Almost4x4

Al Badayer was the chosen spot for today’s gathering. Drivers were on time as always; Yoghybear took the roll call and sorted the newbies two convoys, namely 5- and 5+. Ever cheerful Mazaaj, riding Mini Me, was the lead in our 5+ group, Adnan and Hockeys were tasked with sweep and rescue responsibilities and Abu Jimmy maintained oversight of the convoy.

A little after 8:30, we were off-road and headed towards pink rock. Weather was great throughout the morning with gusty winds and the thermometer in early 30s. The route was a mix of soft and hard sand and we were exposed to some side cresting, a few steep maneuvers and medium sized dunes. We moved at a slow pace to the pink rock and the progress was punctuated by a few second rounds and stucks. Enroute, we stopped to re-check and adjust tire and mind pressures. We climbed up the pink rock and drove back to Al Badayer shops by 11:00 AM.

The main challenge for me in today’s drive was speed control. While I did not get stuck or need second rounds, I flew quite liberally at times , which meant I was too fast where I shouldn’t have been. :ka boom:The other area where I struggled a little bit today was in not knowing my steering position (number of turns) at sharp maneuvers. I remember Rashidjass once mentioned to me that it was very important to exactly know the steering position at all times in order to become a good driver. I hope to continue to learn to overcome these challenges in the future drives.

Apart from thanking fellow drivers, Hockeys, Adnan, Abu Jimmy and Mazzaj for the lovely drive today, I would like to take this opportunity to profusely thank all senior drivers, marshals and founders for particularly two virtues (in addition to organizing drives, knowledge sharing, safety, professionalism and others):

Patience: Most of the newbie drives must be obviously be boring for the marshals (route is not challenging for them, newbies getting stuck, repeated mistakes, not being able to follow instructions, frequent stoppages, etc.), yet they still remain passionately patient with the learning drivers and conduct the drives in such orderly and caring manner. Patience is one great lesson that can be learnt from our marshals and be practiced in life beyond desert as well.

Omni-presence: One must have noticed that at any given time, atleast one marshal would be watching us; it is amazing how the marshals crawl up and down the dunes to get to vantage points to keep sight of the drivers and their wellbeing at all times. It gives a secure feeling to newbies like me. My friends who drove with other clubs say that no club ever takes care of its members like ours.

Hats off gentlemen for your great service and support to off-roading community. :applause::045:

See you all in sand soon

Great drive
Great lead, sweep, company
Big thanks all brothers for another great day out.
Love you all.

Thank you every one ,,, ;-):like:

https://www.facebook.com/mouhidin/timel ... gefilter=3

This Newbies 5- was great drive. Cooked by a very talented marshals. A bit crispy because of 30km/h wind. The drive was medium/slow pace, but it was perfect speed to learn and adjust the momentum to pass different small dunes. It was not easy for some drivers but excellent exercise.
My car had two heavy bump, first time was right after passing a small dune, it was fun as I got it continuously while descending the dune, I keep learning my car :045:. On the second bump, my suspensions shouted on me "momo please be foxy with us", well I did little front jump then glued my chassis to the sand :confident::yuush: .

We had as well a nice demonstration, how fixing a pop-out, a detailed process that take variable time depending of the situation and how the driver handy is, but with Almost4x4 we take our time to do it well with no rush to avoid mistakes.

We enjoyed chitchat as well for short time beside pink rock then we were heading Al Badayer.

It is always a great moment to be between the newbies, because the problems occurring during the trips as well as the rescues and the pop-out etc. etc. make it a rich in learning. If someday I have the chance to assist as rescue, I will definitely keep registering in newbie trips. "Never forget your roots" they say... :meta knight:

I will post later on a video of this trip.

Here is pics link : https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... d2e32a974a

Big thanks to all who participated preparing this trip including the Admin, a person we might forget but I am sure he/she doesn't do less than the others.

Cheers,

Momo

desert wind and sand in ears
less confusion no fears
followed the Desert Bat
next to me my friend Braveheart
Spider-tank enjoying fun
changing gear two or one
jumped sometimes and flew this race
accept, overspeeding was my case
lost a bumper - moment dark
thanks for grabbing it up Mark!
we arrived Badayer square
drive was beautifully rare
underbumper... still confused
shall it fix or keep it loose :))

[quote=margarita;35653]desert wind and sand in ears
less confusion no fears
followed the Desert Bat
next to me my friend Braveheart
Spider-tank enjoying fun
changing gear two or one
jumped sometimes and flew this race
accept, overspeeding was my case
lost a bumper - moment dark
thanks for grabbing it up Mark!
we arrived Badayer square
drive was beautifully rare
underbumper... still confused
shall it fix or keep it loose :))[/quote]

Nice one margarita, :like:.

[quote=margarita;35653]desert wind and sand in ears
less confusion no fears
followed the Desert Bat
next to me my friend Braveheart
Spider-tank enjoying fun
changing gear two or one
jumped sometimes and flew this race
accept, overspeeding was my case
lost a bumper - moment dark
thanks for grabbing it up Mark!
we arrived Badayer square
drive was beautifully rare
underbumper... still confused
shall it fix or keep it loose :))[/quote]

Wow Magy its booooming words:045:

regarding bumper better keep it lose ....cyz you will lost again

It was really interesting trip we enjoyed a a lot ... especially the sand shower looooool

I was second car in the convoy -5 and its not easy sometimes to be at the 2nd behind the boss yoghy bear

. dunes were soft and hard ....

Thanks to marshals yoghy bear and bu salim

we had very interesting experience this (tire pop out) ,,,and we saw with our own eyes how should it be done under Abu salim supervision

The learned steps about pop out are :
1- lift the car by jack after putting the jack steadily on plate wood
2- digging the sand in vertical way
3- Using Air compressor to inflate the tire until you hear the famous sound (pop)
before inflating it is strongly recommended to put water to remove all sands
(be care full never put your fingers between the tire and the ring )
4- Pull down the jack hand slowly to get down the car
5- when you hear the sound of pop out
the tire pressure is almost 20 psi so you need to deflate again until 10 psi
6 - carry on your nice trip

please correct me if i missed something

Again thank you Almosters

Hope to see you again in the magicooo desert

[quote=margarita;35653]desert wind and sand in ears
less confusion no fears
followed the Desert Bat
next to me my friend Braveheart
Spider-tank enjoying fun
changing gear two or one
jumped sometimes and flew this race
accept, overspeeding was my case
lost a bumper - moment dark
thanks for grabbing it up Mark!
we arrived Badayer square
drive was beautifully rare
underbumper... still confused
shall it fix or keep it loose :))[/quote]


:like:

[quote=yassser;35656]
The learned steps about pop out are :
1- lift the car by jack after putting the jack steadily on plate wood
2- digging the sand in vertical way
3- Using Air compressor to inflate the tire until you hear the famous sound (pop)
before inflating it is strongly recommended to put water to remove all sands
(be care full never put your fingers between the tire and the ring )
4- Pull down the jack hand slowly to get down the car
5- when you hear the sound of pop out
the tire pressure is almost 20 psi so you need to deflate again until 10 psi
6 - carry on your nice trip
[/quote]

Dear yassser,

Here is very interesting thread with images about pop-outs: http://www.almost4x4.com/vb/showthread.php?678-Tire-Pop-Out&p=3942&viewfull=1#post3942

In "Hot Sand" trip we had two different scenarios concern tires issues and from what I remember I would add:

It is important to report the situation to Marshals, and wait their response. As they might move you to a safer place before you get out from your vehicle.

Analyzing what is the problem is also important, a) Simple deflation b) Pop-out; check the presence or absence of the valve. Place all necessary tools near to the work area, placing them vertical planting their edges into the sand, in this way you keep them visible to avoid hurting anyone near to you and you don't lose your tools. Remember your tools near to you will save you time on work, remember in summer it is hot, and when windy it is not that evident.

For the car lift points, an easy way to locate them is to read your car manual it is mentioned there. Make sure that the car jack lifting valve is tightened in close position before lifting, usually clockwise rotation to lock it. Lifting the car is done with constant rhythm (no rush), keep looking at your tire location, you may not need to lift it that much.

Use your shovel to remove sand below the tire, avoiding acrobatic movement while digging which exhaust you. To place your valve at 6 o'clock sometimes we need to disengage the 4 wheel drive mode and rotate the rim with both hands. If new valve need to be installed it is advisable to lubricate its large base with a bit of power steering lubricant that you find under your hood. It will ease inserting it on the rim and blocks any air leak while inflating. Place the valve from inside the rim, then use dedicated tool to pull it gently to the outside. (lubrication not applied on tires, use water instead)

The inflating process is mentioned in the thread link above. The pop sound, indicates that we have approximately 20 psi tire pressure, we can then deflate to match the pressure to the other tires.

Always remember SAFETY IS PRIORITY, as mentioned in the link above, the jack might fail at any moment, don't put legs, feet, arms, hands under the rim, don't insert your head between tire and car body to watch behind tire, don't place your fingers between tire and rim while inflating. Watch your inexperienced passengers maybe they do something wrong trying to help you.

When you are done release gently and slowly the car jack valve. You will be surprised that it takes less rotation to release the valve than tightening it, so go ahead very slowly. Before packing the jack lift make sure you tighten back the valve to avoid oil leak. You're done, don't forget your tools.

Regards,

Momo