Frederic

DRIVE PLAN “Encircling the Sun” – An Off-Road Expedition Around the Maktoum Solar Park Across 3–4 thrilling convoy drives, our off-road club will take on a unique desert challenge: a full circumnavigation of the massive Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park — the shimmering heart of Dubai’s clean-energy frontier. This is not just a drive; it’s an adventure that blends futuristic landscapes with timeless desert wilderness. Drive 1 — Into the Golden Quiet - Faqa To Crescent Moon - 7 Dec 2025 We begin our journey on the Southside, in an area called "Faqa", where the dunes roll softly and long, flowing sandy tracks lead us toward the horizon. The solar park’s iconic towers glint in the distance like a desert mirage, guiding us as we carve our first arc around its perimeter. Expect wide sandy plains, greenery and shrubs and those perfect “golden hour” moments where dust trails glow behind the convoy. We request every member who joins this drive to go through the information below and strictly follow these guidelines, etiquette, and responsibilities. MUST READ AND COMPLY Environmental Policy Offroad Flag Guideline Two Way Radio Guideline Off road Driving Etiquette's Emergency details for all off-roaders Off Road Driving - Roles & Responsibilities First time with Carnity Off-road Club: Please share your vehicle details - Make, Model, Color, and Year. Do you have any prior off-road experience? If yes, pls share details. Confirm your vehicle has front and rear tow hooks/eyelets. Advise if you don’t have a programmable radio and a safety flag. MUST WATCH: NEWBIE VIDEO BRIEFING DRIVE DETAILS Level: Absolute Newbie, Newbie and above When: 28 Sept 2025, Sunday Meeting time: 7AM - Sharp (Without any exceptions) Meeting Point: https://maps.app.goo.gl/RUyqiyNg5gSjtaBf8 Approximate finish time: 11:00 AM approx. Type of Car: Any proper 4x4 with front and back tow hooks and 8-10 inches of ground clearance. What to bring along: Loads of water, snacks (for yourself), smiles, enthusiasm and willingness to learn. Mandatory off-road gears: Tire deflator, tire pressure gauge, compressor, walkie-talkie radio, off-road flag, shovel, first-aid kit and fire extinguisher. LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE This drive is limited to 12 cars only. If the RSVP is full, you can add your name to the waitlist. Once anyone drops, you will be moved to the RSVP list. RSVP will close a day prior to preparing a convoy list. Latecomers will be returned back - Without any exceptions. Members without RSVP will be returned back - Without any exceptions. Please withdraw your RSVP, if you aren't joining, so your spot can be taken by others. Repeated no-show members after RSVP will have their account suspended for a month. PLEASE RSVP ON THE CALENDAR

Unfortunately i do not know any specific shops that focus on American trucks only. Perhaps @Nathan @Beide Workuand some other F150 owners can chime in. If i am not mistaken, expedition is based on the F150 platform or at least shares many technical items. I understand you want to look for a specific "american car" shop, but my recommendation would be to visit an off-road suspension shop, and in the meantime do some research on the American forums to see which components they recommend.

Have a look a below video from 8:20 onwards: 9:25 into the video you can see the arm hitting the spring as you described as well. I think this describes the exact phenomenon you are facing. If so, my recommendation is to approach a professional off-road workshop that specializes in suspensions and have a sitdown with them to understand what you want, what they can offer you, and for which budget, If the spacers were installed by some other shop, you can take it back there and ask your money back, as they done have a shitty job it seems.

Hi @Ammar Naji how was the lift achieved in the front? With a spacer kit?

Hahaha thanks @Thomas54675 ! I wish my 300th drive was not one where i had to rev-match my way home 🤣

Congrats @UvinOverland !!

Congrats @SHIHAN BEARY! Enjoy the new learnings!

Thanks all for joining! I think we had a pretty good run with a superb convoy yesterday. We notice quite a bit of cross-tracks in the beginning, which was a reminder that the Dubai Baja Challenge was ongoing in this area the day before. After @Mike M. took over the lead, he gave us a bit of Baja run taste, which kept us all on our toes, while heading into the area we call "Little Sweihan". Unfortunately that's also when my car decided to "pop a hose" belonging to the clutch pedal hydraulics. We headed to the sabkha and i exited, while Mike continued with the convoy. In that area as well the Dubai Baja was ongoing, so Mike had to reroute a bit. Like Muhammad Ali once said "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face" Some days are like that, and on those days i am so glad to be able to rely on such a fantastic family of offroaders. We genuinely never walk alone. See you all in the sands soon again!

RSVP IS NOW CLOSED @Mike M.@Jason M@Steffi@Thomas54675@saumik1989@Alex M@Kashx2@Frans M@Suneedh Wrangler@_Herman_@MarkH@Shahid Mehmood@Shiju Raju@Alphin Aloor@nithish468@Simon D Thank you all for signing up for this drive! I am happy to announce that myself and @Mike M. will be splitting the lead duties. No doubt it will be a great morning out in the sand. Some notes before tomorrow: 1. Please try to arrive around 15mins earlier so you have time to deflate, set up your flag, and socialize. (or get a sip of coffee ) 2. We will be using Channel 10 on the walkie talkies: 446.231Mhz 3. Please bring your off-road gears as per your level. For Fewbies this is radio/shovel/pressure gauge/deflator/shovel/off-road flag. See you all tomorrow morning!

Hi @Suneedh Wrangler the convoy will be closed by tomorrow around noon. Let’s see if some others signed out. Already extended the RSVP a bit.

Hi @Noufal i noticed that you signed into the manage tab. Are you planning on joining? This event is free for everyone to join of course. but is a farewell sit-down for one of our marshals, and not a desert drive or anything like that. Hope that clarifies Thanks !

Hi @Gertjan, We have done this exact crossing for 3-4 years in a row with multiple convoys, and it's indeed a fantastic experience. However what the Abu Dhabi website does not tell you is that there are no exit/escape routes once you are halfway through. The only possible escape tracks are through the oilfields, or by taking the border road with KSA. Both are illegal and on our last crossing we had a very unpleasant experience recovering a car and taking it through the oilfields, which was our only option. In short, yes it's a great experience with a handful of cars if they are all capable and with an experienced lead that can deal with recoveries. In case of a car breakdown you will have to leave the car behind and come back with a mechanic, or try to take the oilfield tracks but be ready to explain yourself to the military/security personnel (and bring an Arabic speaker with you)...

DRIVE DESCRIPTION Conveniently located on the border of Dubai and Abu-Dhabi, Faqa has lots to offer to practice your offroading skills. We will be starting off with some open dunes, venture into some smaller technical dunes, and top it off in an area called Little Sweihan, all while keeping a good pace. READY SET GO ! MUST READ AND COMPLY Environmental Policy Off-road Flag Guideline Two Way Radio Guideline Off road Driving Etiquette's Emergency details for all off-roaders Off Road Driving - Roles & Responsibilities DRIVE DETAILS Level: Fewbie and above When: 23 Nov 2025 Meeting time: 07.00 AM (SHARP - Without any exceptions) Meeting Point: https://maps.app.goo.gl/TKNuqusSdH7bkrzc9 Type of Car: Any proper 4x4 with front and back tow hooks and 8-10 inches of ground clearance. What to bring along: Loads of water, snacks, smiles, enthusiasm, and willingness to learn. Approximate finish time: 10.00-10.30am Mandatory off-road gears: Tire deflator, tire pressure gauge, compressor, walkie-talkie radio, off-road flag, shovel, first-aid kit, and fire extinguisher. LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE: This drive is limited to 10 cars only. If the RSVP is full, you can add your name to the waitlist, once anyone drops, you will be moved to the RSVP list. RSVP will close a day prior to preparing a convoy list. Latecomers will be returned back - Without any exceptions. Members without RSVP will be returned back - Without any exceptions. Please withdraw your RSVP if you aren't joining, so your spot can be taken by others. Repeated no-show members after RSVP will have their account suspended for a month. Please RSVP on below calendar

This was indeed a blessed morning out with such a nice group of people! The sunset on the way to the drive, emerging from behind the Oman mountains, was already a first glimpse into what we could expect today: a drive in a more deserted area where we could all feel "out of this world" for a couple of hours. The first elevated group of dunes was indeed interesting, as the dune formations were very irregular, which meant we needed to drive carefully, had a lot of steep drops, but this was perfect practice terrain. Not just for Fewbies, but for every off-roader. Here we came across the deserted Jimney that we also noticed the last time we were there with @J-P L in March i believe. Once we reached the fence of the military base, we looped back and started moving southwards towards the second elevated areas. During this southward crossing, we encountered a few strange things: first a couple of teenagers sitting next to their Landcruiser that got themselves stuck with so much plastic litter around them i can only assume they spent the night next to the car and ate all their snacks their mom gave them 😆 A bit further a second desert Landcruiser, where the driver even left his slippers behind 🤣 and two dunes further away a deserted Y62 Patrol. For a moment if felt like we were in a kind of dystopian post-apocalyptic UAE.... The last part consisted out of smaller dunes but as the terrain was quite regular, we could "flow" over it and like Thomas mentioned, the radio silence said it all. I think all of us enjoyed this last part, even though this drive was not a "dunebashing" kind of drive, more like a soul-cleansing one We found a nice scenic tree close to the exit where we did a small debriefing, and it was so nice to see the positive reactions on this kind of drive and terrain. It proves that off-roading has many faces, and that every terrain has something to offer. We just need to dip our toes into it and observe to see what it can bring us. There was an ADNOC nearby but needed a bit of a detour to reach. The fence that was open the last time i was there was now closed, so we had to reroute a bit. Will take this into account for next drive. Thank you all for joining, and @Zed for the help and keeping the convoy flowing. See you all in the sands soon!

Congrats @Michael asir !! Start polishing your shovel 😁