topgear

I am rather certain you can get something neatly fabricated at some garages on the roof rails or somewhere at the rear of your car, near the spare wheel. 

White

The cars prior to that were silver. White or silver is great because of the heat and I do not need to wash it so often compared to a black car

welcome @Abu Muhammad

I encourage you to join the drives

@Pancho congratulations! I am very impressed with your dedication since you travel all the way from Abu Dhabi. 

@Mohamed Seidamthanks for starting this thread. 

I will upload a couple of clips that I managed to capture from a recent drive. 

Congrats @Tamas Hoffmann

Welcome to Carnity. I have joined a few drives and I see a relatively high population of Wranglers.They are all very handy at the desert.

Thank @Frederic for sharing the technical knowledge. It was really helpful. 

I was not aware of the Duty Cycle. Mine says Duty cycle (max): 33% @ 100psi

Does this mean it can be operated for slighly longer than 20 mins since I 'only' go up to 38 psi? 

I have not kept time to know how long it takes to inflate all 4 tyres but it should be on or about 20 mins or so.

I was a bit ‘concerned’ with an evening drive but wanted to try and see what it is like. 
 

The drive to the meeting point was fairly eventful compared to morning drives where most things were dark and hardly any traffic. Traffic was quite busy, lots of 4WD on the road, very windy with lots of sand on the road.  I got a few drops of ‘rain’ on my windshield. The weather was great when I arrived at the meeting point, notwithstanding that it is still summer. 
 

My first evening drive experience was great especially during the transition period shortly before the sun set. The desert was beautiful at that time of the day.
 

Great guidance from Richard @Wrangeldwhen I had my refusal whilst crossing the dune. 
 

I was able to view two recoveries from the back with instructions relayed over the radio which I find beneficial for newbies like me. 

It was also fun following the tracks laid out by @Pancho 

Last but not least, many thanks @Gaurav for the drive and in dealing with the recoveries along the way. 

I have uploaded some photos and videos at the Gallery. 

It is good that ACE gave you a full refund. MM will be a good compressor. Lots of good reviews out there. 

Looking forward to my first evening drive tomorrow! 😁

My FJ will reach 100k km in a approximately another 2-3 weeks. The car is just out of warranty and also service contract.

I shall appreciate the following information (not specific to FJ only) but mainly for Japanese 4WDs:

1) what is advised/needed to be done for the 100k km service? I was advised to find out more information and be prepared should certain service advisor starts to 'recommend' all sorts of repairs or replacement since there is no service contract and warranty. 

2) where do you do it? 

3) estimated costs? 

@Nivin is it the off-roading shop at DM? 

Thanks everyone. 
@Srikumarthanks for the drive and helpful tips on the suitable tyre pressure. It always nice to go to Pink Rock and the experience is always different.   

@Nivinthanks for your help when all my tyres were grossly under inflated. On the way out the reading of the compressor is consistent with the petrol station. Maybe I should change the battery. Where did you get your tyre pressure gauge ? 
 

@Pancho thanks for the tips when I was dealing with the refusal. I was too busy catching up with the car in front  that i forgot to thank you over the radio  

@Biju Abdulthe one that I have also have certain cut out areas where the service centre can open with the Allen key when they need to change the oil filter, drain the engine oil etc, During regular service, the SC does not need to remove the whole skid plate.

yes, minimum of 8mm 

I have an aftermarket base plate which is thicker than the original plates.

I do not recommend that you drive without the base plate. It is for the protection of your undercarriage, radiators and such. My original was pretty bent Toyota SC quoted me something in the region of AED2k plus to replace the plate, screws etc. I read around and went for an aftermarket skid plate a couple of years ago.

@Dagdag Sofiane I bought one recently from Speedex SZR for AED 32 

happy birthday @Vanessa8580

Going to be a busy Sunday...Spanish F1 and Indy500 later in the evening.

Congratulations with your new ride. 

Congrats @Lisa Pemberton

Congrats !

your FJ looks mean and awesome 😎 

Congrats!

@Frederic thanks for your help and guidance today. My mistake/lesson learnt, esp as second lead, is to stop in a safe place and wait, the moment someone in the convoy is stuck to avoid a similar situation. The sand in that area was so soft and it made recovery very challenging. Massive apologies to the rest of the convoy for holding up the progress. 
Thankfully the rest of the drive was smooth...

@Nivin this time, when I got to the top of Fossil Rock, I made sure I stopped on the harder sand and pointing down. thanks for the tip.

@Lisa Pembertonthanks for the explanation today on the MM compressor. I have passed on the information to my friend. He will probably go for the MM instead of Bushranger due the price point and 5 years warranty.