JamesBY

Was a nice drive and great to meet everyone! Learning the Pajero TC trick was definitely a technical highlight, and I also discovered that attaching a suction cup to a Pajero roof makes concerning metal-flexing noises when you snag the top of the flag on trees. Looking forward to hitting some off-the-farm-track stuff with you guys in the future!

C'mon chaps! The early bird gets the worm!

Pintle hook is done! All set for tomorrow morning's drive

I think I've seen those around online actually, though for different vehicle models. If it's just 150 at a garage then i'll send that picture to my guys and have them install it the next time i'm over there. Thanks!

Oh that looks like a pretty good spot, I'll have to consider something like that, though I think my wheel cover is a lot more flimsy.

Yea the reviews weren't brilliant to be honest with multiple people stating that the cup would need an adjustment about once per drive, but as a temporary solution while I figure the best mount it should hopefully suffice. Edit: Flag that I got has the quick release attachment 👍

Alright, 15ton rated pintle mount has arrived, need to get some nuts, bolts and washers tomorrow. Angle grinder has gone into the powertool cupboard..shame, I was looking forward to using it.. Flag & suction mount have also arrived, though I'm going to need to find something a bit more interesting than the standard little red flag!

Thanks Frederic, I did mention to him that stretching the tyre over the rim for a wider profile might be handy if we go into the desert but I wasn't sure if that would be the best for the rocks. Good point on the cheap aftermarket rims, though I don't think the ones he's looking at are overly cheap, I'll recommend that he takes a look at snagging some 17" Pajero rims instead. I think he's trying to aim for a "look" too. As you mentioned, a key thing is if it fits over the calipers and that's where we've been struggling to decipher the technical language that people are using as it seems to vary from country to country. We've found a place that's charging around 650 or 700 per rim, though currently trying to convince them to package rims/tyres/lift/shocks together and instead of giving a package discount they're trying to push him to get the 265/65 instead of the 265/70 because it's cheaper. So far he's already removed the front grille, sanded and resprayed it black. So there's definitely a look element 😛

Right. So the current issue we're having is the Offroad rims as general research shows that very few aftermarket rims actually fit the Pajero correctly. We're looking at 265/70/R17 AT Geolandars and the goal is to get them on 8.5" Rims. However, is this: A: Advisable to do so for mainly mountain driving? B: Viable to fit around the brake calipers of the Pajero? We're both a bit clueless when it comes to rims and although we're using a variety of sites & youtube to try and figure out what will work, it also seems quite tricky to find some here that aren't extortionate in price. Any guidance would be much appreciated!

Gotcha will do, thanks again

Ah! A pintle hook may work you're right, I didn't think about one at all. I don't really like the ball receivers so my immediate reaction was to angle grind the whole bar off 😄 Any way I can inspect the steel myself? I suppose I could go at it with some sandpaper and see how far down the rust goes, although it looks like surface stuff as there's no flaking, cracking, or any other obvious signs of weakening structural integrity. Found the pintle hooks online, so i'll put an order in for one of those. Any bolts you guys recommend? I admit I feel a little uneasy just having something like that, which will undergo some serious pressure, connected by 4x bolts..but seeing as that's how the majority of them are, it must be okay! *Edit: Judging by the distances between those holes however, looks like it was made for a trailer receiver tube, so I'll need to be careful with what I buy.* *Edit 2: Yeap! It'll fit! Putting in an order as soon as I'm home.*

Yeap! It is! But I need to get that dam steel bar off to make it accessible. On the left side it's just a rusted bolt, on the right side its' been welded.

Angle grinder and metal cutting disks are ordered, same day delivery. Let's see if the building security at my apartment building has an issue with me finding a power point and cutting through some steel tonight.

Update: Nope. It's welded too.

So after seeing the reqs for the group drive, I did a little sleuthing on google and the forums to see if my Pajero had rear recovery points. I should preface this by explaining that I've pulled a few people out, including an intrepid FWD rental sedan driven by a tourist who thought u-turning through the sand out at Al Qudra was a good idea, and was surprised the first time that I only had front facing recovery points. A 4x4, with an offroad pedigree no less, that only has front points? I chalked it up to the Dakkar being a long time ago. Lo and behold, I should have rear points! Great! All systems go! But wait..there's that weird steel bar at the back, installed by the previous owner...where are the recovery points? They should be right here?.....shit - Pictures Attached. Any idea what I can do here? I'm assuming renting an angle grinder and going to town is probably a bad idea. However, it does look like I may just be able to remove that rusty bolt to have it drop off? Going to give that a shot and see what happens.

It's a good area! Some decent exploration to be done around there, good to break in people to some larger rocks and more loose terrain outside of the ascents/descents, though there's a very steep one which gets the heart going a bit solely due to the incline! Wadi Sana has some alternate routes around with good views, a bit of technical business getting up there but I would class it more towards the easier side of Moderate. There's a more tricky section down an unmaintained path, which you can access from the top or bottom, but last time I was there at the New Year they had regraded the bottom section which was a shame.

Gotcha, thanks for the advice Frederic! I'll try and throw some pictures up when it's all done.

Alrighty. His will be parked outside so I'll have a little look for him. What are your thoughts on the Geolandar X-AT's? He seems to be quite keen on getting a set. I'm on my second set of Geolandar standard AT's, brilliant tyres.

Hi Deno! Good to see another solid mountain driving fan around. I wanted to highlight a couple of points outside/alongside what has been mentioned already: Steep climbs should always be done in tiptronic and either locked in 1st or 2nd depending on the grade. Personally I like a very gentle climb in 1st, 4H (no lock) and just trundle up. This is effective when you're on a well maintained track that also has a lot of switchbacks. Important to note: Having it in any difflocking mode when you're on a switchback route will cause "hopping" as the locked differential will not allow differing tyre rotation speeds. It'll also really piss off your diff and can be dodgy if you're on a steep switchback descent (there's an interesting one in the Jebel Yibr area..steep enough that part of it is line-textured concrete as I believe it heads to another military installation) Although we're all fans of the Pajero TC system, certain trails around the UAE have some differing terrain at a high incline with well developed hollows/dips. As mentioned by Gaurav, fine gravel mixed with sand on a compacted surface is probably the most irritating thing you can encounter if the route is poorly maintained/damaged/filled with hollows. In this situation, it is acceptable to get 4Llc going and to lock the rear differential to turn off the TC (dune riders will generally have a killswitch installed). In the majority of situations you don't want the TC to be off, partially because the Pajero system is highly effective, and partially because you might damage the trail further for people behind you in your convoy. However..when you've exhausted your options - Guide Assisting, 4Hlc, 4Llc, in that order specifically - it's time to get a bit more aggressive. At this point you need to make sure your guide is standing at a decent distance and ensure he/she is always uphill of you. Come at it with a little more speed (A LITTLE ONLY!) and when you think you're about to hit that hollow prepare yourself to give the pedal a little more pressure as soon as you're into it. As you're locked into tiptronic you should have a quick engine response and 9/10 all it needs is a bit more cojones. If that fails try again and aim to turn slightly (remember, locked diffs! Tyre rotation is locked!) towards the mountain, never towards the drop, to try and steal some traction from the edges of the hollow that haven't been worn as much by previous drivers. It's gonna get noisy, and you run the risk of widening the hollow, but sometimes you just gotta conquer that bastard and get through

Ah yes, I can definitely see how messing with that centre of gravity would be a dangerous situation for the dunes, and though there's no true extreme angling here in the mountains I have ended up in a few situations where I could see an extreme lift without width balancing being dodgy. Unfortunately all the spots in the UAE that we used to go to 20+ years ago are far more developed now, so they've been grading/flattening the roads a lot more and building more farms, sucking away the natural pools. There are segments in Oman, just over the border to Hatta, which has some rather exciting driving. One of them we're quite certain is unblocked (the gorge route, fantastic camping at slight elevation on the other side of it that unsurprisingly no one goes/gets to), though there's another brilliant one with amazing pool formations and an interesting drive in that had been blocked off when we last visited it about 4 years ago. We think it was too many incautious people plunging over the edge as it's a 50m stretch at a decent grade and with a right bend, drop to the left and some sizeable loose rocks on it. Anyway, another thing we're looking at both doing is removing the 3rd row of seats, though I wanted to ask your opinion on the spare tyre cover. I've got the full cover, whilst his will be one of those semi circle covers. Worth him getting a full cover to protect the spare from sitting permanently in the sun?

Skidplates is a good plan, i'll mention those to him and probably look at it a bit myself. I think he was looking to change the rims, I'll let him know of the suggestion to drop it down to the 17" and amp up the tyre depth! I assume that the 2" lift will likely be enough? Any more than that will start to get a bit extreme, though 3" is a possibility. The SPAL cooling is something that I hadn't considered at all and would probably help me out a bunch too. Yea we run a little deflation depending where we're headed. We know of a great spot in Oman that has one hell of a gorge to drive through and reach, so once the mods are done we'll be heading over there to gauge who we could likely take there too. I'll keep an eye out for the group drive! Would be interesting to come along and see what you guys all get up to.

Hah! Interesting idea. I had my radiator replaced recently along with some other mechanical bits so I'm interested to see if I get the overheating issue on long switchback climbs. Got most of the way up Route to Sal before it got warm and my wife was very unimpressed with the heights, so we turned around and went down. There's a good training switchback in the Jebel Yibr area which also gets the old warhorse pretty warm. That being said, it was just engine temps and not transmission temps I don't think.

Good Afternoon all, been lurking for a while but finally have a reason to post! My family used to do a lot of wadi driving when I was young here and about 5 years ago I inherited the 2009 Pajero 3.8 LWB, now at 170,000km (with rear locks) that I've simply added some A/T tyres to (and recently had the sidesteps removed, though yet untested) and gone bounding around in the mountains. Now, seeing as my father was now deprived of a 4x4..we're closing on a 2009 Pajero 3.8 LWB at 187,000km (with rear locks) on Saturday! He however, with slightly deeper pockets, is looking to do some modifications to it quite early on. I'm contemplating some basic bits myself but I digress. Currently the only key modifications we're looking at for his Paj is a 2inch lift, ATX tyres at likely an increased depth than stock, offroad rims and probably a bashplate. We talked about a TC Killswitch but unlikely that we'll go that route for the wadis/mountains as the Pajero TC system is one of the best for that surface and the rear locker has sorted me out a couple of times with some steep uphills with sandy/loose terrain and big hollows created by those with a lead block in place of a right foot or additional brain cells. We do very little desert driving so the major focus is on mountain/rocky terrain, though the 3.8 was specifically selected to ensure that we have freedom of choice on what/where we do/go. Any thoughts & advice from the mod-heads out there?! Cheers, James