Frederic

Hi @KKIRAN since a couple of weeks we have a waitlist option. Once the drive is full you can click on "Add Waitlist" and your name will automatically appear in the waitlist.

Good afternoon and thanks for signing up ! @munkybizness @Bruno Finel @Rasif ABDUL RAHIM @Harshal @Ahmed Wagdy @hugo@Bhaskar @Goh KP @Tom V @Amr Aydin @Vasja Zupan @Danish Mohammad And our waitlisted guys: @Azam the Adventurous @AlexM@FARAZ MOHAMMED @Antony Abraham @Adnan Halepota Let me start with providing a bit of information about this drive and what you can expect. This drive will basically consist out of 3 parts: 1) A Newbie Level Desert Drive in Mahafiz Area. (7:00 till about 11:00) 2) A 1 hour break nearby the Mleiha Archeological Centre. ( incl tyre inflation to +/- 25psi) https://goo.gl/maps/bEkkNkCjWNdbBHcy8 We will park a bit further but you can use this Archeological Centre its restrooms and perhaps hop inside for a quick coffee. 3) A Nice and Easy Wadi Drive in the nearby mountains. (approx 12:30 till 16:00) Some notes from my side: * Offroad Flag is mandatory for the Mahafiz Desert Driving Part. Once inflated at the Mleiha Archeological Centre, please remove it for the second part of the drive. * Bring your lunch and snacks and plenty of water. * We will be taking regular breaks for photoshoot and to take some rest. Driving in the wadi can be bumpy and tiring. * Never litter inside the desert or mountains. As this is a scenic drive, it is more suited to enjoying nature and making the best of the cooler season. So relax and let's take it easy. Hope to see you all coming weekend !

The AOR recovery rope is indeed a very popular rope. It will last a very long time, and is available in Speedex / Ace Regarding the soft shackles, i have been buying them through Amazon but i noticed the type i bought is not available anymore. They cost around 75AED per piece and had a 19T breaking strength. I preferred them over the AOR ones which cost double the price. These look very similar: Black Synthetic Soft Shackle Rope, Set of Two 1-2 Inch X 22 Inch (38,000lbs Breaking Strength) Soft Shackle Rope Synthetic with Protective Sleeve for Boating ATV Truck Jeep Recovery( Black, 2 Pack): Buy Online at Best Price in UAE - Amazon.ae I've seen ads about Gazelle Offroad which are selling ropes and soft shackles. Look pretty decent as well. (and available on Amazon)

Well deserved @Han !!

If you install the Abu Dhabi police app you will receive these notifications as well

And that is exactly the reason why i started offroading. To venture much deeper and find the quiet spots where there are no Pa-Pa-Pa-Pa-Pa-Pa Patrols in sight

DRIVE REPORT We set off early morning on the sandy area across 2nd December Cafeteria, which is usually a busy place, but apparently at 7AM most offroaders, except the Carnity dudes, are still in bed The plan was to start with some technical dunes in Suwaydan area, which is a bit of a scenic area with lots of vegetation, camels, and nowadays even bulldozers. Some of the bulldozer tracks allowed us to do some nice climbs so we made the best of it. With the whole convoy moving swiftly, before we knew it we were reaching the road, and crossed it to make our way to Faya. A dune which needs no introduction anymore. We found it completely abandoned hence climbed one by one up via the side. Everyone made it to the to the top, some with a few more attempts but that gave us a great opportunity to practice and see how traction control, center diff lock, lower tyre pressure, and upshifting can have a great impact on making to the top or not. From there we took the swooping bowls all the way via Camel Rock, The Sphinx, and exited at the pylon track and made our way back towards Mahafiz Mosque. All in all a great morning with great people ! @Joseph Sebastian as my perfect second lead, keeping a close watch on my tracks and improving them where needed. @Serhat Yalcinkaya you improve every drive. But for complete ease of mind i would recommend removing the front lip. Our marshal @Brette went through the same in his earlier days and is now offroading with full peace of mind. @Udit S don't dismiss that little Prado too soon. It's capable of wonderful things. @Antony Abraham this time incident free well driven !! @Mahmoud Taha i love your Xterra and the way you handle it ! @Vishal Nair you handle the big Pajero perfectly, really impressed with your driving skills ! @Kishore Venkat and @Yesu Yarlagadda both taking the powerful mighty Patrols in the sand. Nicely done guys ! @Beide Worku Controlling that big beast is not easy but you master it wonderfully ! @Joao at the back digesting the churned up tracks with ease. Great drive !! Thanks for the wonderful support as always @Rizwanm2 ! Hope your co-pilot had a great morning as well

General Infos This drive is organized in full compliance with the COVID19 guidelines. We expect every member that joins this drive to go through below information and and strictly follow these guidelines in order not to jeopardize someone's health, and to ensure we can keep organizing these drives safely. MUST READ AND TOTALLY AGREE: COVID19 Precautions Mandatory Safety Requirements Ban from Carnity Off-road Club Two Way Radio Guidelines Drive Details Level: Newbie and above (All Levels) When: 12 Feb 2022, Saturday Meeting time: 7:00 AM (SHARP - Without any exceptions) Meeting Point: Mahafiz Tree Shade: https://goo.gl/maps/ytzwh7NbYsJYVLhc6 Type of Car: Any proper 4x4 with front and back tow hooks and 8-10 inches of ground clearance. What to bring along: Your Offroad Gear (Offroad Flag, Radio, Shovel, Compressor). No Gear - No Drive Approximate finish time: 4 PM (approx) End Point: Somewhere up in the mountains.... Limited Spots Available: Limited to 12 cars only. RSVP will close on Sat- 9 AM. If the RSVP is full and you wish to join, please mention your name on the drive thread to add on the waiting 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 BELOW CALENDAR EVENT

DRIVE RSVP IS NOW CLOSED Good morning all ! I hope you are looking forward to tomorrow's drive as much as i do. @Joseph Sebastian @Serhat Yalcinkaya @Udit S @Antony Abraham @Mahmoud Taha@Vishal Nair@Ahmed Mostafa @Kishore Venkat @Yesu Yarlagadda @Beide Worku@Tareq Al Turq @Joao@Ishraque@Rizwanm2 Please take note of the following: * We will be using Channel 2: 446.03125Mhz * Please make sure you have an Offroad flag, radio, shovel, and your deflation tools. Without these items you cannot join. * Please keep it safe for everyone by wearing your mask whenever you are out of your vehicle (briefing, inflation, etc..). * Please be on time, a bit earlier is even better. See you all tomorrow !

Congrats @Rob S for this well documented article and going through the effort and time to think everything through before walking into a tyre shop and being brainwashed by these guys who only try to upsell you. (bigger, heavier). 265/70/17 are indeed perfect for a Prado that is not lifted, and the 30mm wheel spacer with black rims (lol i've seen that) will give you that nice look (looks matter a tiny bit of course 😁) Your Yokohama's will be great on 12psi, and even lowering to 10psi should be still fine (depending on your drive style and season). Have fun !

The location i shared are mostly reachable over a dirt track, but it mostly depends on the season if there will be some sand blown over the track and if a sedan would reach there. My suggestion is to keep the sedan at the road side and just transfer the stuff and gear into a 4x4 car. Even better: tell your friend to buy a 4x4 and join you in the club 😁

Spacers exist in 2 inch (5 centimeters).

Hi @hugo There are the known places like Qudra: https://goo.gl/maps/MGTbmawgUkw2cCkz7 https://goo.gl/maps/X8H9YPDYBURMz8Mo8 https://goo.gl/maps/cNAha6wuBTQTEfzH8 Mahafiz area (you can use the pylon track to access): https://goo.gl/maps/GBEn99M9KLZASz2eA Overall i would recommend you join us for drives in the several areas in UAE, and keep your GPS device on (Phone with GaiaGPS app). If you see a nice area that is not too crowded, just save it as a waypoint in your GPS to visit later with friends. Focus on finding something that is not too deep inside the desert (in case you have friends without offroading experience), close to an exit track, and not an area where you would be constantly disturbed by cars zooming around.

@Serhat Yalcinkaya @Kishore Venkat given you were waitlisted for first drive this weekend, i have added you both to the drive. Kindly confirm if you can make it.

Fantastic news ! Congrats @JeromeFJ !!

Well done @varunmehndiratta !!

Totally agree ! Happy Chinese New Year !

For many among us, switching between 2WD and 4WD happens with a lever or a flick of a switch, and as soon as your green lights on your dashboard are illuminated to confirm you are in 4x4, you are happy and good to go. That is, until the system fails on you all of a sudden, and you are left frustrated, not knowing what to do.🥵 I recently found a nice diagram that shows the functionality of a Part-Time 4x4 system, that uses vacuum (created by your engine) to operate the 4x4 system and engage or disengage your front axle and turn your car from a 2WD into a 4WD. I am not a specialist in this matter, but merely collected what i could find and what i have encountered on my own Pajeros. A few items we will be discussing which are vital components to the 4x4 system and also the first ones to check in case of any issue: Vacuum solenoids. (VSV1 and VSV2 on the diagram) These are basically just relays or valves which open or close based on a 12V signal and will block the vacuum or let it pass through. They are located in the engine bay next to your air filter box. Due to engine heat, wear and tear, they eventually break down but can be replaced in a matter of minutes. Vacuum Actuator This actuator works like a cylinder. When applying vacuum to it, the piston will start to move. This actuator is mounted on the front axle and will engage or disengage the axle from the front differential. The actuator is being controlled by the solenoids VSV1 and VSV2. Now lets look at above diagram and chronologically explain what happens when we engage the 4WD system. Don't forget to put your vehicle in N first and keep your foot on the brake whenever switching to 4WD or back to 2WD. Engage 4WD: 1) In the old pajeros (up to 2000) when selecting 4H, you are mechanically coupling the transfer case to activate the front prop shaft. On the newer Pajero models, this happens with an actuator motor. Upon selecting 4H, the dashboard indicator will start to blink to indicate that the 4x4 engaging process has started. 2) The front axle has a vacuum actuator (like below photo) which will now disengage as well and couple the front wheels to the front differential. 3) Once the system has detected through the sensors located on the transfer case and the front axle that the vehicle really is in 4WD, the lights on the dashboard will stop blinking. 4WD is now engaged. If they remain blinking this indicates that either there is something wrong with the vacuum system, or the sensor is not detecting the actual position. 4) As your car is now in 4WD, the power coming from the engine will be distributed via a 30/70 ratio between front and rear axles in 4H, or 50/50 ratio in 4Hlc. Once you are back onto tarmac, you will want to get the car back into 2WD: Engage 2WD: 1) Move the transfer case lever back to 2H. The lights will start blinking on your dashboard. 2) The transfer case will disengage the front prop shaft, and the front axle vacuum actuator will start to disengage the front axle. 3) Once the sensors on the front axle, and the one on your transfer case are showing the correct position, the lights will remain (rear wheels only). Question: If in 2WD your front prop shaft is being disengaged by the transfer case, then why do you need the vacuum actuator to disengage the front axle as well ? Well, at this stage you need to start thinking in reverse. What i mean with that, is that when you are in 2WD, the engine is not providing power to the front axle, BUT, because the front wheels are turning they are turning the front prop shaft and the front differential. All this is basically lost energy and would only increase fuel consumption, so by disengaging the front axle with the vacuum actuator, the front axle will actually be "freewheeling" and avoid your prop shaft and front diff from rotating. And this is the main reason why 2WD saves a bit on fuel (less rotating mass to carry along). Additional point: The Pajero has a front independent suspension with CV axles, which are basically always rotating (even in 2WD). Many 4x4 vehicles that have a serious lift, suffer from premature wear on these CV axles due to the increased angle. Installing manual locking hubs on the wheels is a good option, as it basically disengages the front wheels from transferring movement towards the front axle, with as a result that your CV axle doesn't have rotate in 2WD (which could be a good recovery option if it breaks down in the desert), but also would mean that you can remove all this vacuum and freewheeling stuff. Many oldskool offroaders go for this option as less electronics and less solenoids in the desert improves reliability. Troubleshooting: If at one point your 4x4 indicators keep blinking, have a look at the following 1) Open the engine bay and look where the vacuum solenoids are. (nearby the air filter box). Inspect the electrical connection and the vacuum hoses that are connected to it. A cracked hose will not be able to create vacuum and will be the reason of your failure. 2) Look underneath the car and locate the vacuum actuator at the front axle. There will be 2 vacuum hoses connected to it. Inspect both hoses, and also pull back the rubber booth to see if the piston is not blocked by any debris or sand. You can use a brush to clean the piston that moves back and forth. If your car is in 2WD and you pull off one of the vacuum hoses on this actuator, you should actually see it slowly closing. 3) Be aware that sometimes the system only engages or disengages after driving a bit forward or backward. Many times i have seen the blinking lights disappear only after 10-15 seconds of driving. It is good to engage the 4WD system every week. Not using it often gets the system to seize up. Note: Mitsusbishi has thought about this system quite well, and did not want to leave anyone stranded in case the solenoids fail. By Default, if there is no vacuum, the front vacuum actuator should close by itself and keep the car in 4WD. This basically means if you pull of one of the vacuum hoses, your front axle should be engaged and it should work in 4WD. Of course you will have blinking lights because the sensor will be confused, but at least you could continue to drive in 4x4.

Congrats @Andrew McCarthy!