Alex Raptor

Thanks for today, really enjoyable and needed midweek blast, we covered a great distance, with really very little interruption, everyone was able to self recover from the few stoppages we had. In my vantage spot in the back I was able to see how the stoppages occurred, they were exclusively on the ridges, experience is the only thing that will really allow you to master these, there is no magic to it, apart from the correct momentum and approach speed and "hooking your anchors" either left or right side wheels to the ridge, once you are up there, then controlling your speed and momentum will allow you to stay up. Bumpy ridges will always catch us out and push us one way or another, but I'm glad to say everyone who experienced this realised that they would be fighting a losing battle with gravity and either steered down or self recovered admirably. Put a few pictures in the gallery as well. See you all soon, I was a little sad I didn't get a bag of M&M's.......

Hi Islam, waitlist please second drive

That was a lot of fun, thanks everyone. Everyone did amazingly well in this challenging area, and gives you a taste of things to come. Not one tug today, all self recoveries, very impressive. Hope you get the car sorted @YazGayed . Great idea to fill the air tanks with Nitrous oxide, that would be very funny, I will leave that with @M.Seidam and @Chaitanya D to requisition suitable supplies!!! Enjoy your weekends.

@Chaitanya D Hi is the location correct? I'm getting a roundabout in Al Madam, EDIT - its now showing by Big Red, it was a google brain fart

Hi waitlist please second drive

I know it's a simple.one. But I thought something was rattling and it turned out to be zips on various bags and storage hitting each other making a metallic noise. Also a coin or something stuck somewhere can make a lot of noise.

Here is a link to youtube for my inspiration. This is for an lc200. But a version with less stuff will fit lengthways replacing the backseat. Any suggestions as to who in dubai could manufacture the cabinets would be great. https://youtu.be/lM1U312jAYg

Oh Russ you of little faith. It will be in its own drawer to the side of the batteries or fridge not sure yet. Just working out the usable dimensions in the back.

This is next for the Raptor, I don't use the rear seats, and need some space for my dual battery setup and overloading gear, can't decide on Line X paint or carpet, will put the tie down bars on and some ventilation holes in the box for the electrics,

checkout my instagram at @leadfootdxb there is a video on there, its from hpasystems , I had to ship it from USA, you have the option of running it from an air tank or the compressor, designed by a truck owner and used on BAJA, 4500psi carbon fibre scuba tank, enough air for over 50 lifts or 15 x tire refill on a 35 inch K02 from 10-40, also comes with a gauge. Cool thing is you can jack up the wheel you need then disconnect the jack whilst extended and attach the inflator, because it is at 150-200psi the bead reseats very quickly on a pop out, and was perfect to change Russ's tire a couple of weeks a go.

Jacob is great. Mine is in there now having a bit of work. You haven't seen it yet but I now have an air jack. Very compact and lifts the raptor 40cm. We used it the other weekend to great success. Once I'm 100pc happy with the air jack I will move the burj Khalifa I think.

Hahaha, you won't be surprised to hear I already have it, it’s a good size, however the zips do make a bit of noise whilst driving

Bit late to the party, had to drop the truck this morning to check out a funny noise on the drivers side front spring, I'm also taking the opportunity to change out all my schrader valves as I'm getting inconsistent deflate & inflate using my hose system. Yesterday was an absolute pleasure, I think its all been said already, thoroughly enjoyed it and there was something for everyone in the terrain we covered, everyone performed admirably and we covered a lot of ground at a decent pace. Theme for the next one might have to be "inappropriate socks"? Have a good week everyone, until next time......

Dropped it off this morning fingers crossed. Hope you have a good run today.

@Islam Soliman Hi, I have just got back from today's drive, got a funny noise from drivers side shock and spring, noticed it this morning, on full lock, I'm not going to risk it for tomorrows drive, so I will have to bow out, I thought I was going to make it 3 in a row, for our large vehicle excursions, but its not to be , will get it fixed tomorrow. apologies and have fun guys.

Nice one Matt, well deserved, see you soon

I had an old P38 Range Rover as well!!!! I did what @Gaurav suggested, put coils in it, AAA did mine back in 2005, best thing I ever did, doesn't roll as much so it’s a harder ride as said above, but I actually preferred it. Those air bladders hate the fine dust here.

Great video, only downside is all that greenery makes for a bumpy ride, what was the campsite like, would you recommend it?

As some of you will know I have a small addiction to toys, as such I have started seeing a potential issue with power consumption in my raptor, I have been researching options and looking at ways of improving the Raptorpresso™ experience. I have upgraded the alternator to 292A with 220A at idle, but with the winch drawing 348A at 10,000lb pull, it still needs to be intermittent usage, then on top of that the lights, the power draw for the Garmin and phone charging, plus my fridge in the centre console, its easily pulling over 80A without breathing. As long as everything else is off I can use the twin ARB's without receiving a warning as this is at idle and at the end of a drive, but with this any concerns will be a thing of the past. If I had considered a regular dual battery setup I would have had to install an isolator, a DC to DC charger that works with the newer "smart" alternators and BMS systems and rewire the winch and other 12v electrics to the second battery, this would have been a 12v system with thick 75mm2 plus cabling lots of breakers and no real way of running an inverter for a 1700w coffee machine without 3 or 4 lifeP04 batteries.. This is where I stumbled across Scotty, Scotty is a box that takes in 12v and pumps out 48v and pumps back in when required 12v. LifeP04 48v batteries are now available and are similarly priced to their 12v counterparts, better still the amp draw is less so thinner cables and a 48v/3000w inverter is much smaller and easier to run. So when the Raptor needs energy it can draw a further 250A from my 48v battery system (without additional 12V batteries) and when the batteries need charging they can draw up to 1000w from the alternator to charge up, its all automatic and works over CANbus similar to modern vehicles. This means I can run an inverter for Raptorpresso™ and power all my 12v DC stuff without any issues, this system will add about 40kg including batteries which is much less than a comparable AGM setup or 12v lifeP04 setup. The Australians who invented this of course are using it for campers, with hot water, AC, cook tops, so I have extra capacity for when I get into overloading etc. Also I can pop it out of this vehicle and move it to another if I ever changed the Raptor. The really geeky bit is the CANbus, the batteries have RJ45 sockets and are smart, they are the ones that control the charging, so the batteries are warrantied for 10 years, and the other equipment 5 years due to the fact that it looks after itself and knows what is too much or too little to avoid damage or over charge or over discharge of either the 48v or the starter battery. The buck boost is actually a part of modern EV's as this is how they "recover" energy from the alternator as they go, so modern hybrid's already have this system installed. Now I just have to find a way to get the batteries to DXB, the guys who make Scotty can log in through the controller remotely for any commissioning, the rest of the wiring is pretty standard.

Thanks @Islam Soliman looking good for the weekend, not long now!!

Hi Islam. Wait list please 2nd