munkybizness

Thanks! It’s been a while. Looking forward to it 🚀

Hi @Vanessa8580, could you please add me to support 🙏🏽

"You know we had no time..." Perfect metaphor for what should be a phenomenal drive.

Why am I always being forced to travel when Al Quaa comes up?! I think it's time I turned my boss into an offroader too... Or you can mess it all up and be forced to sleep on the "couch"... in Al Quaa 😈

@Gaurav, @Frederic - I think it's time we had a "Carnity Signature Edition" Pajero 😛 Also, welcome @LKP & @Dorian Zissi. Please connect offline with each other as we don't permit the sharing of workshop details on the forums here to keep our forums unbiased (and free of marketing). There's also quite a few Pajero offroaders that can help you folks out. cc @Gaurav Soni, @Simon Dawood, @Mike.

Having used Google Maps in other countries (especially India) where it doesn’t have the most updated maps, it has the tendency to take you through narrow streets because a) it’s either just reading the map data that says there is a road there, and/or b) has seen enough data of traffic moving through that path for it to make recommendations. Because of this, it’s sometimes taken me through narrow alleys or even into fields which aren’t really trackable roads. I have also been a power user of Waze for many many years, regularly contributing to their community mapping service online. And between the two of them, I prefer putting in the coordinates on Waze than using Google Maps. I also check the terrain view to confirm if there’s actually a road there. But this is just not enough. With the rate of construction, new roads and paths are constantly coming up so it’s crucial to intersect multiple sources of data. Furthermore, when it comes to Google Maps, try to always use coordinates, an active landmark, and the full link (not the shortened ones that the mobile app will share). The shortened URLs have a tendency to break and I’ve had deliveries to my home show up kilometers away. Long story short, folks please don’t rely on technology so much that it’s your only source of truth. As you venture off-road being able to cross-reference multiple sources to build your personal judgement is critical towards becoming a better navigator. For example, if you use Gaia, you’ll see it captures farm tracks and even trails better than Waze or Google maps which are both designed for roads only. Apply the same to your on-road navigation too. Technology is not infallible. Don’t be Michael Scott and end up in the lake 🤓

Congratulations @Lukas!

Enjoy FB+ @Zulfikhar Naiyar! This is where things get kicked up multiple notches

Congratulations @Harshal! FB+ is going to get a whole lot louder now 😈

Congratulations @Beide Worku! Enjoy peak madness

Congratulations, and well deserved @Karthik Raptor! See you out on the sands soon

I am going to echo the thoughts already shared above, and I'm certain the many more that will follow after. I still distinctly remember my first drive with you, and you with a pop-out on hand, you jumped right in to not just help out but also bring clear and precise knowledge. This is just the validation of everything you've brought to every drive you've been on, and the way in which you've imparted your calm to us 😇

You give me far too much credit @Looper. And in your analyses, I am inspired by the incredible detail you capture from every foray we make into the sands. Words just come easy to me when I’m surrounded by people like yourselves who bring so much passion and knowledge to our drives, that all I have to do is sit back and take it all in ✨

Thanks for the fueling stations @Frederic Also, given the 2-hour drive time from Dubai, I'm considering camping out at the meeting point, the night before. If anybody would like to join, do let me know.

There's a certain amount of mystery in the air every time @Islam Soliman takes to the sands. And no doubt, on this hazy Saturday morning, as my Patrol pierced rammed through the fog settled in Faqa hopping over every hump in my way, I could feel the unknown getting bigger and bigger still. After all, when Islam takes you to Faqa, you know there's going to be lots of sideys. Lots and lots of it I arrived late to the meeting point so without any pleasantries, I jumped right away into setting up my flag and deflating my wheels. To the left, a duotone classic caught my eye. I assumed it was a mirage (or the fact that I was still waking up). It's only when I was all done, did I realize that what I'd assumed was a mirage was just that - a cool blue sight with a shimmering white top in the form of a classic Land Cruiser 70. There's only two people I know who look after these with this much care. And from the roster, I knew it was @Mohamad Anwer. What I didn't know was everything that had transpired in the past month and same to bring this blue bird rather than his usual supercharged box. After hearing the story, I was and am just so glad to see him on his feet, smiling away as a beautiful sun peeked across the horizon. He, of course, came back to the desert not just with a classic, but one with "balloon" tyres. If ever you needed a greater sense of how to conquer your fear, it was on this morning with Mohamed piloting a car with tyres designed only for the most courageous. With seventeen cars on the roster, this was no small convoy and definitely one that I hadn't witnessed in many months. Ahead of me lay some fresh newbies and with it came the responsibility to also not push too hard. To make matters even more interesting, the foggy and humid night before had seeped moisture into the sands making them clump up after every passing car. So, by the time it came to car #4, the tracks were already deep and compacted. The fact that nobody had a severe popout, save the partial one, is a testament to how well the convoy drove in these conditions. If you drive long enough with Islam, you begin to recognize that he has a unique skill in positioning his behemoth of a car, in the middle of a dune face. I am going to call him the Dunesurfer from now on for this exact reason. And behind him, a very competent and supportive @Benjamin kept up. This is exactly why Islam pushed the pace as much as he did in this newbie drive. Between Benjamin and I, was a team of newbies all coming to terms with their machines and it reminded me of my early drives and both the lack and exuberance of throttle I too would put in then. Keeping the right gap also seemed hard for each driver. But all I will say to each one of you is that you don't need to think so hard. Practice makes better, and you will get better at this. The more important thing to focus on is throttle management. And it is a skill I am still learning to this very day. Over time, you'll know what is just enough as you get closer to what your machine is telling you. @Frans M, driving a manual LC70 is no easy feat. And if you ever need the guidance, there is no better voice than @Mohamad Anwer. Please do connect with him. Not only is he one of the most amazing human beings, but his knowledge of the platform will also give you tremendous insight into how to better yourself. The going away of the fear and the understanding of which line to take, will come with time. @Stan, whether your car is green or black or sparkly is a debate that will rage on for some time to come. But what you should know is that you have a very capable machine, but it too has its limitations, apart from the restrictions that the desert will throw at you. You already have a good grasp on how to read the lines of the desert. For now, in your newbie drives, err more on the side of caution and exit out rather than trying to fight gravity and muscle your way up. With time, you'll find exactly how to surf the dune face while managing your fishtailing effortlessly like Islam does. We have an unwritten rule that we don't enforce this early on about "leaving the lightest of tracks". This comes when your car is using just the right amount of momentum that it floats over dunes rather than digging in and churning up the track. @Bashar Beasha, it's always nice to see another Y61 on the convoy roster. And yours is a stunner. It also has oodles of power that you will get better at managing as the drives go by. Trust me, I've been in your exact seat. Where you were good at climbing up the dune, you continued to throttle too hard through the dune face even when your car was slipping down in the wake of tracks left behind. In situations like these, it's always better to exit out rather than trying to pitch your nose up again and try to climb up. Towards the end of the drive, I could see you exiting out early and taking a loop to re-attempt. This is the right way to do it. There is no shame in re-attempting a climb. One of my early issues was that I would always worry what people would think about how terribly I was driving such a legendary car, so much so that it got into my head and for many drives and I couldn't shake it off. That may not be an issue for you but almost all new off-roaders are significantly worse than what their car is capable of. This is why even the most experienced off-roaders still do Newbie drives when they get a new car because no two cars are the same. Through practice, they inch up and closer to what their machine can truly do in their hands and with their feet. And to @Gary F behind me, all I can say is that apart from that crest which gave our shovels and your arms quite the workout, you drove really well. I especially liked seeing how you chose the line and height that you were most comfortable with. You do have a long long-wheelbase motor so it will require even more attention when crossing ridges and doing narrow twisties, but on long range open dunes, you were up to the mark. And I loved seeing the smile that was constantly plastered on your passenger's face. It's moments like these that really instill the awe of adventure and motoring into the young ones. Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't call out my favorite security detail (@Simon Dawood) who would be by my side in every refusal and recovery. Having you shoulder to shoulder is a real pleasure and thank you for your input. In bouncing ideas off of you, I learn so much. In the back, thank you @Gaurav Soni for playing an excellent shepherd running up and down the ranks and sniffing out the tracks. It saved me a couple of times. And since we left none of the seventeen behind, thank you @ASAD. for sweeping us up and depositing us ever so gently back where we started. See you all out on the sands soon. [ 🐵 ]

@Krishna R, you can just click "Leave Event" and re-join under "Going" instead. Since this is a weekday drive, the weekly single-drive limit is not enforced and there are still plenty of spots remaining.

Great post @Rob S! There's a lot here for anybody getting into upgrading their suspension regardless of the platform that they're on. On the Upper Control Arms (UCA), there is a caveat that applies to newer cars. If your car is still under warranty, which is usually a "parts warranty" for most manufacturers, please check with your dealer before going down this route. AWR/Nissan for example, will void the entire "suspension warranty" if you alter the factory UCAs. If you don't have warranty coverage or don't care about it, you're in the clear If you're still covered, it's safer to not touch the UCAs for as long as you can. The reason stated to me by the dealer is that by changing the control arms from the factory settings, you inherently alter the caster angle which changes the entire wheel system in one go. Hence, they void the whole suspension warranty.

Sorry to hear your experience @Zixuan Huang - Charlie! But, the Black Hawk flag mount is the only accessory that I've bought that hasn't broken in a year and about 50 drives of usage. And I had two flags/mounts break in the first 15 drives. The AOR Suction Cup that almost everybody uses when starting out, had its threads get wiped clean off from all the tension at the base. After 10 drives, it just filed right off and no flag would fit into it. I then bought a screw down flag from another off-road gear store that literally cracked in my first FB+ drive from strong gusts of winds. As @Mario Cornejo has said above, their quality has either declined in the past few months or I think you've either been unlucky with a bad batch. Every five to seven drives, I run a little WD-40 into the flag's split ends, as well as the spring-loaded base. This usually keeps the connectors in good condition.