ChrisW

@Zubail I went for the remote reservoir adjustable shocks. These were tuned initially by the garage (specific shims and valving setup inside the shock), and then you can use the red valve to choose how many clicks towards firm or soft you want. …also, a small edit to add…none of these mods are necessary for Carnity drives! The other part of this hobby I enjoy is messing around with the technology and mechanics…so this side of things is more for the sake of it than out of necessity.

Some quick reflections on being reminded that deliberate technique is key to confidence… Recently I changed my Jeep’s suspension setup from the Teraflex Falcon 3.3 system to King 2.5 shocks, tuned specifically for offroad driving. Objectively the vehicle now handles better. The damping is firmer and more controlled, the Jeep feels more planted and precise, and the overall composure is improved. The vehicle also sits slightly taller. What surprised me though was that my confidence in my offroad driving initially reduced…! 🤦🏻‍♂️ Not because the setup is worse…quite the opposite. But because the vehicle now reacts differently, particularly when crossing ridgelines and during side-sloping transitions. The roll, settling and weight transfer characteristics have changed enough that I have had to recalibrate what “normal” feels like. It has been a good reminder that offroad driving is a continual learning process. Even experienced drivers can become subconsciously tuned to how their vehicle behaves, and when that behaviour changes, confidence takes time to rebuild. More importantly, and the main thing I want to share, is that it reinforced that the fundamentals are what matter. For example in Carnity we teach drivers to approach ridges at a deliberate angle, let the vehicle settle, then steer off the ridge smoothly while maintaining appropriate speed and momentum throughout the manoeuvre. Those techniques will always work, even when the car behaves differently from what I expected or I am used to The answer is not aggressive corrections or forcing confidence. It is to slow down mentally, trust the fundamentals, apply deliberate inputs, and allow yourself time to adapt to the vehicle’s new behaviour. Capability modifications can improve the car, but confidence still comes from understanding, repetition and disciplined technique. Still learning…

Great write up @Chema - thank you for sharing. It’s been great to see some new brands arriving on the sand. Having a variety of cars available to us is always good. I’m pretty sure there’s no such thing as a 100% dune driving car, there will always be some area of advantage and compromise. Sounds like the 212 is nicely balanced however!

Thank you @Mark B - that was a nice blast today. An easy start and warm up in familiar terrain, moving to the larger sweeping lines of Sweihan as you move towards Faya. I enjoyed it, everyone drove well and the sand was very forgiving again today. Was a pleasure supporting alongside @Bjoern and @JC_E. Took a very short video when we stopped for a break - nice to see everyone sharing advice!

Thanks again @Frederic - that was a perfect, relaxing morning drive in the desert. Good work in second lead @Amr A - you helped straighten out a few rough spots for us! Was a real pleasure to support with @J-P L and @Aser too (…and loved to see the daft dogs too!). Today’s sand was nice and easy but none the less, well driven by everyone - good convoy spacing, sensible lines and prompt radio comms. Perfect!

Just as a brief follow up… On today’s drive in technical dunes the Starlink established and maintained a very stable connection whilst driving, easily good enough to have a video call in HD resolution with low latency with another member of the Carnity gang! On average it could hold 100 Mbps down, 30 Mpbs up and 25-30ms ping. Being mounted under the roof seems to be totally fine as well:

Well, as you know @Zed I am a massive gadget geek…so I finished installing a Starlink Mini terminal in my Jeep last night 😂 Step 1: Remove roof, install Molle panel between the roll bars and place terminal Step 2: Reinstall roof… It fits quite nicely - the antenna face is about 10 mm clear of the roof liner. The Jeep roof is composite, and seems to be quite transmissive for this wavelength. Step 3: Test I’ve been very impressed. A few thoughts: 1.) I am using the Roam package. You get 100Gb a month which can be used from any geographic position. 2.) Data service while in-motion is currently restricted in the UAE. I did manage to get the device transferring at around 100 Mbps whilst moving slowly, but as soon as it notices you’re on the move it stops the data service. As soon as you stop it’s there again (minimal activation time). 3.) In terms of use case…nothing desperately essential, but a few major ones come to mind…backup in case home connectivity goes down, ease of communication when out in the desert (and elsewhere), and very occasionally I’ve needed connectivity to enable some apps to work for eg extended ODB features if faced with a car problem. For long range drives across eg Liwa there are some more obvious benefits. I’m happy enough to experiment for now. You can quite easily pause subscriptions.

Well done @Mark B! Has been a pleasure supporting your drives.

Congrats @Sam Selim!

Thank you kindly guys! Really looking forward to learning some new things with @Gaurav and @Sam Selim, and sharing more Carnity fun with you all.

Looking forward to coming back to where it all began for my 100th drive! I will have karak and donuts to share 🥳

Live scenes from in my Jeep

I think we’re all roughly in the same place: Before every offroad drive: Quick walk around check, tap some panels, stare at the tyres etc, look under the car (especially the garage floor - great way to spot any slow leaks), and check the major fluids (oil, coolant). Basically just looking for anything out of the ordinary. Starting off: Radio etc off and ears out, window open - this is probably your first moment of driving in 4H (the drive over would have been on highway in 2H/AWD). You develop a surprisingly effective ear for things sounded off. And by the way if something sounds off, definitely shout up on the radio and take a look. Sometimes it’s really simple stuff (flag not secure, door not closed properly), but sometimes it’s an early indication of a bigger issue (bearings, seals, etc). I’ll usually monitor things until I’ve covered a few bumps and revved the engines a few times. Occasional checks whilst driving: I glance at the gauges when there’s a calm moment. Just looking for anything higher than usual and not coming down, and a quick check in tyre pressures. After drive and regular maintenance : - Oil and other consumables at half the on-road intervals (so eg if you should do an oil change every 10k, do it at 5k). - Blow out the air filter every other weekend or after the drive if a heavy one. - Visually inspect the engine bay too. - Maybe once a quarter I’ll go around and tighten certain bolts I know can get loose…for my Jeep that can include beadlock ring, sway bar bolts, offroad light fittings etc. - I generally wash the car most weekends. Don’t let the guys go crazy, power washing seals etc in the engine bay is bad. Catching problems early will usually be feasible if you’re consistent and can spot a slow trend early. As for garage…could write a book on this. I go to different places depending on what it is (OEM warranty claim, offroad specific mods, simple stuff I might do myself for convenience). General rule is trust no one and verify everything before and after.

Lovely mid-week drive there. @Luke K P great lines as always, and just the right amount of increase in speed/complexity to step us into FB+. @Suneedh Wrangler and @Nabeel Abdul Rahman - that was well driven, well done. Important part for me was that everything was safe, and you had great instincts for accepting the situation and not trying to stretch a bad line into a worse situation. When we do ridge crossings as a short convoy it can be quite dynamic and sometimes quick decisions have to be made on when to turn off/turn down, and when to follow someone or move to a clear area safely instead. You both showed good instincts on these points.

Thanks guys - as usual a nice midweek break! Well driven and the stop for coffee is always a pleasure. Really seeing the progress in the driving skills on show as well. Well done! First-person view of working on the small problem with @Albert_Spa‘s car. All sorted! Perfect. Thanks for the lead and the coffee @Luke K P!

Have you guys checked if it’s actually the driver creaking…? 😉