Hello Antho

Welcome to the friendliest offroading gang. There are certain issues with taking a Ford Explorer 2013 to the desert. First, you will definitely damage your front bumper because the approach angle on the Ford is very low. Your rear bumper might be damaged too. The Rav4 is an all wheel drive car and might struggle in serious sandy areas, although it will make it everywhere else.

I am telling you this from past experience. Consider getting yourself an old 4x4 like a Jeep Cherokee or Nissan Pathfinder for some real serious offroading.

You will be treated as a Rookie, then go on to join Junior Offroader trips, thereafter, you will be upgraded to Offroader and Senior Offroader. Ultimately, like many of us here, you will become a Marshal one day and lead trips.

I wish you luck and look forward to see you.

Thanks Uncle. I am bit disapointed for the explorer so you would even not take it to easy tracks?
if not I then seriously need to think about an older (cheap?) model to enjoy without too much stress. What would be price range for an older Jeep (cherokee or wrangler?) or Pathfinder?

Antho wrote:Thanks Uncle. I am bit disapointed for the explorer so you would even not take it to easy tracks?
if not I then seriously need to think about an older (cheap?) model to enjoy without too much stress. What would be price range for an older Jeep (cherokee or wrangler?) or Pathfinder?

Hey, Antho -
I think it just depends on how attached you are to a pristine bumper. Even on an "easy" trip, a low bumper is at increased risk of being damaged. You might get through the drive without a scratch, but you might not. (Actually, this is true regardless of what you end up driving!) On every trip we run, we minimize the risk as much as possible (by finding a safe route, having convoy rules, providing instructions at obstacles, etc), but there are way too many variables (the terrain, the consistency of the sand, the weather, decisions you may make while driving, etc) for us to be able to guarantee anything. That said, if you sign up for a rookie trip with your Explorer, we,ll do our best to facilitate a fun, safe day for you.

I have a good friend who started off in an Explorer. He did okay in it, tho it did get a bit bashed from time to time. Once he decided to really commit to the activity, he bought a SWB Patrol.

Check Dubizzle and similar sites to see how much the cars you mentioned are running. Prices will be higher now, at the start of the season, I,m sorry to say.

Oh - and PS - the only required 'equipment' for a rookie trip is recovery points: you MUST have one at the front and one at the back. If you don,t have both, I,m afraid you won,t be able to join the trip.

Thanks. do you know if explorers (2013+) come with rear recovery point by default? if not, is it possible to add?

Antho wrote:Thanks. do you know if explorers (2013+) come with rear recovery point by default? if not, is it possible to add?

I don,t know about Explorers in general, Antho, and I just googled and found no helpful information about Explorer recovery points. Sorry.

If there are none on your car, it *is* possible to get them mounted, but be sure to have the work done by a knowledgeable mechanic: they must be mounted on the frame, NOT on the bumper(s).

Depending on which city you live in, there are folks in the club who can recommend a good garage if you don,t know of one. Also, if you,re not sure what a recovery point looks like, give us a shout and let us know where you live. Tho I can,t volunteer my mates' time, I would say that a UAE-Offroader can probably meet you and check the car for you.

thanks. I know I have a front recovery point. I will check rear and send a picture if I find anything looking like it.

Hi,,,

I would like to join your great tem.

Thanks,

Wellcome all to the family hopping to see you soon

Antho wrote:thanks. I know I have a front recovery point. I will check rear and send a picture if I find anything looking like it.

->here are some pictures. please let me know. Thanks!

Antho wrote:->here are some pictures. please let me know. Thanks!

Yup, that's a recovery point, so you're good to go!