Almost4x4

Bear hunt was a fantastic morning lead in 'classic style' by Yoghybear, swept by Mazaaj and at the end Bu Salem through the amazing Sweihan dunes. (We must drive there more often!)

It was a challenging drive, and in places really quite technical, with Sweihan’s razor-sharp dunes, soft sand, big climbs and huge bowls. We had a lot of side cresting practice, and lots of fun in some of the bowls, and as always we all learnt a lot of lessons.

A big thankyou to all the organisers

Hi guys

Sweihan after some windy days, Yoghybear and an Almost4x4 drive can only be fun. So I signed up.

I consulted with Yoghybear regarding bringing my 6 year old son with. The conclusion was "yes". This was mainly due to the proximity of exit options if I needed.

The drive was great. It was fast and challenging, over big sharp crests and in some nice big bowls. My son was loving the side cresting over the sharp dunes and the steep drops. Better than any Roller Coaster.

Unfortunately, I needed to leave after about the first hour. It was just too much for my son.

The drive was "awesome".... These were the words of my son, even after he had vomited all over my Jeep!!!

I am sorry I couldn't complete the drive. It was good to see everyone again.

Thanks.

Regards
Paul

Hearing @Mazaaj saying on the radio "Hunt the bear! Hunt the bear" was very clear message but the consequences were to take into consideration as the bear took us to the biggest bowls of Sweihan where RPM was hitting the red color, engines screaming and pedal to the floor challenging the RPM cut-off! What a day full of action! It is amazing to drive with you guys, as stated by @ginger, we must drive there more often and it is not that far..

I set 3 video cameras on my car thanks to @Mazaaj who provided me 2 extra GoPro camera at the club anniversary event, camera that are still with me :011:. But as I found good use for them, I think he didn't regret that he borrowed them to me. And at this drive I tried new camera angle which is fixing the camera on the side pointing it in such way it gives you same view as you look from the window.. so let's see how it will be on the video.

All the way through the dunes chain was nice and challenging for the driver and engine, till we reached the gatch road, that nasty dunes with a little rocks on it and hard ground at the bottom. @Mark B was still at bottom, so when I did the side crest I had only two options:

1) Make a union between Jeep and FJ Cruiser which I guess will start a long hot debate :eagerness:
2) I floor it and make wider arch and reach the hard ground with higher momentum and make less damages.

Tic tac tic tac, on a milliseconds scale I had to think about my jeepers buddies so I took option 2... my car went all the way down and near the ground I hit fully the breaks (lucky I deactivated the ABS earlier) the hit was strong enough to change my right tire alignment...
When I drove my car on the gatch road, my steering was pointing 45degree to the left while the car was driving straight, it is normal result that left tire needs to balance the non-aligned right tire to keep going straight... The result on road was bad... my both front tires overheated a lot from the inner side. I did quickly the calculation, if one of the tires blows out I would need to mount the spare, and if the other one blows out I will be in struggle. So I decided to stop by alignment shop in Al Ain opposite Oman borders ( 24° 15.808'N 55° 46.102'E). They did it for me without advanced tools but good enough to come back to Dubai and that was the cheapest solution (100 AED)... Now as my car lost alignment, the traction, skid control and steering angle sensors lost their factory calibration so they automatically turned off to not endanger the vehicle stability. Thank you again to @alshamsi_m for assisting me after the drive for that issue.
All in all, all my traction system is off, wheels fairly aligned we can't say no to super bowl and buggies show in the after noon at Al Badayer

Thanks to all being part of this drive and see you next time in the sand,

Regards

Thanks [MENTION=1633]Yoghybear[/MENTION] for the lead & [MENTION=1946]Mazaaj[/MENTION] for all the support, excellent team work.

Our members .... Great day with all of you guys
[MENTION=1593]Melfi[/MENTION] : Nice chit chat with you sis

It was a real pleasure meeting my old time friends after long time. I was feeling bit rusty since I didn't drive since 2 months in desert and then our friend Yougybear announced " fida, you will be my second lead" wow what a task , u are asking me to follow the charged Yougybear !!!! Funny in a sense that I was thinking how will I drive after a long and then a second lead to "Lovely monster" !! I thought , how I am going to do it and in Suweihan !!! My feelings were as it's going to be crazy as Roberto was in full mood. 2nd lead , some of my fellows think that it's a luxury to be just behind a leading car but my friends, it's a huge responsibility to be behind the lead and make necessary adjustments for the convoy. In fact in my understandings, 2nd lead defines the track for the rest of the convoy and it's great commitment. Thanks to all the years long pep talks and advices from my senior members that I felt confident enough to carry out this responsibility.
Drive was full of adventurrr, mix of some of the craziest side crests, side sloping a and high dunes climbings. What more can u expect from our loving Yougybear, he was in mood of flattening all the sharp crests and I was not less inclined. At one stage, I told him, Yougybear, let's go for a kill. He told me , fida , i want to but I have fresh intermediates with us. I really enjoyed when waiting for our convoy to catch up and he told me to enter one beatiful bowl and man what a bowl , I named it in gps as Beaty bowl. We played there for a while and exited with full of happiness which was visible in all fellow members. [MENTION=27]alshamsi_m[/MENTION]'s presence always gives you a sense of comfort and security as when he is around and you feel like protected and secured.
Yougybear, Melfi, Armin, zoro, and our friend Mazaj , thank you for making this trip more beatiful with your presence @Mazaj, I loved the meat mandi which you recommended. @Armin, you are a friend, who is a key attraction and one can't afford to miss your loving company. @Melfi, when you around, it's like our family is completed.
All in all, a wonderful weekend and lovely time spent with my old time friends. See you next time.

[quote=momo;41680]...
When I drove my car on the catch road...[/quote]
Momo, pls refer to correct terminology mentioned here
http://www.almost4x4.com/vb/showthread. ... Kacha-Road

Here is my trip report from a very special point of view..that is Roberto's passenger seat

First of all, everything started VERY EARLY but I can say it was worth it. When we reached the meeting point I have finally understood why he is so popular on the club. He is absolutely a NATURAL DRIVER, and his instinct is alway leading him on the right path!

Regarding the trip itself, it was definitely not easy (quite far from my actual level) but supernice. a lot of side cresting and big bowls, definitely worth the early wake up

congratulation to all the partecipant who followed the bear in an excellent way, but nobody was able to catch him. This means that is time for a Catch the Bear V2

[quote=momo;41680] the bear took us to the biggest bowls of Sweihan and RPM was hitting the red color, engines screaming and pedal to the floor challenging the RPM cut-off! [/quote]

if you did all that, its not a good thing.
I was in some points in 4th gear even. the only time I had RPM close to cut off was when we climbed very high dunes.
I learnt long time ago from @Mazaaj that high RPM is not always best for better traction. it will just dig.
its important to learn your cars momentum. to know when you see a dune how to take it that wont put lots of pressure on the car.

@Yoghybear, you never disappoint, Full trip. short breaks, no wasting time, you always offer what you promis. and even though I enjoyed it to its full in this trip, I know you were taking it easy on us. :D
[MENTION=1820]fida[/MENTION], I was far behind you, but I could see how you never fell behind @Yoghybear, thats not easy thing. and it was good to see at least one FJ came out of this trip in one peace :P
@ginger, your super Awesome, believe it or not, half way in the trip you change my mood to :yarr:

[quote=Arminjune;41689]if you did all that, its not a good thing.
I was in some points in 4th gear even. the only time I had RPM close to cut off was when we climbed very high dunes.
I learnt long time ago from @Mazaaj that high RPM is not always best for better traction. it will just dig.
its important to learn your cars momentum. to know when you see a dune how to take it that wont put lots of pressure on the car.
[/quote]
[MENTION=1687]Arminjune[/MENTION], Sorry I didn't mentioned to the readers that I pushed RPM high thrice only in the three biggest bowls. And it is not my drive style to stay in 1st gear and enjoy hearing the cut-off :you're kidding, rig. I also tried a trick given by [MENTION=1820]fida[/MENTION] (the man of experience) in the first bowl I shifted to 2nd gear while I was doing the upper part of the arch and that worked excellent, shift back to 1st before going down.
[MENTION=955]caprihorse[/MENTION] thank you for the correction, thanks [MENTION=1593]Melfi[/MENTION] who corrected me the same ... yes I used the word twice, I corrected one and forgot the other one :have a nice day:

Cheers

[quote=alshamsi_m;41682]Thanks @Yoghybear for the lead & @Mazaaj for all the support, excellent team work.

Our members .... Great day with all of you guys
@Melfi : Nice chit chat with you sis[/quote]
Sorry bu Salem, by mistake I pressed thumb down. Typical iphone error. You know I don't mean it.