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Frederic

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Everything posted by Frederic

  1. Near my hometown in Belgium there was a massive fog pile-up incident in 1996 that caused 200 cars to crash into each other and took the lives of 10 people, with 56 heavily wounded and 30 light wounded. Abu-Dhabi in 2008 had similar accident where 8 people died and also 200 cars were involved. Main reason was that there was a lake next to the highway and the fog over that lake caused a massive fog-wall that morning only on that specific area. Due to the crashes, fire started and people got killed purely from not being able to escape the fire. I still remember this clearly and i hope to never see it again. Please drive safe whenever fog sets up and use fog lights if possible. NEVER use the hazard lights. Adjust your speed until you can ensure that you have sufficient visbility and time to react.
  2. As most of my family and especially my uncles all drove Opel, The Manta A and B series, and then the Corsa, Kadett, and Astra models are part of my youth growing up. I can still recall the smell of the lightbrown perforated leather seats of the Manta my uncle used to have, and was totally in love with the Manta GT/E. A friend of mine still has the Kadett GT/E which he uses for oldtimer meetings. Opel however was known for rusting faster than the speed of light, especially on the wheel arches. Technically they had their hits and misses but if i ever come across an Opel GT, or Manta A in good condition i'd be shouting "TAKE MY MONEY"
  3. We get most of your fabrication and welding works done by Najm Al Waha, located in Sharjah near university city road. They are however more specialized in industry so not really sure if they cater automotive but might be worth asking. You can give a call to Mohammed Shafeeq on 050 409 4183.
  4. I guess we all have bought a few lemons in our lifetime and every time life throws a lesson at you. I'm still stuck with the issue that i sometimes tend to completely fall in love with a car and overlook all the technicalities and pros and cons. I've also bought quite some cars that i knew had some issues and fixing to do, but that helped me in knocking down the price and then get a reliable mechanic to do a decent repair and do some other fixes myself too. Many junkyard worthy cars i bought ended up looking 10x better after a year and always sold them at a decent price. If i can choose between losing money on depreciation, or buying an old car and putting some money down to restore it to its former glory, i'd go for the second option as i gives me more satisfaction.
  5. The boys from Dirt Every Day have a new episode dedicated to the XJ, @sertac and @Srikumar you might like it: Would love to go and check out these trails with these guys !!
  6. That was a 2010 model if i remember correctly. He bought it in Dubai and took it with him when he had to move to Saudi. Wonderful car, but you don’t see them often on the roads.
  7. Had a friend with a Hyundai Vera Cruz 3.6. Has put 400,000km plus on it and hardly had any issues.
  8. I’m flying back to the sandpit tonight after a week in Barcelona. God I will miss the food, weather, and the people.. see you guys next week if there’s a drive ! Take care !
  9. After arriving in Saudi Arabia and looking for a fun car to drive that i could also take to the desert, I went shopping around and came across a 2008 FJ Cruiser in voodoo blue with the roof rack, stereo upgrade, cold air intake, and hardly a scratch. Mileage was a bit high at around 200,000 kms but it was the best looking FJ in the area after weeks of searching. Fast forward a few weeks when I go into a small patch of desert near to the compound where I’m living and get stuck immediately, although i deflated and ASSUMED this was a permanent 4x4. Well, this US model was a 2WD.... hence the low selling price 😔😔 Kept it another year and then left Saudi, but that was a hard lesson learned not to be falling in love too quickly and hasty. But the car itself was fantastic as pretty fast.
  10. Welcome Xaf ! You’ll find that this forum contains lots of information about taking your first steps in the desert. Browsing through it will bring you up to speed on the basics and our Carnity off-road family will teach you the rest in real life !
  11. Thanks to the fantastic service of @shadow79 and Jalil, all bushings are replaced and I’ll be joining in tonight !
  12. After initially having thought that the wobbly driving and clunking noise was only coming from my front shocks, now i found out that my right trailing arm bushing is completely gone. When letting go of the throttle the car wobbles from left to right like crazy, which probably means the rear axle is sitting loose for the moment 😤. i will need to cancel out for this drive guys, I don’t want to take any risks and will leave the car at home until this is solved. Currently waiting for estimates on front shocks and trailer arm bushings but no update yet. @shadow79 I suppose you don’t have those parts available in Ajman ? My workshop is currently a bit overloaded and the owner is out of the country.
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