Niki

@Ale Vallecchi I truly wish I could join one of your ‘century drives’ (this one being my fav!) .. alas I will wait for the trip report to relive the experience and look forward to joining and supporting you towards 200! Many congrats on this milestone and thank you for supporting me and so many others on your route to 100! have fun all and be sure to make it a celebration!

@Zed this is incredibly useful (and impressive!) - i have a spare older Samsung Galaxy 8 and now you have me considering switching my setup! Thank you for this technical Mic drop moment!

@Zed i am actually using an iPhone (12Pro Max) running OBD Fusion App (paying a small add on for the Toyota calcs) plus a Bluetooth OBD2 Dongle (Veepeak OBDCheck BLE+ Bluetooth 4.0 adapter bought from US Amazon as the UAE didn't have this specific model). It is working great and no issues sending data to the App - maybe i am missing some functionality (but i haven't found that limit yet).

@AlexM when winter drives do start again and you have to wake at 5:30 to make the 7am meet point - you will feel spoilt with sleep consider the summer as conditioning for making you appreciate the winter even more. My experience - even 2 hours sleep is better than 0 so don't sacrifice that small period of rest thinking it would be hard waking up. The closing 1 hours of our drives are the usual periods where we find most of the refusals (when you are stuck but can self recover without leaving the car) or stuck (when you will need shovel/rope/winch/helicopter support). The lack of concentration/tiredness is the usually cause and those 2 hours sleep could be the difference here. My other experience having had my first taste of summer drives with Carnity this year - waking at 3am (with limited sleep), returning home around 11am - I am struggling to function for the rest of the day. I found myself exhausted by early afternoon and not much fun (too tired to play with kids etc) for the rest of the day. I have had to take 2 weeks off driving recently.... WELL each of those 2 Fridays i felt an over-whelming sense of under-achievement.... I may have slept more but by 9am when the kids crawl out of bed - i was thinking.... i would be airing up by now. By 10am when they have finished breakfast and finally awake, i was thinking if i don't wash the car, i would be home by now! Basically its a pain, its a struggle to wake, it a struggle to function for the rest of the day HOWEVER it feels better being tired than feeling a sense of under achievement... so much so i have got myself back on the wagon and doing a Friday drive (family are complaining but i think i can manage that).

@Lorenzo Candelpergher I second @Zed advice - JScan software and then work back from this to identify the OBD2 sensor to use. I recommend going for a Bluetooth v4 module as a min (i preferred to avoid the wifi variant as you can have concurrent bluetooth connections vs a single wifi). The BlueDriver you linked is a great unit and fast - just check it is compatible with JScan. That said - I don't think this will solve your original issues of the warning light - however will allow you to reset it yourself. Sometimes this sensor can trigger if the steering column is off center? however if it was that i suspect the garage would have corrected immediately (link) There's a separate group on Carnity for OBD2 fans where folks have helped me setup up the dials and what useful (and what isn't). Below is my current dash during drives and every few weeks i just run the scanner to see if any error codes have been picked up.

Thankyou @Ahab Shamaa for closing on this point - i am one of the most conservative drivers so shied away from ever considering a future me driving 'extreme' ... you have me reconsidering now and once back on the sand, looking at building up to experience one of these drives! your super power is 'to corrupt' as @Hisham Masaad and I experience regularly; here you strike again!

See @Frederic …. Worth secretly purchasing and hiding from the wife (I had recommended this to Fred a short while back 😂)! I have followed this product for a short while and love the idea (previous it felt like cheating however have come to terms with going the easy route ) the observatory @Zed mentioned is the officially distributor for the product here and the owner on Instagram posts his captures from the unit often… I was super tempted also and just waiting to see if the new smaller version will be as effective (comparison is below) Meet Vespera, our newborn star Vaonis.pdf This would make our Astro nights a breeze and we could just focus on beers and bbq!!

@Abdul Hanaan as Ale advised there is a button to disable the side airbags, see page 21 on this owners manual for the 2013 FJ. There is no need to disable the front airbags - they are considered necessary for safety and do not trigger unless a genuine impact. PS the GCC spec FJ moved to having the side curtain airbags as optional from 2010 so if your car doesn't have this button to disable (and clearly no airbag marking on the side pillars) - you are good to go!

@Shaaz Sha amazingly achievement and truly well deserved! 🍻

@M.Seidam amazing achievement and very well done! another legend in the making

@Ahmed Wagdy great discussion you started and rather than a 'rent a friend' service to drive the cars (you may end up with a friend like @PaoloMaraziti who will not drive, but test drive ) - we could stock pile these ramps and covers and offer a long term storage prep service (i am not a gifted businessman so feel free to shake your head). I am no longer travelling but put in a lot of research on how best to store our 2 cars and as we were in an apartment access for friends to drive it was a hassle/difficult. the below video is also great - explains the benefits/cons of the oil change, raising on a ramp, sealing exhaust, why to avoid soft outdoor surfaces to park etc (plus the guy has one of those authoritative American accents that makes him sounds like you are stupid to doubt his guidance)

😱🤦🏽‍♂️ I am not qualified beyond Amazon search! I do know very high end vehicle storage places that use the ‘flat stoppers’ for classics and modern hyper cars etc. not that this is proof enough however is an option I guess. A friend to drive the car on occasions is always the best choice - that I do agree

I was planning this over summer until our British friend Borris has kept UAE on the red list https://www.edmunds.com/car-maintenance/how-to-prep-your-car-for-long-term-storage.html Above link was useful and I then searched on Amazon for flat stopper / flat tire prevention to sit the car on (after inflating to 40psi). Prices varies massively so just make sure the width is measured before purchasing.

Not many drives have this level of engagement 3-4days out with thoughts on gears, throttle approach, torque curves, lines... likely soon the debate will move to style based on convoy position, the lottery of 'how-low-do-i-go for tire pressure', impact of bringing a passenger (weight management), do I use low range outside of recoveries etc. @Wrangeld you know you are doing something right when there is this much thought and care being taken prior to a drive... makes me sad to miss the drive even more (and reminds me of exactly why i wanted to join)!

@PaoloMaraziti i was really looking forward to the drive and reading the thread and Richard's summary I can only hope for a repeat ride in the future. All is good however I am required for the family duties which i must prioritize - truly appreciate you checking in! Knowing you are sporting a new pair of shoes - i am even more gutted as would have been a great trip to join together and share experiences. Remember to run the new tires in this week so take a few more highway miles on them ready for Friday (on a recent Extreme drive one of the team had a new set of wheel put on and hadn't run them in which caused a pop out ... plenty time to run them and the seal in this week!) .. i will be monitoring the thread so am keenly waiting for the post ride reports and feedback! Have a super ride and drive with confidence ... your new coopers will make you feel like you have ballet shoes on I may ask to be put on a wait list incase circumstances change later this week however at the moment i will enjoy the ride through you and your report my friend. PS we were all in awe of your Yeti cool box and the glamorous/luxury refreshments you stocked!

@Wrangeld sad to say I’ll be dropping out of the drive! 😢 … this was a drive I have been wanting to join more than most and gutted to miss out. I am likely to be on pause for weekend off-roading for a while however will keep an eye out as you develop these challenging drives ongoing and cannot wait to join a future trip! Have a fun ride all ..

I am sorry (well actually not) but our friend @Islam Soliman has caught the virus! He is at early stages however I don’t see a path back for him! It only took a quick ‘peek’ into @Hisham Masaad trunk and he has been corrupted/infected (even when practicing covid precautions) .. The pic below, I caught him red handed and he tried to run away from the shot… he still hadn’t individually inflated all his tires and the fuses where still waiting to be refit … instead he was in deep in discussion about Hisham’s gadgets, accessories, trunk of wonders let’s see who else will be seduced by Hisham’s trunk of wonders 🤣 Warm welcome to the club Islam… here for you as you take your first steps to comfort!

@Islam Soliman what a special ride today! As everyone has already shared - the route planning and execution was superb… you gave us such a variety of experiences! THANKYOU for extending the ride to fit in the rollercoaster ride and Baja race (I only got to 83kmp/h … I demand a rematch) @Mario Cornejo flawless again and as always… he is simply the best student in the class! @Hisham Masaad everyone knows you as the most generous and supportive member … today we got to see another side … the showman! You got yourself in super soft sand helping other, rev’d up to dig yourself in more so the seniors would come circle you to support …. And then when you had an audience, you just floated out effortlessly… taking the applause! 🤣👏🏽 @Mehmet Volga many thanks for the support at the back throughout! I want to call out @JeromeFJ … I learnt he is still on stock everything including the tires and just a massive kudos for how is handling everything with the grandtreks … near the back end of the convoy, managing every challenge… a role model ‘driving stock’ … when you do move to true AT tires you will appreciate more than most! and less that said about @Darren Brooke 7’ shovel the better … he could almost stay in his car while shoveling with that thing (I have shovel envy!) great convoy supporting each other when needed and seeing old friends again was a joy!

@Frederic I popped into the store below to look at the R6 and noticed they had anologue gear also .. hth whilst waiting for the pro’s to reply https://bhmstore.com/169-darkroom-equipment

@Islam Soliman you have no time for cake … fuses don’t plug themselves back in! Thankfully we are growing our gang one impressionable driver at a time!! Ready for cake at anytime and soon every convoy will have one of us to spread the word and wisdom … corrupting one newbie at a time

Hi @Islam Soliman There is a Retrofit Kit to restore an airfilter: LINK A video showing the method: LINK I have no clue if this matches your model however was fun exploring how you folks with older rigs have to hack/innovate... i think a future me will be picking up an old classic to enjoy playing with. The suppliers site states this should work with you car (fingers crossed)

Hey @Warren Flay it’s not the clearest button but on the site you can hit the “leave event” button/text under the drive announcement. Pity as would be great to have you nicely upgraded rig join us.

🤣😂😅

@Yousef Alimadadi what a super ride you led today! The track you planned has made me appreciate Quadra so much more! I didn’t know it could be that much fun! You really did give us a full 7 course meal: technical, ridge riding, fast paced sidies, ropes, shovel, a pop out and the rare ‘push’ down the dune technique Great lead and super support from @Frederic and @Janarthan (I truly appreciate the knowledge you both shared during the recoveries). Special mention to @Alain Canivet-Abikhalil who was superb as SL!! super pics in the gallery !! Thanks for those that took these and have uploaded. what a great convoy today.. this group plus these drives are why I love fewbies … #foreverFewbie 🤩 Ps. @Frederic I cannot look at my soft shackles the same way again 😳 (for the others I won’t share the comparisons made as it may ruin your dinner 😣)

@Hisham Masaad if I could hit ‘like’ 10 times I would to this this announcement! Many congrats!! 🥂