Zed

Was about to register for Waiting List here (1st drive with Mehmet on Friday), but noticed superstars @Gaurav Soni and @Niki are already in support.... I think they do better shoveling than me 😁 , but if Mr. @Srikumar  allows for 1 more party after RSVP limit is reached, happy to join this Fun Gang 😄

59 minutes ago, Gaurav said:

I just checked my images and AXA was using AAA service and this is the recovery truck who was nice but helpless and complaining that company don't even provide them a screw driver to do anything, let alone wheel dolly.

So I'm 90% sure that desert pullout must be tow-rope recovery and not vehicle breakdown recovery.

All I know that in 2014 one of my friend used unimog truck (I think from AAA) that costed him 2500 for wrangler recovery from pink rock area.

Ah there's another AAA, and these are the ones with the proper Desert Trucks: Hitachi Crawler Tank & a 4x4 Lift Truck... I saw AAA Recovery sign and I thought they're the same, apparently not 😂

9 hours ago, Wade Pat2 said:

Any input for guys like me with older vehicle. I have spent crazy amount keeping it in the best condition possible for on and off road. Every insurance I called will only offer 3rd party. Anyone know of a "declared value" insurance company or maybe a direct to recovery agency insurance just for mechanic/recovery. 

@Wade Pat2 bro, a quote from my insurance agent was "Off road cover with full insurance can provided by some companies for upto 10-12 years."  So for offroading until end 2022, the car model must be from year 2010+ 😭  Our cars fall into the Classics, so after spending so much on them, either we sell them to museums or car collectors...  or keep on using them and hope nothing expensive breaks 😅

As for the recovery part, maybe best to subscribe to AAA membership per year (usually included with some insurance) ? 500dhs includes the Off-Road Recovery...

Congrats @Lawrence_Chehimi, great meeting you in the Winter Drive. Looking forward to driving with you in future drives 👍

congrats @Warren Flay , hope to see the cat-less Gojero once again in Sweihan 😁

7 hours ago, Ahmed Abdelsalam said:

Hello Frederic,

I didn't bring the tools above yet , and I will be busy tomorrow morning so its better not to come tomorrow till i'm ready with the gear . Sorry for that but I will be out tomorrow.

Thank you

Ahmed 

@Ahmed Abdelsalam since we’re in the same convoy, I have spare deflator & gauge, we can exit the same time so you can use my compressor too. Look for a White Patrol if you change your mind 😊

This timely-released updates just keep the excitement going, where's that fast-forward to 6pm button on my watch? 😅

Congrats @salah2u 👍

Congrats fellow Y62 offroader @Mohammed Mansoor! Now you can join the Sweihan drives 😁

36 minutes ago, Wade Pat2 said:

Like I said, not really needed for me so I plan to enjoy the project coming together along with the cool sound  .

@Wade Pat2 the Ratatatata sound will only come on full throttle.  Doubt you’ll do it on asphalt highway as it may attract the police or CID 😁, but here’s one way 👇🏻 to make that sound once supercharger is installed 

52 minutes ago, Wade Pat2 said:

For the next addition on my project LC I may have gone off the rails. For someone who likes wrenching and rebuilding more than driving it might make since but this mod really isn't necessary or for offroad as much as "I always wanted one". For driving I will likely not even go past Fewbie or do much hill climbs but I will surely have an engine that makes cool sounds. 🤣

If anyone finds me face down in the desert just know it was my wife and I deserved it. 

#fully rebuilt, trd, ported, polished, heat coated, mapped unichip, etc...

That was pretty vague @Wade Pat2, but did you buy Marco LX470's SuperCharger??? 🤑  Our LandCruiser is heavy, so SuperCharger will be useful for climbing Iftar Bowl in Sharjah or Nagrah Sweihan in Abu Dhabi... or even participate in LIWA Festival to try out the Mureeb Dune 🔥

Well I was expecting a walk-in-the-park easy newbie drive, hence brought the Y62 with its owner (a.k.a.  wife), but got a bonus of 3-in-1 drives:  newbie afternoon, upgraded fewbie criss-cross, then fewbie night drive 😁  We arrived back in Abu Dhabi at 1am safe & sound, but that was quite a good weekend adventure...

Thank you to Marshal @Foxtrot Oscar , I like learning from different marshals and the way you visited _each_ car to check on us was quiet comforting... though you probably didn't have to go all the way to the back, we Fewbies in the back were enjoying the view, having nice coffee, and got your back 👍   I may have jinxed your drive by commenting, "Next upgrade is gonna be a Night Drive" , so I'll stay quiet next time 😂

Thank you Center Support @Niki , just like in a football game, the Center Forward is key 😃 We listened to the radio while you guided those who got refusals, and these folks self-recovered nicely thanks to the clear advice. I need to learn to get this "Radio Voice", I think when I was guiding people it might come as shouting to those who never met me, but actually that's just my normal voice tone 😂  We didn't get to chat much as it was hot at 3pm and it was late & sweaty at 9pm, but let's chat before the drive next time...

Thank you Sweeper Prasanth @Pacific , I think we made a good team. @luis mantecon and I had a different view of pulling the flying-wheel Pajero, but your way was proven correct 👍 That comes with experience, *respect 👮‍♂️  Also I'm so used with the Amber Lights in my LC100 when night-driving, but struggled a bit with the Y62 stock lighting, very happy to have Light Support from the back with your array of lights that can fill-up a toy store 😁  It sure helped when I got that mini-refusal when picking the wrong terrain to climb.

@Mohammed Mansoor & @salah2u : great Y62 driving, you did not disappoint the brand 😁  @salah2u you need to get that Diff Lock fixed my brother, the importance of the Diff Lock is explained in my post here >> 

@Goh KP : I think you had a few refusals, but don't immediately believe if someone says it's because of your 2.7L engine. I have driven (actually borrowed) a Prado 2.7L engine and drove it up in Sweihan. The key is to drive it manual which I'm sure you'll learn as you progress through... or I could show you if we meet again in another drive 👌

To the rest, it was a very good crowd, nice driving with the tribe 👍

38 minutes ago, Foxtrot Oscar said:

@Zedare you able to make it tomorrow as @Joseph Rajuhas had to withdraw

@Foxtrot Oscar yup I’ll be in Dubai from morning and will join your afternoon drive 👍🏻 Thank you

Congrats @Niki

3 hours ago, Adnan Halepota said:

Hi Anna, how much does it cost?

Hi @Adnan Halepota my friend just shared this photo he said it’s 75aed for a flag. Bear in mind this is in Musaffah and the timings (Musaffah closes at 8pm while Ace & Dalma closes later)

Location:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/Ca1FxEjpiFZWe2rh8

Flag samples: 

43 minutes ago, Adnan Halepota said:

Hi Sri,

I dont have a flag, can you advise where i can get if from in Abu Dhabi?

Hi @Adnan Halepota , Sri's based in Dubai but we in Abu Dhabi here can help you on this. First like @Anna Dillon said, go to Ace Hardware Yas and ask for AOR suction cup and flag. If not available, call this number  +971 2 554 8466 , it's a shop in Musaffah that also sells AOR-brand. Finally if you've exhausted all option, I've got a fishing pole + suction cup, which is a poor-man's flag, but better than not going without a flag 😄  Lemme know your search result...

EDIT: AdventureHQ also sells both Suction Cup & Flag according to their website https://adventurehq.ae/products/aor-offroad-flag-suction-mount , so maybe Dalma Mall AdventureHQ branch has it in stock...

55 minutes ago, Srikumar said:

3) For the Fewbies @Zed @John Vanderbleek in our convoy, you would be assigned some important roles for tomorrow. So please ensure to bring all your offroad gears for the drive. @Zed, please ensure that you have your transferred your recovery gears from LC to the Y62.

Ay ay Captain 👨‍✈️, happy to help. I only manage to transfer the "non-heavy" stuff: ropes, soft shackles, & ARB portable compressor (heavy but not gonna leave this baby in the garage 😁 ) . But no worries, I've procured the missing pieces: 12T Bottle Jack for pop-outs, and 2 ARB base-plates instead of 3 IKEA chopping boards stacked for height.  Unfortunately I only have gardening shovel with me, so I hope tomorrow's drive doesn't involve much shoveling 😂

14 hours ago, Lawrence_Chehimi said:

Saw this a while ago😂.

My story on every drive😂where are the LC owners??

Bro @Lawrence_Chehimi when you’re in Sweihan area, let’s go to the Patrol Bowl… local legend says this is where the locals test their stock Y61 before deciding to mod it 😁 Save this GPS loc for next time you’re visiting Abu Dhabi >> https://maps.app.goo.gl/pL8VHTQ7M7JCJbV38

PS: I’ve done this with my LC but not yet with my Y62 😅

2 hours ago, Anna Dillon said:

Looking forward to the drive! Mitsubishi Pajero, just had the low range gear fixed (looking forward to testing it out). One newbie drive with Gaurav and one night drive course with Asif so far. Can’t wait to learn more 😁

Hi @Anna Dillon have you sort out your Flag bracket yet?☺️ 4LO is used when in refusal so I hope you don’t have to use them on Friday, but it’s always good to prepare for the worst 👍🏻

Now for my opinion why these non-OEM filters exist (but not necessarily why you should use them):

1. SOUND. Most  manufacturers (Toyota, Nissan) want to make Silent Cars, so they add Resonator (absorb sound) and Paper Filters (maximum filtration). People being people (what’s the fun if my car is the same as yours 😁) want that Revving Sound. These performance filters, as @Srikumar has mentioned have larger pores, or let more air pass through. Additionally when installing, the OEM Resonator is usually removed, so no more air restriction. It’s like vacuuming your room with a 1000w vacuum, all that air (and dirt!) gets sucked in, which leads to the next point…

2. Little (again, little) performance 😁. More air coming through fast, more call for computer to pump fuel and cause faster combustion for the power needed to push car. BUT this makes sense in Yas Marina circuits (or Dubai Autodrome), because in drag race, you only cover a short distance so any small performance tweaks count. But for regular sand offroading, over long term yes those sand particles that didn’t get filtered out may cause you to do engine rebuilds after some time.

In short:
a. if you have recently bought new car, don’t do it, keep it at stock paper-based air filter. You will also break warranty if you modify this.

b. if you have older cars that you want to experiment with, again don’t do it unless you like that revving sound. I put mine in the old LandCruiser cos I want to hear more of its V8…. And also planning an engine rebuild end of year, so yeah expecting to clean sand particles from my engine later 😂
 

Adding to the already scientifically-sound paper and good advice from both Sri and Fred is this video to prove the excellent Sand Filtration point of Paper-based filter (OEM):

On 9/15/2021 at 9:42 AM, munkybizness said:

Final thought - currently running 275/65/R17 so would you folks recommend an upgrade to 285/65/R17 or 275/70/R17?

Did a side-by-side comparison and while the 275/70 offers a minutely better ~0.29" increase in clearance due to sidewall height increase, the 285/65 offers a ~0.39" increase in width.

These numbers seem so small that I've been breaking my head over this for the past week, and don't know which to prioritize. Any guidance here would be amazing!

There are already very good advices here and I think @munkybiznesshas made his choice, but I want to give an opinion on this “height” vs “width” since you were banging your head over this weeks ago 😁:

1. Generally like guru Sri has mentioned, higher is better. For the simple reason: your rear diff (aka the pumpkin) can only be moved up (higher ground clearance) by taller tires (thicker sidewalls).

2. But if you have a lift, whether suspension (move frame up) or body (move body up from frame), you just made the Center of Gravity even higher than factory design. In this case you may want to consider the wider tires, for the simple reason: a tall car with skinny/narrow feet (tyres) vs a tall car with fat feet/wide tires, which one is easier to roll over during side-sloping? I know which one cos I have rolled over 😂. Additional aesthetic reason: once you lift your car, you create that extra space that can only be fulfilled by larger tires, since some will see that space as “unbalanced”, “not in harmony” or “ugly” 😅

In short: tires are not forever, after few years they’ll wear out so good time to experiment a bit. If it doesn’t work out, you can always sell the tires after experimenting and fall back to the previous proven ones ☺️

OMG, you DID NOT use Elsevier to compare air filters, did you @Frederic 😂 Now who can beat a peer-reviewed paper except another PhD 😅 Btw how do you still have access to the subscription, the only reason I still have mine is probably they forgot to delete my academic account 😁