Offroading into the Clouds at Choma Kunda-Coorg

[maddy42]

Great pictures samurai i have beenw wanting to go to that place from quite long but aint finding company. Maybe next time i will

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by IronWolf

The AP jeep looks clean and simple. Do you know the year of the 4x4 MM540?

It is a 1988 MM440, that's the secret behind Jammy's handle on Team-BHP. The yellow looks so good because it is Duco painted.

Originally Posted by DirtyDan

I am wondering what is wrong with your cooling system. Weak water pump? Impeded flow somewhere? Radiator too small? Lazy coolant ? (I hate that, strong union.)

Well, investigation will start next week when I find some time. I guess that's what we need to do between off-roading events.

[iceman7]

absolutely amazing pictures. simply breathtaking

[NIP]

fantastic trip report and pix as usual samurai !! and i guessed right - chomakund !! believe it or not, this is our favourite hangout spot in coorg. this place is about 20kms from my in-laws place, so we go here every chance we get.

you guys seem to be huffing and puffing up and down choma kund !! we usually do this trip on an old 1992 model M&M. believe it or not, a couple of months ago, we were a gang of 12 in the jeep and made it up the place !! believe me, its PURE driving skills that can take you up there...and the local boys really know to drive. here are a couple of pics from the last trip:

[NIP]

and here's a lil shoker - i have taken my scorpio on top a couple of times !! i have gotten badly stuck a few times and abandoned the effort, but when the weather was a little dry, i've made it all the way up !

samurai, this one's for you. a video we shot going up choma kund, when coorg was experiencing one of the heaviest rains in a couple of decades ! just check out chelavara falls !!

YouTube - The Wild Jeep Ride in Coorg !!

[sudev]

Look at the type of tire in the last picture. Wow straight tread road tire is it?

Some where about 2:30 mark the jeep is going up a stream bed or what? Strange only the wipers were squealing!

[NIP]

Originally Posted by sudev

Some where about 2:30 mark the jeep is going up a stream bed or what? Strange only the wipers were squealing!

no sudev...its the same path up chomakund. the road here becomes like a river and you have to drive against the current !! words cannot explain the thrill !!

[sudev]

Originally Posted by NIP

no sudev...its the same path up chomakund. the road here becomes like a river and you have to drive against the current !! words cannot explain the thrill !!

I can imagine why every one was silent there...wish i lived in Coorg. Would have loved to try and take up the GV there...Samurai..are you going to try it?

[lohithrao]

Samurai, Fantastic am speechless you are living your life the right way!! keep it going..

btw is Jammy on Tbhp?? lost touch with him...

[bglsrini]

great pictures and breathtaking.

[Torque-ative]

Samuari,

Are these jeeps so un-reliable because they are old, and miss original spares ?!
Would a new MM or CL be much more reliable,..say as compared to the Gypsy ?!

Wonder why the jeepers at Jeep Thrills give such a hard time to the Gypsy ?!
Quoting from an article where they say "a Gypsy is not a Jeep",..sure but 200% more reliable than most MM's & CL's, in the convoy.

Defining reliability as "a quality which would not make you wonder if you would have to limp back in the jeep,..or walk back on foot if you pushed too hard".

Brick bats,..sure maybe I deserve them bringing this up here !! Aheam

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by lohithrao

btw is Jammy on Tbhp?? lost touch with him...

Check post #25 in this thread.

Originally Posted by NIP

and here's a lil shoker - i have taken my scorpio on top a couple of times !! i have gotten badly stuck a few times and abandoned the effort, but when the weather was a little dry, i've made it all the way up !

As you surely know, the road condition keeps changing on such trails. After every maintenance cycle, even 2WD can make it. I heard from a Jeeper who took a Maruti Omni last year to the top. That is why sometimes even Scorpio could make it, but not all the time.

Originally Posted by NIP

you guys seem to be huffing and puffing up and down choma kund !! we usually do this trip on an old 1992 model M&M. believe it or not, a couple of months ago, we were a gang of 12 in the jeep and made it up the place !! believe me, its PURE driving skills that can take you up there...and the local boys really know to drive. here are a couple of pics from the last trip:

Well, we only did that in one stretch which was badly damaged, you can see it in the photos. Rest was easily handled by the Jeeps. The video is great, they were doing it in pouring rain with water gushing down the trail.

Originally Posted by sudev

I can imagine why every one was silent there...wish i lived in Coorg. Would have loved to try and take up the GV there...Samurai..are you going to try it?

Not right now, that one stretch is too bad for GV, it can badly damage it.

[NIP]

Originally Posted by Samurai

As you surely know, the road condition keeps changing on such trails. After every maintenance cycle, even 2WD can make it.

AFAIK, there's no maintenance work that happens here. during heavy rains, the trail kind of gets 'cleaned up'. i think it is in its worst condition now. i have been going there for 5 years now. and i've also heard of people making it up in a maruti 800, but i don't think its possible anymore.

Originally Posted by Samurai

The video is great, they were doing it in pouring rain with water gushing down the trail.

'they' are 'us' its the same jeep as the pics on top. this was during the unexpected early start monsoons in may 2006, when this area received 300 inches of rain !

[Torque-ative]

Sharath,
Do care to respond. It was a genuine query. I have been following your tryst with the Jeep from the very begining. However involved the jeep might make its owner,..I really want to know why these jeeps (reconditioned ones mostly) end up being so unreliable.

Originally Posted by Torque-ative

Samuari,
Are these jeeps so un-reliable because they are old, and miss original spares ?! Would a new MM or CL be much more reliable,..say as compared to the Gypsy ?!

Defining reliability as "a quality which would not make you wonder if you would have to limp back in the jeep,..or walk back on foot if you pushed too hard".

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by Torque-ative

Sharath,
Do care to respond. It was a genuine query. I have been following your tryst with the Jeep from the very begining. However involved the jeep might make its owner,..I really want to know why these jeeps (reconditioned ones mostly) end up being so unreliable.

I am not even two months old as Jeep owner, I may not be the right person to answer this. I drove 638KMs in 3 days, at least 50Kms in grueling off-roading trails and came back home safely. What makes you think it is so unreliable?