Sunil Mathew

Thanks @Ale Vallecchi for your pre-drive write up as usual, to evoke extra interest in the drive...this is going to be my second drive with you, after my debut newbie drive on 16th (Profile name - Aragon, changed it last week to my real name)

2 questions here...

as the drive is going to be "relaxing, pleasant, unhurried" , i am planning to bring my family (wife + 2 kids) along. I hope that is fine for the drive, and we can take family photos 🙂

how close are we going to be, to the  wildlife ? Will a 55-200mm lens do, or do we need something with higher range to capture them?

Thank you @Frederic and @Wrangeld for the wonderful drive today morning. Was my 3rd drive with carnity including the ABN drive..

Had a taste of the Al Faya climb (thru the cheat route,  as Fred called it 😜), and managed it in 2 attempts...floored the gas pedal for it and the tacho needle hit uncharted territory 😁😁 today!!

On the descent from top of Faya, i got a fishtail experience too, as i was just idling down without giving gas..was a bit scary due to all the readings and videos i saw on fishtailing, but managed to bring the nose back straight with a bit of gas and counter steer.

The fossil rock climb was also a learning experience for me about keeping the momentum, got a refusal there when i saw @TT_Dubai (hope you get the issue sorted and join us back soon) sliding off the track and i hesitated for a moment..had to come to the base and try again.

All in all..a great and short drive, looking forward and coming back for more!!

37 minutes ago, Pmaraziti said:

Hey all, I often take some cocida, all Covid compliant and create a little memory of a great drive, I am posting here to share

 

A little video of our Highway to Sun

Wow.. @Pmarazitithat was great...lucky to be riding just in front of you..thank you very much

great drive, great learning experience , one step closer to getting in sync with my car, and a sense of accomplishment for my second offroad drive, although i can see "miles to go before i sleep", nevertheless 🙃

Thanks @Ale Vallecchi for giving us a taste of ridge riding, under a fully controlled environment and your able guidance.

I think we newbies gave you a real test of your patience today!! 😃

27 minutes ago, TT_Dubai said:

My very first car in the UAE was a Ford Explorer. Loved it. It was a 2007 but it did have 4LO and proper 4WD. Is that not the case with new Explorers now?

nope @TT_Dubai..the new shape came in 2011 with AWD and 4 modes - Normal/Sand/Mud and Rut/Snow

Each mode has different power splits between wheels, and am not sure whats the exact setting on each..basically you dont have much say in it , the computer does it based on wheel slip i think.

you can watch whether each wheel is powered, through a display on your dash, real time

i stop here, as its a digression from the topic 🙂

thank you @Wrangeld and @Ale Vallecchi for defining "technical dune" for me and probably many others like @Thomas Varghese, who i need to thank also for his guiding points..i can relate also to the "moment of distraction" and ending up on "wrong side of the dune ", which i also did when i experienced the  first 45 degree incline with my car, and i panicked during the Ab Newbie ride. Like Richard @Wrangeldsaid during the briefing, we need to get used to the feeling of having our cars inclined at 45 degree , which i took some time to get accustomed to

3 hours ago, Ranjan Pattanaik said:

@ARAGON no worries, this is what we learn from our mistakes. I have Ford explorer which having AWD without low gear/difflock, i hope you can get more confident by looking at myside😁... see you on drive..

hi @Ranjan Pattanaik..my other car is a 2011 Ford explorer ...i can relate 🙂.. see you too 👍

15 minutes ago, Lakshmi Narasimhan said:

@ARAGON as @Wrangeldmentioned theres nothing to worry if we follow the instruction/guidance provided during brief and every now and then during the drive by @Ale Vallecchiand with your full concentration and following the tracks of the person in the front. Sure you will enjoy the drive!!!

thank you @Lakshmi Narasimhan and will surely follow guidelines and instructions,

18 minutes ago, Wrangeld said:

Hi Aragon, @ARAGON

We delved into some technical dunes last week in our drive, so don't worry. You'll be fine and @Ale Vallecchi is a brilliant lead who will guide you through the dunes superbly, giving you great advice on the best way to approach this type of challenge. 

Thanks @Wrangeld, that gives me some confidence 🙂

Although i keep seeing the word "technical" in lot of posts here at Carnity (trying to read as much as posts, drive reports etc to gain more insights and to learn from others' experiences) , i was not exactly sure what it means, and i am still not ...

Looking forward to learn from the senior stalwarts joining us newbies

Thank you @Ale Vallecchi for the drive description with convoy positioning.... and a shout of "hi" to all other fellow riders.

Looking forward to the drive as this is going to be my second ride after the absolute newbie ride last week with @Wrangeld

hope i can tackle the "technical" areas detailed by @Ale Vallecchi fingers crossed 🙂🤞🤞

Was an amazing and fun drive with @Wrangeldand @Shamilwho held  reigns of the whole event with absolute flair and control .. with the constant directions , explanations, snippets shared by @Wrangeldduring the drive over radio , it was a huge "knowledge gainer" as well..

The small chit chat session with fellow jeepers @Lucas Neo, @Morshedi, @Imtiyaz Ali was also enlightening during the "big recovery event" we were listening to over the radios...we should meet more often on future rides 😊😊 to discuss how to get our jeeps fitted with new stuff 👍👍

So..the next ride should be a newbie one and i hope it will be on same levels as todays drive, i still need to polish my skills on riding on inclines,  and doing the "semi circles" on hills, i could not quite catch up on most semi circles and i exited early steering down..looking forward to honing this part on the next drive

Hi @Wrangeld..i have a stock jeep wrangler 4 door.. ..should i be removing the air dam under the front bumper? 

Hi @Wrangeld and others at carnity....just clicked the “going” button and hope to join the drive this Friday.

my car is a JKU2015, I have the tire deflator, gauge, some spare valve cores, a radio programmed to carnity frequencies (did it based on the directions on the website- hope it works)

what’s missing is a compressor, which I need some more guidance on, before I make the actual purchase...hope I can join without a compressor..

I have done 02 very basic drives with my other car - Ford Explorer 2011 couple of years back when the local radio station organised a drive event..that’s pretty much the experience I have..

Looking forward 

Thank you very much @Rahimdad, @Srikumarand @Foxtrot Oscar for your valuable inputs and advices.

I have changed the oil to 5W30 now.

The tyres  -  taking cue from @Rahimdad and @Srikumar  i will keep under observation for some time decide later

Planning to join the next absolute newbie ride. (not the one tomorrow)

Will get in touch for the head unit ..thanks @Foxtrot Oscar

Hi Carnity Members,

I recently bought a JKU2015 satisfying a long term dream of owning one, and to start exploring the desert sands. The car has been sparingly used for the last year by the previous owner , run  54K km and the last service with oil change was in Dec 2019 @45K Km. I have couple of questions, which could be very basic, but i believe the answer should be with this group of experts and long term owners .

Any guidance would be a huge huge help for me, as a new owner. (My other car is a ford explorer 2011)

Questions

1. The previous owner has been using 10W40 oil (Castrol Magnatec) while the owners manual recommendation is 5W20 or 5W30. Should i go with 10W40 or the OEM recommendation? 

2. The previous owner has replaced the stock rims (R16) to R17 and tyres (245/75) to 285/70. This is causing the tyre to rub against a bar/some kind of link rod upon full right steering turns. Is this something serious which can be managed by taking care during the hard right turns OR should i replace the tyres ASAP ? The tyres are DOT 3618

3. I am looking for a workshop who can do a decent job to install an android screen/head unit, someone who really knows what he is doing. Any recommendations would be really helpful.

As this is my first post, a word of introduction here. My name  - Sunil Mathew, Stay - Al Nahda SHJ, Field of Work - Ship-Building & Repairs

Thanks for reaching out, Gaurav

I just purchased a JKU2015 yesterday and am yet to get used to the car...plus i dont have the basic tools with me..need some time to gear up...will surely rsvp once i am all set