Niki

@Ale Vallecchi ... 🙏🏽 My brother @Ahab Shamaa and I will share the same tracks so you won’t even notice an extra car in the convey! @Ahab Shamaa you are not a poser .. you have the pin-up FJC! I live through your spending and upgrades ... god bless your credit card! I am clearly in the honeymoon phase lol.. thank you for sharing your maintenance routine and I will add clearing out the air filter (I cannot believe I didn’t do that so far)! When I check the fluids after each drive if the oil levels drop or/and the colour degrades I will then change the filter/oil otherwise stick to the scheduled 10k intervals. I have just placed an order for duck tape and be prepared for the most boring car tour when we finally meet (I have one duffel in the trunk and that’s sadly it). FJC crew ... cannot wait for the next ‘FC preferred ride’ so we get to hang out as a rabble/heard/gang/crew

Thank you @Rahimdad for taking the time to reply and rightly comment that’s it’s better to be safe and spend a few extra aed than be sorry. I am one of those people that reads manuals (even the ikea ones) ... I am hanging my head in shame!... sadly I rarely understand what I am reading but carry on as it makes me feel smarter. appreciate you adding the FJC gurus and Gaurav to give me further council. With the weekly drives I suspect I will hit the 5k milestone by Jan/feb so just getting prepared. hope I get to join one of your famed drives very soon! Touched and humbled by your story about your brother and the Superman tshirts! Look forward to seeing you again very soon.

Hi (again) As a new Toyota owner and new to using a 4x4 for its intended purpose, off-road, I need a little advice from my fellow Toyota Owners with regards service intervals. I am trained over the past 9 years to service my car annually (as I never previously hit the mileage milestone) and with a service pack never really read any documents as it was a matter of a reminder being sent on SMS and pick up the car a few days later. My car: FJC 2020 (registered October 31st this year) 4 year service contract Averaging 2k per month KMs so hitting service schedules much sooner than planned Added to this a reasonable % of this mileage is done off-road I know I need to call the dealership for a number of these asks below however their service departments isn’t exactly responsive so as I wait thought I would ask our community: Advice needed #1 according to the Owners Manual, if you are using the car regularly on dusty road then the service interval for a few items are adjusted (brought forward). ASK # 1 – Does a weekly desert drive qualify my driving/car as having ‘regular’ off road use? #2 above is a screen shot from the owners manual that details the items that need to be done earlier if using off road regularly ASK #2 – have any of you fellow Toyota owners with a service pack, bothered to use the included service for this maintenance? Would it be a waste of that service entitlement as I only get 7 (covering 4 years) ASK #2A – if you fellow service pack owners advise to keep the included services for the main milestones (every 10k KM) then do you simply go to an: Independent garage and have the filter and oil replaced + Prop Shaft greased and tightened OR do you pay the dealership tax and get that task done at the dealership to not risk any void warranty? OR just buy the Toytota official Oil filter and have the work done offsite/independent #3 and ASK#3 – any FJC owners able to advise me on any items to watch out for / have looked at as I now take the car weekly into the desert and it being only a few months old? I am following the guidance in the forum to check fluid levels prior and post drive (oil, coolant, power steering and brake) I have done 3K KM so far and the oil on the dip stick looks as good as new and the fluids haven’t shifted at all (good news I guess) Thank you in advance

@Wrangeld @Lorenzo Candelpergher thank you for another great drive and feedback! Confidence has grown a lot and cannot wait for the next one!

@Ahab Shamaa you are the #FJGuardianAngel along with having the #pinUpFJ .. 🤣😂🤣 about the subtle propaganda we are using for our jeeper cousins I have this toy on my Xmas list now because of you and Ale!

Am very new to this community (my absolute newbie ride was in Nov 2020 ). Therefore that has to be my fav moment and pic for this year! @Ale Vallecchi using his baby FJ toy car for the briefing ... I felt this club/community was made for me ... fate! (a black FJ owner on his very first ride led by an expert FJ driver using a toy black FJ to teach us the basics) and the group also included @Gaurav ... talk about newbies being spoilt! Looking forward to what 2021 will bring ... I cannot wait for the opportunity to enjoy an after drive Karak/banquet! Congrats on the incredible growth and keeping the community run like a family!

@Wrangeld appreciate the way you managed such a technical route with a large and long convoy of us newbies!! Appreciate the opportunity to use the ATrac on the car and the trust you gave me to allow self recovery from the many refusals! Excited to learn more and build that confidence ... in car and myself! Thankyou! @Rahimdad was great to meet you in person as I tried to self promote to fewbie look forward to an adventure under you lead soon. Have you flying in as Superman when we had the torn tire caught in the gallery. @Janarthan @Jeepie what super patient calm and reassuring support you have to us near the back half of the convoy! other pics are in the galary of the adventure and look forward to the next one!

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-HQg9uVlbF7x/learn/q-a-about-compact-powered-subwoofers.html check out the ones listed here - they have a whole class of pre-built (sub, amp, enclosure, controls etc) under-seat subs and the install is supposedly done in 2 hours or less. they are extremely shallow so the bass may be a let down for someone that had a dedicated one in the trunk but as an option for space saving it could work. if i go this path i will share my experience. that said, the option of a removable sub is tempting - the store showed me exactly such a pre-built box taking minimal space (as per @Heisem unit). ps @Ahab Shamaa the site above is a gift for any newbie to learn from and they make it super easy to look at options car specific etc. dust off your wallet - i think its about to get some action!

@topgear i have 2 wonderful kids (boy 8 and girl 9) - they both would love to come to the desert however i feel they may distract me a little ... the boy uses the bathroom it feels like, 4 times an hour and my daughter has zero bravery so i suspect the first dune i have to descend will trigger panic in her and she will be calling her mum! I will definitely bring them in the future - get my confidence up first (completed my 2nd drive a few weeks back) and once covid restrictions lifted a little and we do small gatherings for families as i think they will love to play in the dunes as much as the roler-coaster of being a passenger. i made sure to have the white text on the new tires left facing the inside so the wife doesn't know i have changed them!! at the moment she is in the early phases of her husband leaving every Friday for 6-7 hours ... though i am confident i will bring her to a future trip ... i actually want her to learn some of the basics as its a skills for us all, especially living out here. look forward to meeting you on a ride in the near future and thanks for all the encouragement

@Frederic thank you for sharing your experience and as someone who had competition setups, that's a lot of quality advice! removing the software EQ and sound controls from the phone as a source has made a huge difference to the setup so far. It leaves me much happier and buys me some time to research and plan and future spend - i want to get the Amp right (am glad i added 8" mids as they deliver a decent level of bass even without a sub so for now, i have it much better than the stock and can not be tempted to buy so quickly future upgrades). @Frederic did you consider (and dismiss quickly) the idea of an underseat sub (ultimate space saver but i suspect No Sub is better than poor quality for an audiophile) @Alexander Alcala now you getting me in trouble with the marshals and crew!! ... as a disclaimer, the begining of my post, i mentioned this was to make the trip to and from the start points more pleasant .. lol (if i am caught pumping my poor taste in music during drives i will hang my head in shame!) @Ahab Shamaa come on now!! you have the 'pin up FJ' - i stopped looking at mine now i have seen your queen! Extreme, roof rack with the treads, a WINCH! and i bet the list is going on! ps my knowledge is due to the vast experience with google & 'copy-paste' - a whole days worth of knowledge is what i have