV's as long as they have sufficient ground clearance, and have proper tow hooks so we can recover the vehicle safely. But after a few drives, some owners might come to realize that this vehicle is not the right match for offroading, and that those banners in the showroom didn't tell the complete story. Below i will highlight a few main factors that might help in new potential offroad vehicle owners make the right decision based on their wishes of type of terrain they'd like to concquer. Ground clearance Ground clearance describes the distance from the ground to the lowest point of the car. In offroading this is important, as a vehicle with ground clearance below 8inch (200mm) might get stuck on boulders, or bushes, or other things you might come across once you go offroad. Less ground clearance also means that as soon as you sink in the sand it will be much harder to recover yourself as your vehicle's underbody will be immediately resting on the sand. Approach and Departure Angles For dune driving/bashing, the approach and departure angles are essential to know and understand. If you approach a dune, you might hit the front bumper if you have insufficient approach angles, and when descending, a too low departure angle will scoop up the sand and might break your rear bumper. Most stock offroad vehicles will have an approach angle of 30-40° and a departure angle of 25-35° - Toyota Landcruiser Prado LWB: Approach angle 30.4°, Departure angle 23.5° - Mitsubishi Pajero LWB: Approach angle 36.6°, Departure angle 25° - Jeep Wrangler SWB: Approach angle 44°, Departure angle 37° - Jeep Wrangler Unlimited: Approach angle 42.2°, Departure angle 32° - Landrover Discovery Sport: Approach angle 25.°, Departure angle 31° - Nissan Xtrail: Approach angle 17.2.°, Departure angle 25° - Nissan Pathfinder R52: Approach angle 14.7.°, Departure angle 22.3° As you can see in above specs, certain SUV's will have issues with low approach and departure angles, with the resulting risk of damaging or breaking the bumpers. Fitting bigger wheels or a lift kit / suspension kit will improve the ground clearance and also the approach and departure angles. Overall Performance The Hp/Ton ratio will help to understand how the vehicle will be able to get through the terrain. For light offroading, most vehicles should be fine as long as your expectations are realistic. Anything below 80hp/Ton will most likely struggle on soft sand, crosstracks, but again it will also depend on the skills of the driver. Low Range Gearing Any regular proper 4x4 is equipped with low range gearing (4L lever selection), which enables to do self-recovery by utilizing the maximum torque at a very slow speed. This acts essentially as a crawling gear. On more modern SUV's this option is often left out, and as a result self-recovery in the dunes becomes impossible. It goes without saying this is a major dealbreaker and when driving in a club environment it does spoil the fun for yourself and your team-mates, knowing that on every stuck the only option will be to use a kinetic rope. Types of Offroading in the UAE Hard gravel, desert farm tracks (LIGHT OFFROADING) Any vehicle with AWD or 4x4 should be able to deal with this terrain. You can deflate to 25psi on desert tracks to increase flotation, but be careful with low proflle tyres and the fact that deflation will decrease your ground clearance. Wadi driving, Rocky Roads, Mountains (MEDIUM OFFROADING) In this type of offroading, your ground clearance definitely comes into play, and the approach and departure angles will also make the difference between succesfully crawling over a boulder, or hitting it with your bumper. Low profile tyres are definitely to be avoid in this terrain, as it might puncture or damage the sidewalls and/or rims. Dune driving, Dune Bashing (TYPICAL UAE CLUB OFFROADING) The most thrilling of the three types , where all above factors such as ground clearance, angles, and performance all play important roles. This is where SUV's will just manage on Newbie levels, but from Fewbie level onwards one or more of the mentioned factors will become a major hurdle (power, angles, or clearance). So whenever you look at changing your vehicle, or when someone asks you "Is my vehicle suitable for offroading ?" you might want to look at above factors and clearly ask him if he wants to drive on farm tracks, or wants to go dunebashing.

Good topic, and depends on vehicle to vehicle. The Generation 4 Pajero for example is known for its rather slow gear change behavior in D, and while for Newbie drives this is acceptable, the moment you start doing Fewbie drives you'll notice that it will be up or down shifting JUST at the moment you don't want it. So Tiptronic at that moment becomes the better option. Like we always say, you can offroad with any car in the desert ONCE you totally understand and know the car and learn to live and work around the flaws the vehicle has. We've all been there.

I am also skipping if she starts flying 😅

Not exactly 90 degrees, i intentionally put my car slightly towards the vehicle to be recovered. In this case because i was standing on a steep incline, and his car was already pointing downwards, i hardly had to pull him. It was more like a gentle tow (not tug), and as soon as the started to move he could point the wheels downwards.

Congrats @Wrangeld and @Jeepie !! I still see you on the first drive with Marjan staring at the Pink Rock ascent, and the TJ did not feel like it wanted to go up. Slowly but surely like Herbie, the TJ has accepted you and Marjan, and now shines brilliantly and with a blush and takes you both from Dubai downtown to all corners of the UAE ! Fast forward less than a year and both of you reached this level and there is no knowing who’s gonna be able to hold you guys back. Absolutely hard work you’ve both put in and for people driving in the desert in this time of year you perfectly know it has to be a passion, otherwise we could all stay in bed and on the couch with the AC on. Enjoy it and on to the next one !

Congrats @Wrangeld and @Jeepie !! I still see you on the first drive with Marjan staring at the Pink Rock ascent, and the TJ did not feel like it wanted to go up. Slowly but surely like Herbie, the TJ has accepted you and Marjan, and now shines brilliantly and with a blush and takes you both from Dubai downtown to all corners of the UAE ! Fast forward less than a year and both of you reached this level and there is no knowing who’s gonna be able to hold you guys back. Absolutely hard work you’ve both put in and for people driving in the desert in this time of year you perfectly know it has to be a passion, otherwise we could all stay in bed and on the couch with the AC on. Enjoy it and on to the next one !

This SWB 3.5 Pajero drives totally different than a Super Safari, you cannot compare these vehicles as the Super Safari is powerful but very heavy, while the SWB Pajero has Power and agility because it’s a lot lighter.

Congrats with the beautiful Pajero @tjsingh ! I would start with the essential first things and determine if the car is overheating while driving or mainly when idling. Following things to be checked: - radiator, is it clogged or not. - thermostat still working properly. - Clutch viscous fan. - A/C fan.

I wouldn’t recommend Pedal Commander. Your Wrangler has more than enough power and your throttle response issue is just yourself that needs to gel with the vehicle and it’s capabilities. A pedal commander might increase response time and will make your car feel more agressive behaving, but it also puts a lot more strain on the drivetrain components. Make sure you’re well deflated on these days 12psi should be ok, going to 13-14 and higher and you’ll start feeling that you need to apply more power to make it through and will struggle more.

Glad to see your observations @MlHazim. This stuck is actually not that bad. In most scenarios you can turn your wheels towards gravity and in 4Lo with applying gentle blips crawl your way out. If unsuccessful then attach the recovery rope and gently pull the car downwards at the front. in above photo you see a recovery from last week where the car was also at a steep angle. We gently pulled the front of the car downwards and the driver steers completely left. With a gentle tug you can let gravity do the rest.

Some cars do that on some frequencies on some radios: @Gaurav and my car doesn’t like Channel 3. Sometimes interference is unavoidable due to other people on same frequency, sometimes it’s indeed the radio (CN888 unfortunately doesn’t have a squelch setting), and sometimes it’s your car engine causing the interference. Next time we drive together I’ll give you one of my spare radios for some testing.