[mobike008]

The white of the Safari against the sand dunes is extremely striking!

[sammyboy]

Awesome job bro. Now thats what I always wanted to see a Safari 4*4 do and it seems to have done it with ease. Looking forward to more such adventures from you

[jaysmokesleaves]

This is a very nice pic... and the sand on the right is THE place to ride the safari in. I think with a good set of tyres and intelligent driving it can easily tackle these mini dunes.
You surely had a blast.
And hey, as nitrous said. Its a good idea to load some escape gear with you.With 4wd it gets tempting to try different terrain and its better to be prepared to beat the odds. A foldable shovel and a mini compressor are a must. And yes.. a foldable chair to enjoy that exotic location that you just offroaded to.
cheers:

[quote=tsk1979;1015235]Did not deflate the tires, since the track had many hard sections. Moreover
I had planned not to take any big risks. Of course if we had gotten stuck, then this would have been needed.
As for hard ground, pics are of course in hard ground.
Just one pic where you can see her sunk in is on soft ground.
For dune pics also parking was done on hard ground so that I could get enough momentum for sand
For example look at this pic. Parking is on hard ground, but deep sand all around. Once you stop there its difficult to get out. Even the jeeps avoid stopping there unless absolutely necessary
Attachment 59793

[dadu]

The sand has one more advantage it polishes the tyres like they are just from the factory

[Dry Ice]

Great pics tsk1979, great to see a Safari on a desert-Safari!!!

[tsk1979]

More talk and less pics, this post will have, but this was the place where the Safari almost got stuck, all thanks to an Innova.
On the morning we were to ride to Phalodi, we decided to check out Kuldhara, the deserted village.
Its a gated village with 50rs entry per vehicle and ditto for cam.
Once you enter the village its a dirt road. Doable by any car. Proceed on that road into the village, and the road turns into proper sand track, with sharp rocks strewn in at some places, its ruins right!
So as we entered the deserted village we come across an interesting spectacle.
A red swift, with rear wheels on hard ground, and front two where the track becomes sandy.
It was stuck in the sand, wheels spinning. the innova guy pulled them out, and by the time we reached it was sorted.
Once both the vehicles moved out of way. I took the safari towards sandy road.
All the passengers of Innova started jumping up and down, and wildly gesturing "no no no" I just waved at them, and entered the sand.
Whoa, wheelspin.
I kept on going though at moderate speed, and slipping and sliding we reached slightly hard part.
Good time for a pic

We roamed about on the dunes and started back, as the way was a dead end after some time. My big mistake. You should always recce your track if possible. Came on a turn, and saw the innova.
Seeing us go, the Innova taxi driver had assumed that we had made across the sand due to sheer momentum, so he could also race there.
So now he was stuck more than 20 feet from where the sand started, with rear tires dug in.
And I was barreling down towards them, it was sand and sand, I was wondering where to stop.
Spied a small rise, and took the safari up that, So that when I started reversing I would have the advantage of gravity for initial momentum build up.
Here is the Innova. It was sitting on her axles in the sand, I also tried to get her out, but due to initial high speed momentum, it was deep in the sand.
The clutch was burning, and the tourist family(from west bengal) won't be going anywhere.
The taxi driver asked me for towing out help and he had a short tow rope. I told him not possible in sand, its very deep, if I can somehow come out to other side I can pull, if his tow rope is long enough so that I have traction.
Apparantly that was not the case, so the only hope was a jeep or bolero.
this also meant we were stuck with him, and were getting delayed for Phalodi!


What to do?
We decided to do things stepwise. First step was to reverse on narrow sandy track.
Wife got down, and I started in 4L, initially wheels spun, but soon we were on track, and I reversed to the hard area.
After that we tried finding an alternate route through the ruins
Finally found a narrow opening with rocks on one side and bushes on other, but its a sand dune sort of incline. Need to have momentum here!
I gun for it, make half way, and then she slides towards the bushes, and I can hear the scratches on the side. Sob!
But we are clear on the other side
Below pics shows wife doing the recce for the opening, before I make the run for it


Meanwhile there is a 4x4 bolero, and he decides to bravely pull them out, and gets dug in because the sand is soft. The jeep guy comes, and he also has wheelspin(no pics of them as were busy exploring ruins), but here is the aftermath pic, with the innova guys waiting for a tractor. ETA 2 hours because the village with tractor is far away


By far this was the most difficult 4x4 driving stretch. With sharp rocks in sand, and very deep sand(Look at the innova dug in!)
But the safari came out in flying colors(well almost), and I am going to get a fucot paint sealant or armorfend like thingy soon, so that I can tackle bushes with impunity

[khan_sultan]

Tanveer, it so nice to see a safari 4x4 being put to good use. I really wish it were some 500kgs lighhter and had a little more GC. It would be even more capable off-roader then.

I have seen a safari 4x4 perform first hand in reasonable rocky/forest trails and have alowly built some admiration for the 2.25ton 4x4 truck.

BTW, that;'s some really nice landscape in the pictures and looks like a wonderful place to camp and spend the night.

Originally Posted by tsk1979

.... Sand is the favorite destination of Soft-Roader class of vehicles. Why? The answer is simple, minimal panel damage.

Fully agree with you on this. Infact, I would suggest that people with anything other than jeep/Gypsy etc should try off-roading first in sand (if possible) and then once comfortable with the 4x4 characteristics of the vehicle try some other terrain. The chances of severe body/underbody damage in sand are quite reduced compared to rocky/rutty terrain.

..Jeepers can climb up and down cliffs, in the jungles, in deep ruts, without worrying about a ding here or there.
But soft roaders have panels. Even the claddings are painted.

.. that the advantage of jeeps/gypsies.

[sudev]

tsk1979: Amazing things you discover in the Desert. I wonder who was wise guy who put Swift and Innova on to exploring the ruins? This is nice time of the year but in summers this can be a killer.
Once you have a 4x4 you want to explore further afield and rissk more chances of getting stuck ;-)

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by khan_sultan

Tanveer, it so nice to see a safari 4x4 being put to good use. I really wish it were some 500kgs lighhter and had a little more GC. It would be even more capable off-roader then.

I have seen a safari 4x4 perform first hand in reasonable rocky/forest trails and have alowly built some admiration for the 2.25ton 4x4 truck.

GC it has lots 205mm, Its the weight. 500kgs lighter, and it can be the king of sand. With 2 people sitting the 4x4 tips the scales at 2.5 tonnes.

BTW, that;'s some really nice landscape in the pictures and looks like a wonderful place to camp and spend the night.

You bet! It was indeed an experience to sleep on the dunes

.. that the advantage of jeeps/gypsies.

Not the Gypsy. I once took our black gypsy king to a forest area, and came back with lines all over the sides! This was almost 10 years back,

Originally Posted by sudev

tsk1979: Amazing things you discover in the Desert. I wonder who was wise guy who put Swift and Innova on to exploring the ruins? This is nice time of the year but in summers this can be a killer.
Once you have a 4x4 you want to explore further afield and rissk more chances of getting stuck ;-)

The track is a dirt track on which cars go. After a certain distance, sand starts, but you can see some jeep marks. the swift guy went in slowly. Wise thing to do, since he got stuck right at the start. Mild pushing and pulling and he was out.
After seeing us the taxi guy thought momentum is the key. He never even thought we have 4x4, and raced on the hard ground. As a result he ended 20+ feet in the sand, maybe even 30 feet, and completely dug in, with clutch totally gone.
For example when I tried to get innova out, I pressed the brake pedal completely, and clutch was not pressed, the car did not stall, the clutch was slipping like crazy and literally cooking.

After our ruin tour when we came upon the innova(my mistake of not doing a recce), and had nowhere to go, I climbed a small dune, as I mentioned in the above post, so that I had gravity for reverse maneuver.

[Shakensoul]

Thats not fair, you're feeding us the story bit by bit, and increasing the suspense, waiting desperately for the complete story. Bring it on !!

[khan_sultan]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

GC it has lots 205mm...

You find it adequate? Then great. Down south here in Bangalore, in rutty and rocky conditions, I find the 210 mm of the Gypsy a bit less -- could do with some more :-).

...Not the Gypsy. I once took our black gypsy king to a forest area, and came back with lines all over the sides! This was almost 10 years back,

I agree that you get scratches/lines all over and that's true for jeeps also (have seen it first hand), but in off-road you don't even think twice about it.

Also, white color helps in masking the scratches.

tanveer, now post rest of the story brother. Eager to hear the camping part :-)

[hrag]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

GC it has lots 205mm, Its the weight. 500kgs lighter, and it can be the king of sand. With 2 people sitting the 4x4 tips the scales at 2.5 tonnes.

The GC is not really lots sir. As khan_sultan has said, some terrains can catch you out. Of course, more GC can only be better but the height / track ratio is not the best out there (as sreerajunnithan and I were discussing today).

Plus, I did a quick search of your posts to look at the underbody picture you had posted. To check if the 2.2 4x4 had any changes compared to the 3.0 4x4 - couldn't see any. The Safari also needs more, if not better, skid plates similar to what Samurai has attempted on his GV. The big drum jutting out from behind the right front wheel can take a hit easily as I found out during the Sakleshpura OTR.

I'm a newbie when it comes to OTR but I'd say it is a good idea to memorize the underbody and the arrangement of different things there.

[Jaggu]

Thats an awesome trip, love the dune pics. Making good use of the truck eh

[dadu]

No GC is good enough for off-roaders as when you think its enough, you will yourself raise the bar, needing more GC.

Offroading can put you in more trouble than a 2WD as you tend to take more risks trying to conquer the unconqerable.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by Shakensoul

Thats not fair, you're feeding us the story bit by bit, and increasing the suspense, waiting desperately for the complete story. Bring it on !!

Originally Posted by khan_sultan

tanveer, now post rest of the story brother. Eager to hear the camping part :-)

Guys this thread just has the off road drives part of the trip.
The trip log is here
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...i-sambhar.html (2100kms - To the Desert and Back(Jaisalmer Phalodi Sambhar!))
This has the whole details, camping etc., etc.,

Originally Posted by hrag

The GC is not really lots sir. As khan_sultan has said, some terrains can catch you out. Of course, more GC can only be better but the height / track ratio is not the best out there (as sreerajunnithan and I were discussing today).

Plus, I did a quick search of your posts to look at the underbody picture you had posted. To check if the 2.2 4x4 had any changes compared to the 3.0 4x4 - couldn't see any. The Safari also needs more, if not better, skid plates similar to what Samurai has attempted on his GV. The big drum jutting out from behind the right front wheel can take a hit easily as I found out during the Sakleshpura OTR.

I'm a newbie when it comes to OTR but I'd say it is a good idea to memorize the underbody and the arrangement of different things there.

Once I had her on a ramp, and hit the skid plates with my knuckles. They seemed pretty think.
The only unprotected part is the transfer case, but its placed pretty high, so its relatively safe.
As for the rear diff jutting out, thats with all jeeps and gypsy too.

Originally Posted by Jaggu

Thats an awesome trip, love the dune pics. Making good use of the truck eh

Originally Posted by dadu

No GC is good enough for off-roaders as when you think its enough, you will yourself raise the bar, needing more GC.

Offroading can put you in more trouble than a 2WD as you tend to take more risks trying to conquer the unconqerable.

4WD tempts you, definitely, but during the entire trip though we went on multiple off road tracks, I never took a risk. Infact, whenever I started losing traction, I backed off.
This ruined village excursion was the only one where there was some risk of getting stuck in sand, all thanks to innova chap.