Hi friends,

After my first trip (Tintin's bulldog run) I am making an analysis and have come up with the following comments. I would like to have your feedback and suggestions:

1) Should ensure proper distance between cars especially when the dunes are small and close one after the other. Marina, sorry for the one time I was too close to your car.

2) Should modify the bumpers (atleast the rear bumper) - any suggestions on who is good at modifying Pajeros?

3) I have driven the complete route on 4x without differential lock. Should I have locked the differential?

4) Have to buy radio. I had used one called 'Unidem'. Is this the Chinese one? What is the model of Motorola that is available Dhs.180 at Dragon Mart?

Thanks in advance.

Gulzar

Comparing your driving from the begining of the trip till we exited already showed that you have learned a lot in your 1st trip.

Distance between cars. 30 - 40 meters depending on terain, but normally you wait at a vantage point and watch the car infron of you clear an obstical before moving. Hence the inportance of radio comunication and the flags on the rear of our vehicles

Bumpers: All of us who love the sand and spend a lot of time together on the sand have modified our bumpers so that they are not destroyed every trip. The more experienced you become on the sand the more you will want to modify your ride

Keep the diff lock off until you need it in really soft sand or stuck and trying to do a self recovery

Radios

Motorola T5720: available at Dragon Mart: Cheap and it does the job

Gulzar wrote:Hi friends,

1) Should ensure proper distance between cars especially when the dunes are small and close one after the other. Marina, sorry for the one time I was too close to your car.

Hey no problem, don't worry about it - when you go out on the sand at first it is a steep learning curve (no pun intended). We all have to start somewhere, and as Avan has said, your learned a lot and your offroad skills improved during the drive and that is the main thing. (You should have seen me on my first drive )


Hope to see you in the sand - with your modified bumpers - very soon

Hi Gulzar,

My two pence in red:

Gulzar wrote:
1) Should ensure proper distance between cars especially when the dunes are small and close one after the other. The small dunes are the tricky dunes for long wheel bases (LWB). As Avan said 30 - 40 meters is good but may be adjusted depending on conditions. You really want to be in a safe position where you have a slight down angle and can observe the car in front of you to see what lays ahead.

2) Should modify the bumpers (atleast the rear bumper) - any suggestions on who is good at modifying Pajeros? Too late! You already have the custom bumper from Dunes-R-Us! Not sure where your car is registered but steel bumpers are a no-no in AUH. That being said I know of one guy in Al Ain who had a custom steel center made that looked just like stock for his Pajero. Very slick looking. But I do not remember who it was or who did the work. If I do I'll pass it along. Be very mindful of your departure angle and speed when you come off a dune, as bumper damage is a common occurrence in LWB's, particularly the SUV's with lots of plastic cars, but it can happen to any car as my JK has a nice bruised nose. With practice you will minimize this by balancing your downslope speed and needed pull out speed. I would leave your bumper as is for the time being that way you can only damage what is already damaged and not something new or repaired again.

3) I have driven the complete route on 4x without differential lock. Should I have locked the differential? As mentioned, locking the differential will help you in the softies and with stucks. Just remember to turn it on as you feel your starting to get stuck that way if you do it is already engaged. Some Diffs will not engage properly once you are already stuck. I use to drive my Prado with the locker on as I was normally in 4Lo (always On in 4Lo) to keep the rpm's up so I had all the torque I needed when I needed it. Remember to use your auto transmission as a pseudo manual transmission - control the gear shifting yourself by using 2, 3 & 4 as conditions warrant, leave it in Drive and the car will shift as it sees fit and will shift up and loose power and momentum when you least want.

4) Have to buy radio. I had used one called 'Unidem'. Is this the Chinese one? What is the model of Motorola that is available Dhs.180 at Dragon Mart? The radios used are set to the US GMRS/FRS radio service. The European service utilizes different frequencies and they do not intermesh. Brand really makes no difference, Uniden, Motorola and Cobra brands are what is called Type Accepted which means the US FCC has approved them for use on the US GMRS/FRS radio service. Other countries do this also for legal operations. The "Chinese" radios folks here talk about are not type accepted because they operate on more than just the US GMRS/FRS radio service and have higher then specified output power, broader frequency coverage etc. Just remember the key specification to look for is the US GMRS/FRS radio service.

Guess Avan said it all .....

The LWB Pajero is known to break the rear bumper easily, think nobody managed yet to avoid it. Some parts can actually removed before the drive, you may check this.

Driving should be in 4 High, from the lockers I guess you have the 3.8l engine, which has loads of torque. Try to drive it in 4 High but the auto in 1st gear, shifting to 2nd only when it gets fast enough.

The 4 Lo should be used when you are stuck (in combination with the rear locker if required) or in small dunes of extremely soft sand, which is more towards the summer. If you are stuck and you have to go in low, use also gear 1 fw and rev, trying to be very soft on the gas, turning the steering left - right - left always and to manouver slowly forward and backwards until you are out. Driving in 4 Lo should be in Auto D plus start in 2nd gear (or snow setup as its sometimes called in Europe), the 1st is to low to start off.

My 2 cents, good luck and happy offroanding !

Mike

Wow, that is a wealth of information.

Thanks Avan, pseacraft and Mike, I will try to keep all this in mind for the next trip.

Marina, thanks for your encouraging words.

Will make the trip to Dragon Mart next weekend to pick up the radio...

I did not know that steel bumpers are not allowed in AD! Before I spoke to Mebar Auto, and they suggested that I keep the stock bumper and they can sort of cover it so that it does not shovel the sand and get damaged. Hope it works.

See you all out in the sand soon .