Thomas Varghese

Congrats @Imteeaz

3 hours ago, Jessica Lambert said:

I was worried someone would accuse me of not having my wheels pointed directly down, so I took photos to prove that it was my over-deflation + a bush at the bottom of the dune that were my undoing  They will be on the gallery today! 

Dear @Jessica Lambert, We are here to learn how to offroad safely. We never blame others for some mistakes. Of course mistakes should be avoided while offroading but its inevitable. Driving on tarmac is different from driving on sand. As we are practised driving on tarmac it will be not easy to shift to driving on sand so easily. Same reasoning when someone is not offroading for a long time the club advices to start with a lower level to get the feel of the drive again. Now you know how a pop out occurs this will be stored in your memory to avoid the same mistake again. Yes if you hit a bush hard the tire will pop out. This doesn't mean you will not have pop outs later as you will avoid the bush in the future drives. You only eliminated one of the reasons for a pop out. There are numerous more coming. Slowly and steadily you will learn the tricks of the sand driving and still get a pop out occasionally. 

Did you notice how I got crested very nicely even though I have done 105 drives. It was my mistake. The trip lead had asked to reroute as most of you were not experienced to ride that climbing ridge. That was a fewbie plus level ridge. I have done it numerous times before and thought let me try it and show all of you how it could be done. It was a foolish thing I did and should have stayed where I was and continued in the convoy. All of you saw the result and I myself made a fool out of myself. 

See you soon in the sands. Will see your friend too with a Xterra (hope its the 2015 prior model and not the new one) as you mentioned soon in the club.

Today's Faqqa fewbie drive under @Shaaz Sha's lead. 

I have read comments from fellow drivers @Pierre de Maigret, @Ashutosh Garg & from the trip lead @Shaaz Sha. I'm happy all have given good reviews about the drive. To be frank it was a very good drive in Fewbie class. 

All the drivers showed up at Faqqa on time and was ready deflated with flags up by 5.30 except @DP1011 , Deepak wrangler. After the briefing from the trip lead about our goals and driving techniques with inputs from @Looper we all hit the sands at 5.45am. Thank you @Pierre de Maigret, @Ignacio Quindos, @Jessica Lambert, @Ashutosh Garg, @RiaanJH, @Lucky sAm and it was a pleasure driving with you all. 

I don't know how @Shaaz Sha finds these beautiful tracks to drive again and again. The entire drive didn't have any tracks from any convoy or any lone wolf traversing that area. Kudos to the trip lead. The track which was laid out to us had everything including ridge riding, side slopes, criss crossing, tight turns and some minor slip face side slopes to get a feel of what is it exactly. Considering it was a fewbie drive and except Shaaz, me & @Looper all had relatively less drives under their belt to make it all the way from the entry point to the exit. Now the big question is how did everybody perform on such a challenging track. On a scale of 1 - 10 I will give this a 8. I was expecting lot of refusals and stucks and cresting but kudos to the drivers it was kept down to a minimum. This is unavoidable once you are inside the desert and even IM drives and drivers face such challenges. The stucks, refusals & crests were tackled with expert guidance from @Shaaz Sha & @Looper without any incidents. No comments about @Shaaz Sha's expertise as he is the trip lead but @Looper was amazing. How he guided @Lucky sAm during his refusals has to be given top admiration. 

We had 2 pop outs soon after we started - perhaps in the 1st hour itself. Both fixed in very less time. Everybody chipped in with a helping hand and we were soon driving off again. @Jessica Lambert's pop out is a regular one on the front right wheel when she was side slopping on a left ward climbing side slope as the wheels were not pointed straight down when exiting the dune. The surprise one was the pop out of @Ignacio Quindos on his real wheel. The stalwarts of @Carnity like @Gaurav, @Frederic, @Srikumar, @Wrangeld & @Ale Vallecchi can please share their thoughts on this. I have a hunch it happened because of fish tailing but not sure how it happened as 2 cars were ahead of me. If its because of fish tailing @Ignacio Quindos has to work out more on this as its dangerous. I don't blame him as its his 1st Fewbie drive and he did very well for the rest of the drive without much issues. But need to work out on this more. 

@Pierre de Maigret did extremely well as 2nd lead. Its not an easy task to follow @Shaaz Sha when he is in full flow driving in his Xterra. He must have felt bad for a couple of refusals but for me he did very well. The surprise driver who did well in a 2.7L prado was @Jessica Lambert. She can drive with just 10 drives under her credit so well and looks like she knows what her car can do and what it cannot. With helpful tips from the support team and encouragement I didn't see any terrain she left unconquered. @Ashutosh Garg seemed to fish tail in the initial stages but after some tips didn't see him fishtailing at all. Fast learner. Never heard @RiaanJH on the radio claiming he had a stuck or refusal. 

The most important lesson I learned from this drive is how much ever experienced you are if you try to show off you can find yourself in a bad crested situation. Thanks @Looper for tugging me out. After crossing an upward climbing ridge Shaaz wanted to re route and told everybody to take different track and I thought it was a easy climb and promptly crested myself by attempting it. Sorry guys for being impulsive and I learnt my lesson. 

It was a pleasure driving with you all and sure enjoyed meeting you all. 

See you all soon in the sands. 

@GauravSoni don't know if you started to teach climbing slip faces to our club. Remember those times we used to practice insane climbs after our regular drives. Pure adrenaline rush. One of the few drivers I have seen dancing with a wheel in hand with two levers under the feet. 

CONGRATULATIONS @GauravSoni. Will drive with u soon under your lead. Renewed my membership only for this purpose. Have driven with you so many times. Knew one day you will lead a drive in the club seeing your passion. 

Hi @Ale Vallecchi, Had to drop out of the drive as an unexpected meeting came up for today afternoon. 

35 minutes ago, ShereenMK said:

😂😂😂 exactly what i am planning to do.. no need of curtains anymore.

@ShereenMK I'm not sure of how the side airbag deployment in Pathfinder works but have a hunch its needed for mulkiya renewal. The check engine light can only be reset by a competent scan tool which I believe is in Nissan workshop only. Last time I checked with Nissan they were quoting 15k for this as the module inside the steering wheel of my car had a malfunction and check engine light was on 24/7. I could manage with a 2nd hand module and reset the check engine light. In your case I'm not sure if that can be that easy as you hastily tore open the airbags. You can fiddle with any other mechanical parts of the car and get it replaced except the air bag deployment system. The vehicle testing center's of RTA are very strict about vehicle safety and air bag deployment system. 

Dear @Gaurav, Forgot to thank you for organizing such a wonderful off road club which has so much camaraderie between the drivers engaged in such extreme sports. For sure the insistence of joining the Absolute newbie drive before commencing all other drives plays a big part in such close friendship. I don't trust any other club like I trust @Carnity and that is the reason I have remained in the club even though being paid. Of course premium services comes at a cost. 

Thank you club @Carnity and all the founding members and the marshals keeping up the basic human values in such a value diminishing world.

Wanted to join as my tomorrow morning drive with @Shaaz Sha seems somewhere near this area. But as nobody is attending calls I don't know if I start from Ajman now. 

I'm sorry I have to drop out so late. Not feeling well 

1 minute ago, Frederic said:

Very impressive record keeping @Looper

He is the IT guy. 

6 minutes ago, Zixuan Huang - Charlie said:

Hi Folks,

 

As I have reached IM level, I see the need of upgrading my suspension.

Because Pathfinder R51 isn't a popular offroader, not many companies do suspension for R51, hence here are my options:

 

1. Dobinson twin tube with coils (Highly recommended by a close friend, 2 years warranty)

2. Ironman 40mm foam cell with coils (Popular choice for R51 owners around the globe, 3 years warranty)

3. Tough dog 41mm foam cell with coils (Another popular choice for R51 owners around the globe, looks tougher and provides 4 year unlimited km warranty)

 

My preference is Ironman>Dobinson>Tough Dog

Ironman ME direct supplies with warranty support, twintube+foamcell supposingly is better than just the twintube Dobinson, and Tough Dog doesnt have direct dealer in ME, warranty support can be compromised.

R51 has less ground clearance, it requires 1.5inch and above lift for desert, For this reason Bilstein isn't an option here as it doesn't provide the longer monotube shock b8 5100 for rear.

 

Please let me know if anybody has experience with the above 3 products, and additional options are welcomed.

Dear @Zixuan Huang - Charlie I suppose you won't be very fond of my suggestion but let me tell u mine. Sell the path finder, take the money, add the money you want to do the suspension upgrade plus the money you need to keep the car upgraded to IM level mechanics and buy a second hand Xterra or FJ Cruiser if it suits your budget. 

Dear Gautam alias @Looper I can see its me and you who have sand danced together in the IM drives the most. I still remember the shout out from you - I need to loop. What an incredible journey man we had for more than an year. Now let me get the advisor to break his back to get me unstuck. I think I can get stuck for you to get me unstuck in all possible ways. 

Thanks for the wonderful drive and your kind words @Frederic

9 minutes ago, Juzer Gandhi said:

Thanks a million guys for great drive.
To all in the group, thanks a million for your patience during the repeated refusals from the start.
@marksRightly pointed out a faulty tyre pressure in the very beginning, by then I was jittery, very conscious and nervous till the end which would ensure the vehicle would just not power up any considerable slope because I would chicken out before the car I felt or maybe the 2008 Pajero is ageing up on compression.

@Sanjay Malik, @Shaaz Sha @GauravSoni thanks for your supporting words.

@George Joubranappreciate you looking out and maintaining distance as I would be failing climbs frequently.

A great takeaway was there was that all stucks and refusals were very clearly and precisely guided leading to not a single shovel or tow rope used throughout the drive.

Love you guys! Cheers! 

 

 

with @Shaaz Sha & @GauravSoni guiding I believe you don't need shovel or tow rope to get unstuck. 

Congrats @Pacific

congrats @Looper. See you soon in the sands

@M.Seidam I'm sad you didn't invite me for this recovery. Could have learnt a trick or two from @Gaurav.  

@Lawrence_Chehimi the Bilsteins you get from Arabian Auto is model 4600 and is priced at 1800 for all 4. If you can get the Bilstein model 5100 from abroad it will cost the same. The difference is 5100 are adjustable shocks. 

congrats all of u

Dear @M.Seidam, Sorry I need to sign out as a meeting suddenly popped up on Saturday morning 

On 2/19/2022 at 6:22 AM, Taimur Khan said:

Hi All. What is the opinion of the senior off-roaders on the Gulfnews Fundrive ? Is it safe for newbies ? It's scheduled for the first week of March. Had been on it as a passenger 20 years ago and it was fun dont know now. Thanks 

Don't know if its fun or the level of drive. For me fun is when I drive with drivers I know under a lead I can trust. To put in more simple words fun is when I know I am safe with friends and will not be discarded inside the desert when some mishap happens. 

well done @Suresh K