Frederic

Congrats @yogic72 !!

Same here

Yes, we use the LIFTEK brand here at work, and have several ones laying around. We get them tested every year by a third-party company and we are pretty happy with them. I think if well dimensioned they are a very good alternative to a "4x4 Offroad" branded strap that would cost you a lot more.

Bigger size rims = more expensive tyres. Bigger size rims = more offset in actual speed shown on speedometer. Bigger size rims = not ideal if you or your significant other likes to park against the curbs. Bigger size rims = will probably slightly increase fuel consumption, but not sure of that. Bigger size rims = less tyre height = will drive "harder" on the road, less comfort. Bigger size rims = will make you stand out more of the "regular" Pajero driving crowd

Amazing stuff. Letting my neighbours think i drive a new Pajero every single week 😂

With so much information that can be found online, i wanted to try to bundle this a bit into 1 article to make things easier for people new to off roading here to provide a bit of information about tow straps / snatch straps / recovery ropes. I will just try to share the information that i've come across and what was also found on Carnity about the well-known Viking Ropes and AOR ropes (Thanks @Rahimdad for previous article on that one) ! With the main aim on safety, i will try to give a view on the DO's and DONT's so we can all ensure that everybody goes home safe and that these practices can be carried forward. Every time i take the kids to Al Qudra Lakes i still see so many people doing such crazy and dangerous things while recovering/pulling others. These people don't have any bad intentions, but just don't know any better. We'll start with those: Gas-station 40dhs Tow Straps: *Mostly made from Polyester or Polypropylene, and ONLY meant to tow a normal (sedan) vehicle home. DO NOT USE THESE STRAPS FOR RECOVERY WORK !!! The metal shackles are projectiles that will fly off on the first decent tug attempt. Kinetic Recovery Snatch Straps Kinetic snatch straps are made from Nylon, which is a material that will allow for around 20% stretch. This stretching creates a less brutal jerk when recovering a vehicle, and additionally the "recoil" effect will generate a massive amount of energy, which is a good thing, but also something you need to be aware of, the lack of feeling that brutal jerk will probably result in you pulling harder than usual, and that could result in damages to tow points or chassis. Like in every recovery the first pull should be a gentle one to assess how stuck the vehicle is, and the second one can be slightly more aggressive, if still the vehicle is not moving it might be better to dig out a bit more and than do a last attempt which should do the trick. (inshallah).. Due to the stretch they are not ideal for towing a car along the highway, but it works. Kinetic Recovery Ropes Similar to the Kinetic Snatch Straps mentioned above, made of Nylon, but in rope form instead. Both AOR and Viking are well-known available brands. Also not recommended for towing a car along the highway but it will do the job. How to Correctly Use Your Kinetic Recovery Rope Step 1: Verify your equipment is adequate for the use and in good condition. A Kinetic Recovery Rope should be sized such that the Min. Breaking Load (MBL) is roughly 2-3 times the Gross Vehicle Weight. To properly select a rope for your vehicle, follow the guidelines on the chart below. Step 2: Securely attach rope to both vehicles - use a proper shackle or tow point. Recovery points should be properly welded or bolted to the vehicle chassis. WARNING: Never connect recovery equipment to a tow ball, as they are not designed for this type of load and can fail, causing serious damage. Step 3: Ensure all bystanders are well clear of the area. No person should be within 1.5xthe rope length of either vehicle, unless inside one of the vehicles. Step 4: Tow the stuck vehicle out. The towing vehicle can start with slack in the tow rope and drive up to 25km/h max. WARNING: Do not exceed 25KM/H with a properly sized rope. WARNING: Do not pull in a direction that would side load your recovery points unless they are specifically designed to handle side loads; most are not. Continue to pull on stuck vehicle until no longer stuck. Step 5: Unhook and stow your rope. Industrial Webbing / Sling Straps These are not really made for off-road recovery, but if properly sized (3-4 inches width) they make a pretty good recovery and tow strap. They are made of Polyester or Polypropylene and because of their higher number of items sold and less marketing bla-bla, they are generally cheaper and available from the general traders. They come with a certificate that details the load they can take. Using it during recovery will however result in a more brutal jerk when pulling out your off-road buddy, but on the other hand it makes you realise the amount of force you are applying and that is always a good thing. How to recognise good quality straps or ropes ? * Type of material is clearly mentioned (Nylon, Polyester, Polypropylene). * Load capacity is mentioned, together with safety rating (5:1 for example) this means break strength would be 5 times higher than the load capacity. Beware that the pulling force is easily 2-3 times higher than the weight of the car. So a 2.5 ton vehicle will easily have a total pull force of 5 to 7.5 tons. * Brand information can be found on Google, maybe even with positive reviews from other off-road sites. * Industrial slings will always have a certificate with clear details on how much load it can take with manufacturer stamps. * The ends should be reinforced. What is the lifetime of Kinetic ropes vs Kinetic Straps vs Industrial Webbing Slings ? That is a question that's probably difficult to answer. I will leave that to our senior experts to give their feedback on how many pulls they were able to do with Kinetic ropes, Straps, or Industrial Webbing sling before they broke. Beware that even a small cut in the strap degrades the total strength severely, so it makes sense to inspect it every now and then. Rated Shackles vs Soft Shackles ? To connect your rope or strap to the vehicle's tow hook, you will need shackles. Avoid the cheapest shackles because they will have no load rating. Go for rated shackles IF you can find them..... However, most show load ratings on them but imho the ratings are very questionable as there are international standards but to my knowledge there is no clear legislation in UAE itself. All the reason more to choose soft-shackles because this completely eliminates the risk of having a metal projectile flying through your windshield. When using Kinetic ropes, the soft shackles are definitely an essential item, due to the massive amount of energy being released during the recoil effect. I hope this provides a bit more information on the subject straps and ropes. Feel free to correct, comment, and remark !

We will put a banana in the tailpipe so it has the same power as mine. You’ll learn much faster 😂

care to share the garage details ? It's always interesting to find reliable workshops with specific expertise

Was that the mighty FJ cruiser extreme edition ?

Fantastic video !!!

Congrats @O.Farahat !!

Congrats @AKR !

Nice article below on this topic: https://keepsmilingpowersports.com/blogs/news/what-s-my-light Beware that as per RTA they should be covered when driving on road. Due to road noise and wear and tear, i chose to make them removable by mounting them on rubber magnetic pads and the cable goes to an outlet plug which I put in the engine bay. Takes me 5 mins to install or remove them and they stay in perfect shape. Mines are from Eyourlife, à Chinese Amazon brand. Probably still 3D from what I noticed, but nevertheless happy with the results.

In the middle aisle of EB section of DM 1 you’ll find Fujian who has a lot of Crony models. DM2 even has a Crony store.

Beautiful car ! Before you buy get it inspected by a workshop that specializes in German cars. Be ready to shell out a few thousands to solve leaks and other issues. Be sure to check maintenance history too. Only buy if it’s maintained properly in the past.

It’s been lingering on for weeks. But nothing serious though. My yearly dose of ear and throat infections probably. See you guys soon back in the sandbox !

Pffff... I’ve been in bed all day with fever and sickness. 😖😖 not how I expected my weekend to start...

Good remark. I assumed that by rinsing with water at low pressure would keep the oil intact for a while.

That's a shame... I was looking forward on the next night-drive where i could follow your car with my eyes closed 😂

@Gaurav thanks for that. What i do now is rinsing out the K&N after every offroad drive, and re-oiling it every 20000kms. But like you i don't use it on every drive as i still have my OEM filter which is in good condition.

Thanks @Gaurav your map is correct. On the right side of the road along the way you'll find the signboard that will clearly indicate where to take your right turn.

There is tons of information available on the web and so many contradictory results: https://nicoclub.com/archives/kn-vs-oem-filter.html Maybe the most experienced mechanics on this forum can tell us if they have ever inspected the inlet pipe after the air filter and see if there is more debris or dirt that came through from an aftermarket filter vs the OEM one.

Those aftermarket cone filters that suck up the air from inside the engine bay are not advisable. A decent cold-air intake unit would be better and might indeed gain you a few horses, but then again it might not.... (depends on so many things). I am using a K&N drop-in filter which replaces the OEM filter in the original housing, but do not see much improvement on power. Sound is slightly more. I don't believe that K&N will allow more dust or sand to enter the engine, it is just a different type of technology in comparison with your OEM filter. But yes it needs maintenance and re-oiling after 20 to 30000kms. After every drive i clean out the air filter. K&N or OEM does not make a difference. I use the OEM and the K&N one alternately and that gives me time to clean and maintain it. Would i buy it again ? Maybe not, but then again i paid like 250dhs for it so it was worth the try.

Before i joined Carnity Off-Road, i went a few times into the desert behind our community, where on the weekend days and evenings it gets very busy and you see 4x4's and people BBQ'ing all around you. The dunes are small and if you don't do any crazy stuff there is not much that can go wrong. The small dunes however contains lots of smaller bowls and pockets so you need to be careful. But if you stay close to the road you drive around a bit and learn how your vehicle reacts. I've did some testing also over there to see the differences between 4H, 4HLC, 4LO, and different deflation pressures. This kind of stuff is a bit more difficult to do in a convoy. Google Maps Coordinates: 24°58'54.7"N 55°20'29.2"E Again, i will never encourage others to venture out in the desert alone, and i only did this on cooler winter days / evenings where i could always see people around me, and the distance to my house is only 3kms so worst case i could walk to the nearby road and have somebody pick me up there. On the other hand the practicing in that area gave me bit more confidence and when going into the sand with the club was less scary for me and i could focus more on the convoy behavior.