Frederic

We’ll come to know about the bulls coming Saturday…. Unless you can guess 😝

@DP1011

In Japan ? Yup most probably a real one

After spending some time at various tire workshops with my cars (both sedan and 4x4) and seeing the poor workmanship that goes on in most of these shops, i wanted to discuss the pros and cons of tire rotation on my cars. The advertised pros: Longer thread life Better handling Ensuring even distribution of tread wear Can prevent blowouts by being able to spot tire issues earlier. Ability to activate your spare tire as well and rotate it along. On the world wide web, you don't usually come across the cons, but i came up with the following ones that i have experienced personally. For these main reasons i have decided against tire rotation: Wrong torquing of the tires. 99% of all shops here use the impact gun and go nuts with endless "jugga-juggas" and ruin the tread of your studs. On my 2021 Patrol 3 out of the 6 studs were completely ruined in such a short period. Even worse when after doing this, they bring out the torque wrench and you see it clicks from the first time. This basically means it was over-torqued by the impact gun and now the torque wrench has no function anymore! Tire rotation will mean wheel alignment and sometimes balancing as well, and again the majority of the shops i have been to even manage to screw this up. Been to countless shops where they even have a laser alignment setup but still decide to use their eyes and ears only, resulting in making things even worse. Even balancing which anyone should be able to do seems to be difficult here as half of the time they are not paying attention. The guys that do actually use the laser system are 50/50, means 50% of the guys know what they are doing, and the other 50% just screw and unscrew bolts until they see something appearing in green. Upselling. While you are at the tire shop, often they will start moaning that "Sir, your tires are too worn" while they have no clue and just try to sell you stuff (their bosses push them into this). The so-called free alignment check when purchasing tires is just a scam because they mention "CHECKING alignment is free, but DOING the alignment is 150dhs". And i have experienced this recently in a very reputable shop. Often the car is worse after the alignment than when it came in. Time loss. I don't like spending afternoons or evenings in a tire shop. Let's have a look now at the advertised pros and see if we can punch a hole in them: Longer thread life: Quite obvious on a rear wheel driven car that those tires will wear out faster and can be moved to the front to have a bit longer life. That can be done in one go and not with a rotation every 10,000km. On a 4x4 this would also apply if you are driving in 2H on the road, but on a permanent 4x4 like a Prado perhaps the wear on the tires front vs back will be less obvious. Better handling. If you have tires that are in decent shape and properly inflated, i do not believe handling to have a big impact. Even distribution of tire wear. Correct. like i mentioned rear wheels vs front wheels. But if your tires are wearing out unevenly on the same axles you have alignment issues and should deal with those, rather than rotating the tires around. Ability to activate your spare tire. True. My spare tire is never in action but i actually prefer it like that and keep it covered at all times. If i replace that tire every 4-5 years i can personally live with that. Now, i could be totally going wrong with my statements here, hence i would love to see other members feedback of their experiences and why they choose or not choose to rotate their tires.

Congrats @george charbel !!

DRIVE DESCRIPTION Starting from the gentle Wadi Shawka with its meandering boulder tracks, we will venture deeper and deeper into Fujairah, leaving no stone unturned. Get ready to get shaken and stirred. There will be some sweaty palms and a number of "edge of seat" moments involved ! Please take note of the following disclaimer: This route will take you on very steep climbs and descents and is not for the faint of heart ! Make sure your 4x4 is in tip-top condition. All-Terrain tyres are highly recommended. You might struggle with HT tyres. Do not join if you have any fear of heights. Max 2 passengers per vehicle allowed. 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 DRIVE DETAILS Level: Fewbie and above When: 01 July 2023, Saturday Meeting time: 2 PM - Sharp (Without any exceptions) Meeting Point: https://goo.gl/maps/DNZXkF3c4DKqU1PY6 Approximate finish time: 6-7PM 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. Recommended off-road gears: Walkie-talkie radio and off-road flag (MANDATORY), plus tire deflator, tire pressure gauge, compressor, shovel, first-aid kit and fire extinguisher. LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE This drive is limited to 10 cars only. RSVP will close on Friday - 12 PM. Please withdraw your RSVP, if you find you are unable to join, so your spot can be taken by others in the waitlist. If the RSVP is full, you can add your name to the waitlist, if an RSVP attendee removes themselves, you will be moved from the waitlist to the RSVP list as an attendee. A convoy list will be sent out the day prior to the drive. Latecomers will be returned back - Without any exceptions. Members without RSVP will be returned back - Without any exceptions. Repeated no-show members after RSVP will have their account suspended for a month. RSVP ON THE CALENDAR EVENT

I had a great time despite my numerous stucks but fantastic team work got us out and moving every single time. @M.Seidamit was fantastic meeting and driving with you again after such a long time. Your re-routing, recoveries, and overall presence last night showed how much you master this hobby. My initial plan and route involved quite a bit of technical terrain as I knew the convoy and its strengths, but the second part of the terrain chewed us and spit us out and we had to retreat back to the sabkha to shorten the route to the Bedford trucks. All in all all a great night out with a superb group of off-roaders / buddies who all helped out and I wanted to thank you all for that ! See you all soon in the sands again !!

Coming from the E75 you have this one: https://goo.gl/maps/rW7bhXF5Uatpp6nc9 In the event it would be closed, but unlikely, you can head further down on the same road for this one: https://goo.gl/maps/hUZfB4pyDVdkGYzm6

I am in the same boat: only Trooper has the night lights 😆

Good morning guys ! @M.Seidam@Bjoern@Imran Kashif@Gok Krish@Amr Aydin@Zed Just closed off the convoy. Please find your convoy positions here above. We will be using Channel 2: 446.031 Mhz See you all this evening !

Yup, Isuzu was rebadged under Vauxhall, Opel, Chevy, Honda, etc.. Look at the Opel/Vauxhall Montery (Isuzu Trooper) or the Opel/Vauxhall Frontera (Amigo). Fantastic and probably as reliable as Toyota but the law suits in US and lack of service centers amongst other reasons killed it off. Isuzu was even the first to design the common-rail-diesel technology.

Always welcome buddy !

Actually you might find it hard to believe but there was an Isuzu Amigo on YOUR Absolute Newbie drive ! These are superb little offroad monsters, driven by a friend of mine @abms2ktrooper

That Duster was a great little 4x4 and he did great in the dunes as it’s super light.

Happy to see my Isuzu in the list 😜

Well deserved @Frans M !

Well done @Gary F Enjoy the new level !