munkybizness

I'm certain Spotify's "Discover Weekly" algorithms hate me too, throwing them for a loop day in, day out 😆 Ground Zeros are awesome! I particularly like their 4ch amps with built-in DSPs. If I'm unable to upgrade my head-unit to one that has a decent signal processor, I will be considering these. It sounds like overkill but before Spotify killed the usage of my NAS, I was already upgrading the majority of my library to FLAC, so I am considering wiring a SSD HD through the glovebox, as an external drive on the head unit. Where did you source the Ground Zeros here in Dubai? I went down a serious rabbit hole on head units Sony's are easier to operate but the UI is very basic. I would get bored with it very quickly. Also, the Sony only has backlighting for the buttons in white while the Kenwoods & Pioneers allow 112. It's a tiny niggle but when the entire array on the Y61 is this shade of orange, having a white backlit button would annoy me in the time to come. But feature-wise, the Sony XAV-AX5500 is an excellent unit. 3 x 5V pre-outs, 6.95" capacitive screen and 2 camera inputs. The Pioneer DMH-Z6350BT/DMH-4660NEX have wireless CarPlay/Android Auto and the backlit colors. This is why I'm holding out for it. Otherwise, I'd pull the trigger on the Sony right away. Thank you for the amazing advice and personal experiences. Will keep you folks posted on what decision tree I tumble down...

Thank you for directing me to the source! Will look these up. I think the Whitevision Ultras seem to be the clear white light for the Patrol. Will enquire about them or similar profiles.

Thanks @Mario Cornejo. I was also considering the setup that you've put on yours because the stock lighting on the SS is pretty rubbish. On a drive to Madam, I had to radio support from the convoy shepherd to help me because my highbeams were so abysmal, I could barely see beyond 50m. I am told that the Squadron Pros are also road legal as fog lights. Is this true or do you have to run them at a lower beam setting? tranquility... 😎

Got it! Would a straight lightbar be enough, or is it better to put in a curved bar to follow the curvature of the bumper?

Wow! This is incredibly helpful @Rizwanm2. Thanks so much for sharing. I could potentially mount a lightbar in this crevice too by cutting away the plate mount. Would just need to move the plate to the side or get one of those small ones 🤔

While out getting a quote for my skid plates, a guy was asking them to wire his lightbar to his dipper. And no matter how much they would say "no", he wouldn't budge. His argument - "I want to give dipper with full lights" (exact quote) 🤣🤣🤣

Thanks @M.Seidam! That's a stunning photo that really shows off those lights. And we can make yours strobe to complete the rave lighting needs

Thank you! I'm definitely going to get an additional amp because my speakers aren't even doing my lo-fi Apache Indian any justice right now 😛 I was totally unaware of the IP67 ratings for the seals on the units. I will definitely look into that. This weekend, I put the windows down and there was sand everywhere... so getting it into buttons and jamming them is definitely something I need to watch out for. I've pulled some quotes from three different shops - two in Al Quoz, and one in Sharjah (Kenwood). The Head Unit really pumps up the prices so am trying to maximize as much return as I can get from the unit in the car. For the lightbar vs spotlights, I'm a little torn because I don't like the lightbar aesthetic but I completely see your point, and having seen yours and @Rizwanm2 in action, I am sold on the output & versatility.

You know it... 😎😎😎

As I spend more time in my Y61 SS LWB, a few things are beginning to ramp up on the modification list. My intention is to leave most elements as stock as I don't believe I'm nearly good enough yet to be exploiting the full range of this car's capabilities. So far, I've only added a front skid plate and recovery points. Furthermore, I am building my car up to be an overlander - part of the reason why I bought a LWB. With that in mind, I'm not touching suspension or tires at this time. These will definitely come when my wadi crawling become more continuous. My current two areas for upgrades are the Lighting and Head Unit + Sound System. LIGHTING For the Lighting, after listening to a a roof-mounted light bar on the highway (pretty much every road in Dubai), I'm steering towards putting in to two (2) x Spotlights on the front bumper. Ideally, 7inch maximum as I find the 9inch units to be too big for the front fascia. On the A-pillar, I'm looking to mount one spot+flood combo light each. So here comes the first question - would you folks recommend going for Amber lights in both or White lights with Amber covers? I see the value of Ambers for dusty driving but so far in my night drives, I've only seen very dusty conditions when covering flat patches. Otherwise, the sand seems to settle very quickly after being flung about by the cars in front. The last area that I'm struggling to pin down is if I want rocker switches or an sPOD. The shops tell me that I can program multiple levels of the lights across low beam, high beam + strobe (for that trance party I will be hosting in Liwa). But wanted to get a view on what the consensus is around running On/Off switches vs a programmable pod? HEAD UNIT + SOUND The current Clarion Head Unit in the Patrol comes out of Malaysia but no matter how hard I look, I can't find firmware updates for it. The system settings say that its BT version is 0.9 which is quite literally Gen 1 and head units today are pushing BT 5.0. This head unit has a notorious skipping problem with BT where I feel like a wannabe DJ... Has anybody here done upgrades on their head units? Do you have recommendations? I would like to install a double DIN unit and not bigger than 7 inches so it's not floating out of the space. Furthermore, with the semiconductor chip shortages, finding Pioneer head units in the market has been extremely challenging. I've found similar units in the US. Are these universal and can I just have it shipped over and install it here? The second reason I would like to use an upgraded head unit is to use CarPlay and run Gaia on the larger screen than my mounted phone. Here, I'm also planning to add a Garmin GLO or a Dual XGPS160 to augment the GPS/GLONASS signals coming in. Is this overkill, or have your phones + offline maps been reliable enough? For the sound system, there are quite a few upgrades available in the market across the spectrum with Kenwoods & Alpines at the lower end to Hertz & Focal at the higher end. The latter also require increased dampening, and an additional amplifier. I have sourced an internal A-pillar with a tweeter cutout so building a component here is ideally the way forward for me.

Congratulations @Damien Ranjit! You're going to be amazing in the Fewbie drives. See you there

Congratulations @Rizwanm2 - extremely well deserved! I've learnt so much from you in our night drives already. I only hope to get more of your advice in the drives to come! Here comes the Sun 😎

Congratulations @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ. Supremely well deserved and your advice has already saved me a few times so about time it's in your title 😎

Having seen @Veedooshee, @Lakshmi Narasimhan & @Gregory on previous drives doing some of the things they do with LWB Pajeros, I don't underestimate them (present company included) at all. You're all smooth operators

As the events of this morning are still very fresh in my mind, it's easy to pen them down. Firstly, thank you @Anish S for taking over the convoy marshal duties in @Islam Soliman's absence. I hope your car is back on the sands back again soon! Anish, you were an amazing marshal today, and as @Hisham Masaadput it, in your exploratory duties you took on the most challenging parts yourself. I'm still in awe of what you accomplish with a 3.5l Pajero. It really highlights your immense skill as a driver. I have much to learn from you. My car glosses over many of my mistakes and experience gap and seeing you do what you do, inspires us to push ourselves further. Thank you for navigating us away from the most challenging terrain by taking it on yourself. In the process, you taught me how to do better recoveries. @Naveen Raj, you were an excellent SL continuing the pace through the convoy with @S Jacob & @Aisha S. I particularly had my eye on your driving line because like you, I too drive a LWB so it was a much better prediction on how I should approach the ridges and sharp corners (wherever I had visibility). @Aisha S, seeing your Wrangler float up dunes and take the sharpest corners with so much ease made me question why I have a LWB. You were a great driver to follow. And thank you for punctuating the drive wherever there were sharp dips. It saved my nose on many an occasion. @Hisham Masaad & @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ - having you in the convoy just lent so much confidence to me. Knowing the experience & desert wisdom you both collectively carry, I was always safe in the knowledge that if I ever did get stuck, I had an amazing crew beside me. And finally @Looper, I think it's time to ditch why your name is what it is. Keep it as it is but you're no longer looping. Thank you for riding sweep and keeping the back end so tight. Between the three of you (with @Abdul Rafay-S at the helm), my rear view mirror was witness to a collection of some glorious ridge riding and side sloping. All in all, thank you for a fun and momentum-filled drive. I thoroughly enjoyed driving with all of you, and I look forward to seeing you all on the sand again soon. I (my brother leaning out) took my camera out for a spin and I think there is some excellent footage that I can't wait to start sifting through

My first Fewbie drive and what a step up. Firstly, a massive thank you to @Tbone for an amazing drive. There was never a dull moment, even when we were crossing flat patches in which I could see @Gilbert Khaliland his FJ drifting, kicking up lovely dust plumes in my rear view @PaoloMaraziti, you were the perfect SL. I took a lot of notes from following you in. At times I put too much faith in my machine crossing ridges like you did but forgot that mine is a much heavier car. You live and learn. For the refusals I've put the rest of the convoy through, my apologies. @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ, your guidance today has been quite the learning experience. Thank you for providing the feedback. And finally, thank you again to the Marshal & Muhammad for showing me how to deal with a pop-out. My first one ever and knowing you guys were around didn't make me nervous for a second. This is a lesson that's going to come in handy again I'm certain. I should have stayed more on the left of that ridge and powered through but alas, it's only when you go over do you realize where the limit is. Thank you all for a great drive. I think we covered 54km today which is the longest I've done so far. And with enough sand in the cabin and my hair, I feel so pumped right now See you all on the sands again soon!

@Janarthan, please take me off the waitlist as well, as I have secured a second drive for tomorrow. I look forward to joining your convoy soon!

Yes, still on for this!

Done deal! We should strategically place ourselves so everybody hears the broadcast 😛

Where is the bhangra emoji when you need one?! Some of my passengers over time have complained that I listen to "truck* driver music" - not sure what that means (of course I do). I've been behaving because I would never hear @Gauravon the radio *The indian definition of a truck - an F150 doesn't count

Music knows no borders (or languages). It runs freely like the desert winds. Thanks for exposing us to these 🙏

I had the good fortune to see Shiv Kumar Sharma perform in Delhi about five years ago. Absolutely transcendental... Adding a couple of Ragas by Ustad Ali Akbar Khan to this mix too: Rag Manj Khammaj - Ustad Ali Akbar Khan Rag Misra Mand - Ustad Ali Akbar Khan Rag Alam Bhairav - Ustad Ali Akbar Khan Awesome! I'm going to steal quite a few tracks from here

@M.Seidam, @Brian Dev- our recruitment opportunity has arrived...😎

I've joined the party too. Although still trying to figure out at what point will I be good enough to play these tunes "during the drive" 🤔

Thank you both! Looking forward to riding the sands with you