Looper

Mahindra had/has licence to make up-to CJ5 models.

This is interesting, thank you @Zed for this Shop & Ship idea. It opens up a lot of opportunities to J.E.E.P. (Just Empty Every Pocket) for my Jeep.

Thanks @Gaurav for a wonderful drive. It was quite fun drive. The drive was one of those types that I like most. I never before enjoyed a night drive as much as of last night. It seemed like @M.Seidam @Jeepie and especially @Rizwanm2had few refusals to take care of. I like refusals in night drives, (sorry to say that) for it gives me time to enjoy the tranquility of the desert in the night. Being behind the lead I can only comment on my drive. It was my first drive with my new lift and 2nd one with the new tires and I am still new to the changed driving stance. Crossing dunes seemed a lot more easier yesterday, without the usual scooping of sand. I was however a bit worried if I might have a pop out as it happened a couple of times in my last drive and I was driving in a slightly sedated manner. My first refusal occurred due to the lighter gas than it was required and the recovery issues seemed to be due to 4 wheel drive not engaging properly, since you mentioned that my front wheels were not moving. In my last drive I had a “Service 4WD” message pop up and it came at the fag end while exiting and wasn’t sure what it was doing. Apart from that one time I did not seem to have any issues for rest of the drive. And the second refusals was because I have to live up to my new profile name, and take some loops to come back on track. I just slipped out to the other side of the ridge as I suffered a momentary lack of concentration, since I was looking at my son; who was asleep by then - if he was comfortable or not. PS: It is important to be able to keep adequate distance while observing what the lead/driver in front is doing, one of the skills everyone must practice. This will help to assess how to proceed with tackling the terrain, while giving enough time and space to not getting oneself stuck back to back in a difficult situation.

Thanks @Niki. I’ve pinged them.

I have a 70mai air Compressor along with my onboard ARB one for when I have to top up air because I deflated more or to level the tires after a drive. This one goes into the cigarette lighter and auto inflated to the set pressure. It also shows pressure in .1 increments. I have OCD that all my tires have to have the same pressure on my car center console screen, else I pull my hair out or have sleeplessness. 🤣

Yes ARB have them, but not available here or on Amazon from US. Thanks 🙏

I am trying to jerry rig a air gun for my ARB compressor. I have bought one Asturo Walcom Air Blowing Gun with Long Nozzle from ACE Hardware, and a Gentlin Female Brass Coupling (1/4 in.) to go with it from them, but the adapter does not fit to my ARB hose. The ARB takes 1/4 inch NPT adapter. I had previously bought a Black + Dekker 6 in one as well - that too did not fit. Any suggestions on how to get something to work?

I know - obviously it was a Joke. Jeeps do have their usual share of troubles and it is part of the Jeep experience, however frustrating it is. These days my trouble is that sand comes into the car though the gap between rear glass pan and the door. every time I open it a lot of sand falls back into the car.

That is not an option anymore. FJ, no doubt is a very well made car and has better put together overall, but If I were to go and buy a new vehicle, I'd still not buy a FJ since I don't really like the way it looks like. Irrelevant to the decision but the FJ was designed as a concept in 2003 and Toyota decided to launch it in 2005. It is such an old model and they aren't even trying to refresh it. It is perhaps only available in the Middle East and nowhere else. Toyota just left it to die a slow death.

If not for the drive but can I join for the photography part of the drive? I meant to drive on one of the previous occasions but had to skip as I had to travel.

I drove with you only once at Margham, when you had a pop-out. I was doing sweep duty that day and I could see that you were quite comfortable behind the wheels in the desert. Congratulations @Aisha S! Well deserved promotion, now the drives will become a ever so slightly intense and the desert driving passion becomes intense. PS: seems that was your latest drive as a newbie as well.

That's a great video.

Yetis and Dometic passive coolers will keep the cold for much much longer than the supermarket white top ones for sure.

Stats said someone? These are another set of Stats - showing how many others were there in the drives and in what level of drives. I have done 53 drives till now and there were 535 others in those drives. Pure numbers instead of charts - You interpret as you desire. Look at Intermediate Level Drives - one would have done a lot of drives to reach those levels. 1. Excluding My Drives 3 Including My Drives 2. Just My Drives Obligatory Disclaimers: How to read - See Absolute Newbie - It had 12 drivers driving different cars - 6 Jeeps of which 2 were JL, one TJ of @Jeepie & One Cherokee of @Srikumar 3 Pajero LWB cars so on.. Sometimes People change cars (very few) but that will cause the numbers to align to the current car. I think of only one person doing it as of now - @Ranjan Das showing in Jeep JK SWB - but the only other time I drove with him was absolute newbie in which he came in a LR3 or LR4 but it shows JK SWB. Also some might come on a different car than that they have declared in their profile. This is based on just my drives and may differ to the actual real world scenario.

Congratulations @Ranjan Das!! Well done and see you soon in the desert with your new ride.

Car Wars : The Choices of @Enrico Biscaro (Episod VIII)

Oh I see, didn’t know you were selling the car because of issues. Saw the ad on FB yesterday. I thought your car was well made, but seems the previous owner did abuse the car.

Catch up with @Ranjan Das, he might have something you need, want.

EID Mubarak to all my friends at Carnity.

I have been doing some research on car cooler solutions and these are my findings. Hope it is useful for some. These are some of the questions you need to answer to decide on the right cooler for you: Cooling technologies – what’s available? Cooling and freezing in hot climates What size should your cooler be? Which energy sources do you want to use? Avoid a flat vehicle battery Are you concerned about noise from your cooler? Will you travel for long or short periods of time? Coolers for use away from the vehicle Is it possible to cool “passively” without the need for power? Do you want to pre-select a target temperature? Cold drinks for the driver Easy to clean features Refrigerate and freeze simultaneously Is there a cooler that can heat too? There are essentially 4 ways one can keep their food or drinks cool or cold and I have listed them down from the cheapest to most expensive, and have tried to answer the above questions. 1. Isothermal: or Passive coolers are your normal cool boxes. These are least cost options and don’t have any maintenance as well as any power requirement. One needs to provide cold substance - generally water ice, dry ice or ice packs to keep the contents in the box cold, which results in loss of space inside the box. But in the desert driving situations they are best as they can take any tumble without any worry. One can buy normal plastic ones in any supermarket or hardware stores as well as on amazon – they are the cheapest ones one can buy. You can also buy just water Jugs. These plastic ones are generally good for an afternoon drive. Going up the price range – Decathlon have some flexible cool bags which are light and give longer cooling period. Going further up on the value chain – you will find Dometic branded coolers that promise to keep the content ice-cold for days. How to Keep Your Icebox Cold for Longer: Pre-chill the food and drinks you plan on packing. Fill the cooler to the top with food and drinks. Freeze bottled water to store in empty spaces. Store your cooler out of the sun. Put the ice in last. Don’t drain the water when the ice melts. Pack all the essentials on top. Keep the lid closed. 2. Thermoelectric: These are the cheapest powered car cooler you see on the market. They are light weight, and they cool as well as warm contents inside. One can get these in very small sizes – e.g. 6 liters and up. Some drawbacks include, they are noisy operators, use a lot of battery power and as one cannot set temperature, and they heavily depend on the ambient temperature. They generally keep the inside temperature anywhere between 10-20 degrees C cooler depending on the models. 3. Compressor: They work like the normal household fridge i.e. they have a compressor built in them hence the name. The pros of these type of coolers, are that they use minimal power for operation. You may set the desired temperature anywhere between 10 degree C and -22 degree C depending on the model and the cooler will maintain that temperature – therefore it can be used as a freezer or fridge. From functionality point of view, it is considered the best of all, but one downside is that it can be a bit pricy. Some of the compressor refrigerator units work both on household power as well as car cigarette lighter port on the car while some models are designed to work with solar as well. You can get some of the models with dual zones and you can set individual temperatures such as one side as fridge and other freezer. Many users connect it to a standalone battery that is connected to the car cigarette lighter, so that the cooler continues to work while the car is not running and prevent drain on the main car battery, while keeping the cooler in operation. Some of the well-known coolers come with auto cut off function, whereby they switch off if the car battery comes down a pre specified level. Non-branded or Chinese (Crony) versions available for as lows as AED 440 for 15 liters ones on amazon. They will last well for a year or two but there after you might face some issues. Amazon and Dragon Mart are the best sources of these coolers. Dometic is the most famous of the mainstream brands. CFX3 is the latest series of their coolers. You can buy in 25- (going to be available soon) 35-, 45-, 55- liter single zone coolers and 75-, 95- and 100-liter dual zone coolers. They come equipped with Bluetooth and WIFI as well as accompanying apps, using which one can set the desired temperatures as well as monitor it and also monitor the battery. status. I was looking for the CFX3 25 for my 2 door Jeep to keep at the back but it would still be a bit larger. These coolers can be installed on their own sliding racks and can be tied down. They have sturdy handles. Older generation models are also available in the market. I would not buy them unless I am getting it at a good discount, or they are of the desired size, since one can buy some smaller size coolers that server the intended purpose. While the compressor technology is mostly same the designs have been changed since previous generation models and some functionality has been improved e.g. color screen for monitoring etc. ARB also have some decent coolers and my understanding is that ARB only designs the coolers and Dometic manufactures them for ARB. Currently Ace is running good discounts on Domestic Coolers. 4. Absorption: These coolers work using either AC, DC or Gas. It is most efficient while working on propane or gas and are used for off grid locations where electric power is scares but will use ten times more power using AC or DC sources of power. They need to be on level, else they won’t work. One cannot set temperature and can only reduce the internal temperature by 10-20 degrees compared to outside. They are basically gas based coolers that can also somewhat work on AC or DC power. My recommendation is to get an Isothermal/Passive cooler as the least cost option for desert driving and put some iced water bottles along with chilled water bottles in it. For camping or day trips I would prefer Compressor based coolers. For Small Cars (like in the back of my Jeep 2 Door with rear seat up) I will go for Dometic CF-11, CF-16 or CF-26 (while they are old generation, they work nice & Ace has a good discount on CF-26s for Eid). For larger cars I would recommend CX3 series coolers (latest generation, again Ace has some cool discounts running currently on the CX3-45s, I will skip the CFF series unless desperately going for that discount).