Rumble in the jungle

[Kals]

So where to start..

The terrain was definitely challenging, faced paced with a combination of everything to test the convoys skills.

From the start I noticed their we’re some gremlins with my car and sure enough they materialized during the drive.

Had to stop for a total of 3 times to attempt to fix the pending issue and when all hope seemed lost, we figured out the problem to be a loose intake pipe that was sending jumbo jumbo signals to the throttle body sensor. Once that was safely attached the car was back to normal. However I wanted to make sure that the problem was resolved and kept the car in d with a ligh foot on the throttle, which in turn landed me in a very very sticky situation.

Was a long day but with every obstacle you learn something new!

[Daggerfall]

Hi Almosters,

It was an interesting trip. Not everything went as planned but sometimes it is a good thing grin

Thanks to [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] for taking the lead of the second convoy and thanks to [mention]Rashidjass[/mention] for still coming for the support even he was very sick thumbsup

We met at 14:30 and the weather was hot but I didnt feel anything after one hour when we were out during the drive. I think the winter is just started.

The plan was to attack all the high dunes between Madam and Super bowl like we did at "To the Top" drive but dunes here were much more bigger.

After doing the big arches on the first group I found a very nice deeeeeep bowl you're kidding, right (Liwa kind of one) After a split second of hesitation I decided to enter it, you're kidding, right and wanted to see what will happen grin

I believe it was a very nice exercise for everybody, the "survivors" got out of their cars and watched their fellow members trying to get out of it. We sent the "victims" one by one to the bowl and we had a chance to watch different ways of getting out of it. Even there was an example of getting out then getting back in and out again XD. This was just one bowl and you imagine that you are driving in an area at Liwa full of them OSMILEY

While going to the next dune group we had a technical issue with [mention]Kals[/mention] car as he mentioned and after several attempts to fix it, we failed!. dark mood Luckily [mention]nabil_k[/mention] noticed that the pipe was loose from the throttle body connection and saved us making a video of [mention]Kals[/mention] while we were pulling him with an Almost Train grin. Thank you [mention]nabil_k[/mention], it is always great to have a member with mechanical knowledge like you!

So we had to change the plans since we might have another issue with the car and decided to go "directly" to the closest track from an "easy" way. Suddenly everybody started getting crested or stuck and it looks like destiny had other plans for us!! you're kidding, right

After reaching the track we sent [mention]Kals[/mention] with [mention]Solmaz[/mention] and head back to the big dunes. We didnt have much time before the sunset (25-30 min)so I did my best to make the most of it and hope everyone enjoyed it.

It didnt went as planned but I had a great day.

Thanks to [mention]Solmaz[/mention] and [mention]Agalon[/mention] for taking care of the convoy. Thanks to [mention]Issa[/mention] for the great second lead and [mention]nabil_k[/mention] , [mention]Gabor[/mention] for the great support

And all others for joining

See you next time!

[Daggerfall]

From Yesterday !

[Mohamadahshan]

Fellow Almosters,

I was in the "Left" convoy led by [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] and supported by [mention]Rashidjass[/mention] [mention]JockJKU[/mention] [mention]haider alnuaimi[/mention] [mention]Youssef.Abdelhady[/mention]

A very rumbling track with a few side crests and lovely big arches.

The drive started with a technical area 'my favorite' then the big dunes started to show up .

I ALMOST got stuck at the top of a big dune as I slowed down and thought, well I can make it. Then it just stopped and the wheels were spinning in the air making some Sandy fountains.

Then @Rashidjass was there for help as usual, he asked me to switch to low gear and put the rear diff lock on as the rear wheels still intact.

I did that and be gently touching the throttle... Voila I'm out and feeling very proud to perform a self recovery attempt successfully for the first time ever

Then @Alshamsi_m looked at me with a very big smile and said go down and climb up again. I told him, well I can go straight it's just 2 meters to finish that dune.

He laughed hard and said "No, you won't make it"

I did that and all went well. We barely stopped during that drive. We had 1 pop out I remember.

And by the last shine of ☀ rays we were reaching Al Badayer shops to inflate and wave goodbye to the sand.

Thanks ALMOST4x4 for another super enjoyable trip.

MD

[Johanna]

Hi all,

as [mention]Daggerfall[/mention] said, definitely an interesting trip. We started the trip with some nice arches at the big dunes followed by the Liwa-style bowl.
My car was already heating up, so I had to deal with less power outcome than usual, but I managed to get out with the 2. attempt.
Some cars had more difficulties to get out, and who already made it out watched the scenery and we had some good fun. However, this was a lesson for everyone because as mentioned before, we will see more bowls like this.
After 20 minutes everyone made it out and we did not burn a car this time
[mention]Adam[/mention] told me in the morning how to deal with the patrols heating issue and everytime the temperature gauge went up, I switched on the heater on full power, and immediately the temperature gauge went down. So I could make sure to have the cars full power for the rest of the drive. It turns out the full power was not needed that often as we had a few stops due to some mechanical issues with [mention]Kals[/mention] truck, but the guys managed to solve it and we continued the drive towards superbowl.
We passed a technical area with several stucks, including myself as I got [mention]Gabor[/mention] instructions to change the track to the right too late and ended up in a ditch The well-tried difflock+reverse method could not save me this time, so I needed a pull to get out.
After everyone passed this area, we only had 30 minutes of daylight left, and finally we played around in the high dunes, definitely the best part of the drive
I was really impressed by [mention]Razan[/mention], she managed the track with no issues at all, in a stock FJ. You go girl!

Thanks everyone for this trip, I am really looking forward to Sweihan next week

See you all in the sand

[mquadros]

It was my first 10+ so it looked far more exciting and challenging. I was in the convoy led by [mention]Shamsi[/mention] and supported by [mention]Rashidjass[/mention] and [mention]JockJKU[/mention] and a few intermediaries who were all very helpful.

I finally changed my tires to proper ones so I got more grip but now some concerns with pop-outs. Before I had old 15 inches rim + Cooper STT which basically meant little grip, lots of digging and zero pop-out risk. Now I have some nice 17 inches rim + Cooper AT3 so far better grip, no digging but worries about pop-outs. Feels better but it will take a few drives to fully adjust to the new configuration. Was planning to service the car as well but could not do it given travels and schedule and saw the "change oil" lights before I left the house. On the way the car seemed without too much thrust with less than 2000 rpm.

Those were good excuses for a not so good start. Car went sideways and I ended in a lower place below the track. It was probably a very regular place to outsiders but it look like a bowl to me. After some tentatives I asked for help and Jock just guided me through a different path. No need for ropes or even 4WD Low.

As the drive progressed I felt better and I could enjoy the arches and some nicer technical and small side crests. On the big climb I did not follow instructions (keep flooring it until the very end !!!) and had to go down for a second and successful climb.

Later I had my semi-popup event. There was a noise in a small turn and I thought the tire was gone. I slowed and tested it the following two turns and then Jock radioded me explaining I had a flat tire. For a few seconds I was thinking whether to get the compressor or change the entire wheel and fortunately Rashidjass came with his car and fast air compressor and quickly inflated the tire.

As some of my colleagues also had challenges (think there were 2 pop-outs in our group) I could also enjoy the beautiful desert and take a few pictures.

Overall a lot of enjoyment and learning. Also an immense gratitude for the marshals / advanced who patiently guide and help us to move into higher levels. My car is in the garage now for a full mechanical check-up and next drive I will start with 12 PSI in the front as suggested by Solstick.


Looking forward the next drive,

Mquadros

[Mabubaker]

I was in [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] convoy, and you can imagine the the what kind of surprises he keeps for the convoy... ninja
My mission for the day was to tune my drive on the FJ without popouts! My strategy was to start on higher psi (12 in the front and 10 in the back) then I decrease the the pressure gradually on the go.
The first "announced" surprise came from Bu Salem "Its gonna be interesting!"
And here we go... I was behind [mention]rapailo[/mention], with inappropriate distance (1st mistake), Rapailo slowed down, my overconfidence (2nd mistake) told me go higher and keep the momentum, that area was too soft,,, car started to sink, I was stubborn enough to keep going up (3rd) until the rear tyres became completely covered with sand, so I couldn't reverse. What the hell did I do?!
A series of silly mistakes!
Thanks to [mention]Rashidjass[/mention] and [mention]kareem.alameldin[/mention] for the quick resue.
After some time with a mix of high dunes and technical areas, I decided to deflate front to 11 and rear to 9. And I believe this is the optimal setting for my tyres (GEOs 265/70/17).
After the first few cars passed the Super Bowl area, we enjoyed watching some Chinese style Dune Smashing...
All in all,,, I am happy that I managed to overcome the popout issue although the area was popout friendly thumbsup... My initial plan was to get the beadlocks, but I decided to keep the 265s from Salalah until I settle on the final tyres set.
Another amazing drive with Almost4x4, thank you all for the nice company, special thanks to [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] , [mention]Rashidjass[/mention], [mention]JockJKU[/mention] ,
[mention]Scorpio[/mention], [mention]haider alnuaimi[/mention] and [mention]Youssef.Abdelhady[/mention] for the lead and support..
See you in Swiehan....
Thanks,
M. Abubaker

[Razan]

Thanks [mention]Daggerfall[/mention] for the exciting track. It didn't all went as planned but yet we had a great time!

I enjoyed the very first high dune we climbed. A smart and exciting start to get us all warmed up!

The bowl challenge was fun as for the last 15 minutes of non stop thrilling climb.

Always looking forward for more!!
See you soon in the sand :)

Razan Mahmoud

[alshamsi_m]

Hello Everyone

I was feeling a bit tiered after the morning drive so I was thinking if I go home, no one will notice arr. because they have a big rescue team and I was coming for rescue too . While driving home I check my What's up to find that [mention]Rashidjass[/mention] is not feeling well so I knew that I have to go back since this track needs a senior and the Explorers worked hard for the morning drive.

Well the adrenaline kicked and I said " You know what ??? let me go and give them a good drive " grin .

We started the drive and I was planing to be as far as possible from the other convoy but the whole way to Al Baddayer I couldn't find [mention]Daggerfall[/mention] any where , I think I met all the clubs or groups but not our second convoy. We reached the Super Bowel by 5 pm which 1 hour before the schedule so I decided to give our members more fun till the sun set so we continued driving till Iftar Bowel then passing by the area 53 army camp and then back to Al Baddayer.

It was another nice day in the desert , thanks to all who joined and who supported and of course Special thanks for [mention]Rashidjass[/mention] for joining although he was extremely sick .

Looking forward to see you all in the next time in the sand

Cheers

[kareem.alameldin]

This drive shows how dedicated our marshalls are to the club and not let any of us down, Bu salem and Rashid didn't have to join as the trip was originally for one convoy, but they are paying the price for getting us all hooked up on driving with them that we managed to hack the system unintentionaly and gave us all the chance to drive!

The track was really nice and i could feel Bu Salem holding himself back as he could do much more in that nice terrain, i honestly wished he would,

One highlight of the drive was my first rescue! Yes i know I'm a newbie but it was a weird situation where [mention]Mabubaker[/mention] got stuck in a small bowl that had me at the entrance and him at the exit, and Rashid standing a few meters away watching the situation and me watching him waiting for further instructions, and he did what i wish he would, told me to go for the rescue, I'm sure he knew that this is the safest choice and he supervised the whole process, thanks for your trust [mention]Rashidjass[/mention]

Can't wait to join all of you comrades for the next trip!