Wrangeld

Thanks guys. So I understand it like this: 1. New radiotor cap 2. Refill with red coolant 3. Install a back up/second fan (for when the above don't work) 4. If this all fails, buy a Nissan. Simple. Thanks See you soon in the sand.

So it finally happened. After weeks of driving happily around the desert (including a Liwa expedition) without any overheating, little TJ got a bit hot and bothered this weekend while struggling through some soft sand and frustrated that it could not climb a hill decided to throw its toys out the pram [OK - water was bubbling out of the expansion tank]. Being quite new to this game, I happily believed everyone that said this is a 'Jeep' thing, and that they run hot: but I was hoping that there is advice out there about the solutions we can use/install so that we can continue to come out to play during the summer, and avoid the 20 minute long wait and litres of water poured over the radiator needed last weekend. I have heard that there is room for an additonal cooling fan and wondered if there's other people with experience that can suggest solutions that don't require us to spend money that would be much better employed in mods. [Now there's a thought, if there is a mod that makes it less likely we get stuck in soft sand, we can invest in that instead and the heating problem's gone Hahahahaha!] Or, is this just a Jeep thing and we are just going to have to live with it! P.S. All of you tempted to suggest the best mod would be to sell the Jeep and buy a Mitsubishi/Toyota/Nissan instead ... thanks!

Afternoon (Evening) Drive Maliha The UAE is at time a stunningly beautiful country. As @Jeepie @Ale Vallecchi and myself raced across from Sweihan to Maliha yesterday (worried we might miss the start of the drive because we would be too late) I could not help but to marvel and think how privileged we are to be in this part of the world. Carnity has proven to be the best way for us to get out of the city (we are guaranteed at least one trip out a week) and see a bit of the beautiful countryside. Having exited from Sweihan deflated (in more ways than one – read the report for more details if interested), we had first to find a garage to inflate and fill with gas, and empty other fluids (TMI! I hear you cry, but these are the practicalities of a full day driving 4x4!) before hammering our way East in the hope we would get to Maliha before the convoy left. All three of us had seen the sign up list for the drive and felt that a little more experience might be appreciated, if not needed, and wanted to be there for the seniors, just in case. If nothing else, we thought, if the track is churned up, we might help a few people reroute a meter or so. Even if we had arrived too late for the convoy, the truly spectacular countryside we saw would have made the journey worthwhile. The route through which we were guided by Ms. Google was stunning. Arrive on time we did, and with more than enough time to hear a part of the briefing and be arranged by @Gaurav and @Rahimdad into the gargantuan convoy. I think this is the largest single convoy of which we have been part. You almost had the feeling as we set off that that @Xaf at the end would start moving as @Gaurav at the head of the convey hit Fossil Rock. But I am a little ahead of myself. Fossil Rock was a long, long way off. The drive started off well, with everyone navigating the first dunes and descents well. @Ale Vallecchi took up a position as second lead, @Rahimdad was the centre forward, we played in midfield and @Xaf acted as sweeper. The first ‘play area’ was reached without incident (well, where we were in the convoy it was in any event) as we traversed across a wide area with smallish dunes either side and a few tester descents. Just about every driver @Kalahari, @Emad Malaeb @sebin @Chaitanya D, @balaji0007, absolute newbie to more experienced @Jolly Abraham was handling both the pace and the challenges well. As I remember my first drives, the most challenging part was keeping the power, but not too much, going as you get to the crest and over without knowing what is on the other side. From what I could see (and where I could see it) just about everyone @Jamy B., @yusufwas handling the challenges very well. By the time we reached the second play area a few experienced newbies felt confident enough and wanted to try their hand at slope sliding. This skill is one the real adrenalin buzzes as well as being useful for navigating dunes at more advanced stages. Then we began the journey to the foot of Fossil Rock. The hope was for the convoy to get the experience of climbing a large hill, engine screaming, bumping over the sand with the end result the sight of sunset from the top of Fossil Rock, before descending to the road in the dwindling light. Instead, we were treated to an pre-season night drive. In the growing dusk, and because the technical dunes close to the foot of Fossil Rock were so churned up by the traffic ahead of us, the back end of the convoy suffered multiple refusals and stucks. Nine cars had made it to the top. Congratulations to @Ale Vallecchi, @balaji0007, @Kalahari, @Chaitanya D, @sebin, @Emad Malaeb, @Nizam Mohammed, @Shahab Khan who all made it to the top. As the light faded, they were led down the other side of the hill by @Rahimdad. For the remainder, it being no longer safe to try an ascent, we turned around and ‘enjoyed’ a night drive. Thanks for waiting for us guys 😂😂 - it's great to know you've got our backs!! Seriosly though, making sure everyone gets home saely is a key principle of the Carnity values. No doubt this was explained by @Rahimdad as he made sure the summit reachers reached the Adnoc. No doubt later than expected but with confirmation it was ok to leave , they made their way home. I do not think we can pretend that for the rest of the convoy this was the easiest way out of the dunes. Despite everyone’s best efforts, and a lot of effort was spent by Gaurav, Xaf and Jeepie to bring everyone out, we did have a few more stucks along the way. @Anish S, @Najeeb Mohammed, @Alexander Sarte, @Anvar Sadath Bekal, @Dale Panganiban - Fabrication, @Shiju Manuel, @E.C. TAN, @sheri, @Sherif Hamed I am glad to say that you all kept your cool in what was a very different situaiton and eventually, everyone was accounted for and we rolled our way off to the Adnoc station where everyone filled their tires and stomachs with Aloo Paratha from @Rahimdad before making it back home, possibly a little later than expected. Does that sort of experience count as two newbie drives? I have no idea, but for anyone wanting to experience 4x4 it was a great lesson on car control and that things don’t always go to plan, but no matter the situation, when you’re with a group like Carnity no one is left behind. Perhaps, at times yesterday direction was given a little more firmly than is usual, and there was not enough congratulaiton and celebration for the people who had got themselves out of sticky situations, but this was a relatively unusual situation – normally we end the drives with a debrief, relaxed chat together and share a few stories and bites. Here we can give feedback to the leadrs and @Gaurav can give hints to drivers about what might make the experience more enjoyable or easier next time. For myself and Jeepie it was the end of another full Friday in the sand, and frankly, even though we had been up since 4.30, I would not have it any other way. When things like this happen it’s all part of the experience and helps remind us that this is a team event. We are literally all in it together and hope that with this experience everyone still had a great time. See you soon in the sand.

Mostafa - thanks for clarifying. Maybe it was @Febin Frederic I know if was a Wrangler and @Shamil dealt with the pop out - because my jack was just not big enough to lift it 😋 The red pajero was @Roshan Abraham

Little Liwa Boy – were we spoilt for choice yesterday. Three drives, three different Emirates, lots of different experiences. As a relatively new ExPat in the UAE, one of the massive side benefits of joining Carnity has been the chance to get to see a totally different side to the country than the ‘Panem’ lifestyle of Dubai [for anyone not familiar with the reference, ask any teenager about The Hunger Games]. Which is why we jumped at the chance to drive Sweihan for the first time. Such is the addiction of the sand that dragging ourselves out of bed 30 minutes earlier than usual on a Friday (which is normally at ‘oh my god o’clock in the morning) seems completely reasonable! Watching the sun rise as we drove towards the meeting point we were excited at the prospect of what ‘Little Liwa’ had to offer. Even that early in the morning Sweihan was busy. A group of heavily modified F150s roared by, Jeepers crossed our path and there were more, including a newbie drive led by @Srikumar, very well attended and including @Vanessa8580, determined to strike out on her own in Little Blue. As the Fewbie group assembled, @Emmanuel gave us our briefing. Key message of the day (particularly as a number of the group were on their first Fewbie drive) – it you don’t feel it, don’t do it. There’s some days when we are at one with the car, others when things flow less well. Yesterday, for most it seems like things were going well, cars and drivers flowed in harmony and it started to look like the new fewbies were taking to this more challenging (and exciting) level with aplomb – but I spoke to soon. I am almost sad that @Denizzalbayrak has given up the Koleos for 4x4 moments as the new drive took everything with ease. Pop … seemed to be the theme for the day. As first @Michael sammy and then @Roshan Abraham suffered pop outs. Luckily, the pop-out king @Shamil was on hand with his heavy weight jack to get both moving again, in almost record time. Perhaps it was fortunate, perhaps not that we had followed @AKR or we might also have lost a tire. As Emmanuel continued with @Ale Vallecchi in second lead we crested wave after wave of wide, high banked dunes, everyone including @Febin Frederic and @Mostafa Taha gaining in confidence as the intensity grew. @sertac sweeping was rarely troubled: until, following a very clear message from Emmanuel to ‘come down this slope slowly and carefully’ was responded with @Szymon Stankiewicz and within seconds @Mostafa Taha confirming they had both had pop-outs within 10 meters of each other. Having recently added to the equipment myself and @Jeepie keep on board, I was keen to try out our new jack, but Shamil had reassured everyone that his jack was bigger than mine: and who was I to argue? With a double pop out, I was at least able to sort out the lighter car 😂 and we were on our way again. Talking of equipment, it’s OK to turn up to a newbie drive empty handed as far as equipment is concerned, but not acceptable to turn up to a fewbie drive without the equipment needed. @Gaurav takes time to send out a promotion mail to everyone who makes the grade, and it’s clear that the invitation to join drives with more experienced people is conditional on not just being able to drive, but also carrying the required equipment. Sweihan is not called Little Liwa for no reason. The sand is soft and it is difficult to gain purchase and so it was that out next stop was enforced by our poor little Wrangler getting a little hot under the collar as we tried to get up on little incline (apparently this is ‘Jeep’ thing). After an enforced break to allow the gauges to read more normally and checking there were no burst or blown pipes we were on our way again. Bowl riding is inherently risky, you need to time everything right and not to push when it’s not going right. Especially on exit you need to be in control and sure it’s safe. No more details, save to say, no one was injured, but if you don’t get this right it’s going to end the drive and lead to an exit quicker than planned. Which is a shame on too many levels to mention – so I will focus on the one that continues to impress every time we go out. The desert is phenomenally beautiful. Atop a highish dune the views are truly magnificent and stunning. What a privilege to be able to see them from within and enjoy this majesty. And how lucky we are that the tool we take with us, our dear beloved vehicles cope with the incredible stress and strain under which we put them. Our drive out of Sweihan was swift and mainly on a dirt track so there were no more incidents. As @Ale Vallecchi and ourselves decided we would help out on the Newbie afternoon drive we left quickly because we did not want to keep the other convoy waiting. For anyone wanting to know more, my thoughts about the Afternoon/Evening (!) Newbie drive, you’ll find it there. See you soon in the sand.

@Xaf Essential points to remember. Well said. More about the challenging sunset later. We all have to rely on each other while out in the sand, so the more that we try to help each other, the better. Yesterday was a prime example of how working together, and understanding that when people are asked to do something they could perhaps understand that there is a reason for it. Turning up as an absolute newbie to a drive unprepared is fine, as long as you then pay attention and follow the rules. Turning up and thinking you know better is not. Carnity has a massive amount of informaiton avaialble BEFORE you drive, as ALL levels. It's not there because the people who wrote it have nothing better to do with their lives. As Xaf says, it;'s a team sport.

Geneva Motor show was cancelled, so the engineers that just spent their annual budget on a toy need to do something to show for it. Normally, they woudl take it to Geneva, have everyone ooh and ahh and fie years later you get a watered down version of the beautiful vehicle they created. This year ... no show (literally), so they needed to put it out in Social and other media. Is it beautiful? Based on the last Bentleys it's getting better. Is it worth the price of a really nice home, no. But as I have said before, you can't drive a house, but you can sleep in a car.

@Nacho bienvenido al Club Carnity. Another Wrangler, so lots of fun in store and experiences to enjoy. See you soon in the sand.

Welcome also @E.C. TAN another Wrangler (😂). This is no one model club, but the more Wranglers, the merrier (as far as I am concerned!) See you soon in the sand.

@Gregory Perkin You'll always find a great welcome here at Carnity. That's what makes it special. Welcome to the club. Looking forward to seeing you on the drives and getting to know you (Chloe & Harvey too we hope). See you soon in the sand.

Was supposed to fly TRV - DXB - LAX for a trade show, but when I arrived in DXB this morning they told us the trade show had been cancelled. Would have been OK - but for the fact that I did another leg DXB - TRV yesterday (to originate on the whole flight). As I was on EK even thought you might be 'driving' 😂 Like I said, at least I am here and free Friday so now I am spoilt for choice.

Actually .. I think I just earned the world record for longest journey ever to get from T1 to T3 at DXB. 26 hours and 8 hours of flying. Good news is, now I am here Friday.

Congratulations @balaji0007 See you soon in the sand

Tebrikler @Denizzalbayrak

Gratulacje @Szymon Stankiewicz

Congrats Jamie. Nice drive. Good choice.

Spoilt for choice and not in the country. I am literally crying ☹️

Liwa: A new level of Crazy Nothing can prepare you for your first time in Liwa. No amount of You-Tube videos, tales from friends or indeed, pre drive briefings prepares you brings the immensity of this challenge. But let’s start at the beginning. To our surprise and delight, @Jeepie and myself were elevated to Intermediate level recently. I say recently! In truth, 4 days before the Liwa drive. Having hear so much about Liwa, the moment the drive was posted we signed up. The rest of the week was spent in preparation. Did we have all the right equipment? Kinetic Rope & shackles, tool kit, extra fuel tank, jack etc., making sure that the car was filled up with all the right fluids and that nothing was loose and sorting out camping gear. A Liwa drive is not the sort of place you just turn up and ‘wing it’, hoping someone else will sort you out with a compressor, or shovel or water. It’s the sort of place that takes planning, investment both financially and in time and in sorting out your vehicle (so that when you are in Liwa your belongings stay safely stowed (and cannot fly all over the place) – more on that later. It’s also a 3 hour drive from Dubai. Having managed to extricate myself from work more or less on time we left for Liwa. Almost 3 hours later and 10 minutes from the meeting point, contrary to our expectation we would find ourselves in the middle of a wilderness we were driving through the streets of Zayed City. Not quite the desolation of Liwa we imagined. Deeply attractive option though it was, sleeping in the car in the car park of the Adnoc station was not our idea of camping so we went in search of a suitable spot to pitch our tent – a little disappointed that our vision of camping under the stars out in the middle of the wilderness had become more a case of can we find a relatively quiet spot to spend the night that’s not in the middle of a major highway. This was probably the last moment of disappointment we had. Especially as having found an acceptable site we were joined later by @Gaurav and @Brette where @Gauravregaled us with tales of Liwa’s past. We woke to the sound of Camels being loaded unhappily into a truck and began preparations. Filling stomachs, water bottles and gasoline tanks, tying everything down securely in the car and then once @Javier Marrived and checking the cars again deflating and paying particular attention to @Gaurav’s briefing, we were off. Nothing can prepare you for your first time in Liwa. Despite the time and energy preparing, the research, the hard work in getting everything needed (thanks again @Jeepie) once you start to see the immensity of the place, it’s simply mind-blowing. It took us at least 30 minutes of hard driving along one of the internal dirt tracks before we even went truly off-road, and once we did, another 30 before we passed the last of the camel farms inside the desert and made our way into Little Liwa. And once we did … the beauty, the colors, the contours and simple immensity of the place were stunning to the eye. It probably would have been enough to just have the privilege of seeing these views without going further, just to drive and explore the incredible beauty of the landscape without massively challenging our cars or abilities would have been enough. But further we did … and the reward? 24 hours on and I still cannot believe where our cars took us (and we took them). In our briefing, @Gaurav had warned us about the humungous dunes. Until you see them towering above or look at the vertiginous drop on the other side, it’s simply impossible to imagine and fathom. Terrifying, exhilarating, incredible. I guess I should admit something here. I entered Liwa pathologically afraid of falling from heights. That’s quite different from being afraid of heights – I am ok being as high as you want (Burj Kahlifa viewing floors, bring it on), but if there’s a chance of falling, I literally cannot look over the edge ... That particular fear has been overcome as a result of continuously driving the car over the edge of precipitous dunes to crawl down the slip face as we moved on to another dune formation. Liwa is renowned for its soft sand. It looks hard, stable and compacted, until you drive onto it and find that it’s silky, like gossamer under your wheels which desperately trying to gain some semblance of grip as you struggle up inclines that look benign and inviting. And then there’s the bowls. As brand new intermediate rankers, driving Liwa was challenge enough without trying too many heroics slide slipping across the massive dunes. The terrain, keeping up with the convoy, learning to be much more responsible ourselves for the navigation of the dunes ahead was more than sufficient with which to cope throughout the day. 4x4 fanatics will, play. And play we all did. In some cases, impressively so. We paid our respects to the Yellow Truck, and gave increasing respect to the scenery and landscape around us. We found a lovely calm bowl in which to lunch and moved on. The dunes are unrelenting on car and driver (and passenger, from time to time). And endless. Standing atop a dune 300 meters above the scenery as far as the eye could see it was dunes. It is in my mind’s eye and will remain there for a long time. It was not until yesterday that I truly appreciated what a desert meant. And this is small Liwa. It blows my mind to think that there as literally hundreds more kilometers of this landscape in the UAE and thousands in KSA. With one notable exception (@Jeepie it seems did refuse and needed help, but did not get stuck at all), we all had our ‘moments of learning’ and were kind enough to offer our co-travellers the opportunity to practice recovery techniques. In a long day of driving these moments were not that frequent and quickly managed. We will leave it what goes on in Liwa, stays in Liwa. With the light fading, we rushed (!) back aiming to hit an internal track to find our way out of the desert. There, we filled our gasping tanks with the reserve fuel we had brought with and drove quite slowly and relaxed along a dirt track to the main road and out of Liwa. Five, happy any tired drivers, four incredible vehicles, three who had never experienced Liwa before, two who had guided us through safely and carefully with one aim: Enjoy Liwa to the full and get out safely. My reflections, for what they are worth sit on one side on the incredible beauty of the scenery we were privileged to see and play in. This is savage country, where, were it not for the careful organization and well maintained vehicles we would hardly last a day. It’s truly stunning on a level that even though I have been to a few deserts in my time, nothing compares to this. The three hour journey home was a challenge. After the wonders of the dunes, the designers of UEA's road, who must have been sitting with ruler in hand as they created the road network do not make for an interesting drive home in the dark after such an eventful day. As a learning experience this was simply invaluable. There is a massive leap from Fewbie to Intermediate. Anyone chomping at the bit to get that promotion, be careful what you ask (aim) for. The expectations on you as a driver are completely different as an intermediate. From self-navigating (there’s nowhere near as much look out for this, watch that etc., - you just need to keep your eye on the sand and do your best to follow), the speed of the drive to the equipment you must have to name but a few the expectations of the other drivers over your communications – the list goes on. Next time, at least I will know what to expect from Liwa, and perhaps what it expects from me – because you can be sure: there will be a next time. The addiction just gets deeper and stronger, and Liwa is a fix, not a cure. See you soon in the sand.

See you there late evening ... Thursday

Sadly, I need to be back at work Saturday and am travelling the whole week from Sunday ... so no option to stay.

@Jeepie and myself plan on arriving Thursday around 10pm (work permitting we will leave around 7pm). Or were you thiking about Friday night? Don't really fancy a 3 hour blast from Dubia and then a full day in the Dunes - better the other way round (hahaha)

Perhaps this is a bit tangential, but I am afraid that anything that the Dubai Police have said about this is completely devalued by the use of the Bentley Benteyga (or it is the equally hideous Rolls Royce Culligan?) Seeing one of them is enough to make me want to speed away from them at the fastest my car will travel. On the question of forgiving speeding fines and the like: Yes, it's a good initiative because it means that the infrequent offender might benefit. The problem, as mentioned above is when the repeat and recalcitrant also benefit. And I am not sure how they manage that.

@Frederic This promotion is in no small part thanks to you. Like you say you've been there since the start, like @Rahimdad and @Srikumar Thanks for the support, the coaching and the friendship. We are looking forward to lots more adventures - and the chance to continue to support newbies and fewbies

@Shamil, thanks for that. The feeling is mutual. And special thanks to you too as I am sure that the recent drives have contributed more than their fair share to the learning curve. We both really enjoy this club, so it is really wonderful to feel so welcomed.

Congrats to you. Onwards and upwards from here.