Offroading in God’s Own Country: The Munnar MGE & JT Event

vinaydas · 2nd February 2009, 08:59

lol KnN air intakes good one!!
hope its a cold air intake for enhanced performance

maybe next connect a turbo charger from the exhausts for explosive performance ^_^
Nice pics btw, exp for the jeeps n gypsies ne other vehicle.?(you kinda tend to get bored as most OTR threads have either a gypsy doin it or the jeep)
the last pic n vids are terrific.. hope uve had put seat belts on else imagine you falling off your jeep while tryin to cross the path!!

Admin Note: Chat/SMS Lingo is not permitted on Team-BHP. Please don't use short forms like 'n' 'ne' 'uve', etc.

Samurai · 2nd February 2009, 09:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by vinaydas

Nice pics btw, exp for the jeeps n gypsies ne other vehicle.?(you kinda tend to get bored as most OTR threads have either a gypsy doin it or the jeep)
the last pic n vids are terrific.. hope uve had put seat belts on else imagine you falling off your jeep while tryin to cross the path!!

Even the people who owned LCs had brought their Jeeps, we offroaders don't get bored at looking at Jeep. We get ideas instead, for our Jeeps.

Yeah, I mostly wore seatbelts just so that I don't have to worry about slipping off. Well, I was probably the only one there wearing seat belts while offroading.

DKG · 2nd February 2009, 11:07

Beautiful country (some patches of the forest cover are divine) great group of Jeep enthusiasts and one can see its the kind of gathering that makes the sport so much fun. Thanks for the lovely reports Samurai and your pictures are special.

dwaraka · 2nd February 2009, 11:13

Samurai,

You have covered each and every part perfectly. Photos and videos too speak great lot. Rightly said GTO. 5 star for this report.

Good show.

BTW am changing the tyres to Yokohoma Geolander 235 75 R 15 soon.

Dwarak

jack33 · 2nd February 2009, 11:45

Sharath, Actually after dinner everybody backed out from the idea of going back the same trail and so my 540 had to go alone.

Samurai · 2nd February 2009, 12:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by jack33

Sharath, Actually after dinner everybody backed out from the idea of going back the same trail and so my 540 had to go alone.

Wow, but then it is your backyard.

Great shots of the gaurs.

Sha · 2nd February 2009, 12:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samurai

Suddenly I notice a loss in engine power, my eyes quickly scan the gauges and my heart sank at the sight of zero oil pressure. Without a second thought I pulled over to the side. Shakir was way ahead of me and didn’t realise I had stopped. The Jeep and the Gypsy behind me stopped and came around to check out. We were in the middle of a forest in the ghat section, and the time was around 1AM. After opening the hood, other Jeepers are able to determine that the oil pipe connecting the oil filter to the oil pressure gauge is cut. Emanuel’s dad who turned out to be very handy with the mechanicals, quickly tightened the oil pipe and connected it back as a quick fix.
Right here, this shows the importance of riding in a convoy. I was not technical enough to understand this problem, let alone quick fix it, if I was alone. I had the torch and tool box, Emanuel had the engine oil, his dad and others had the expertise to utilize all those to do the quick fix. An extremely serious problem that could have stranded me in the middle of the night was resolved in a jiffy due to team work. Slowly we started off and couple of KMs later we find Shakir’s Gypsy stranded on the road side. His electrical cable had a burn out and headlights wouldn’t work, they were in darkness except for the powerful floodlights. They had almost repaired the problem by the time we got there.
To Be Continued.

Both the vehicles my Gypsy and Samurai CJ340 had problems at same time sheer coincidence. My gypsy was lead vehicle suddenly my friend looked back and said there is no convoy we stopped the vehicle for 2-3 minutes and decided to turn back to check other jeeps, the road was very narrow to turn our gypsy while reversing in the center of the road gypsy stalled, no lights complete darkness trying to start it but no sound, me and my friend jumped out of the gypsy and pushed the vehicle to side of the road using our horsepower(Gyspy is less weight), the position in which gypsy got stalled was very dangerous any vehicle could have hit us easily from front on.we had two torches that really helped us. still no convoy, no mobile signals finally we figured out that there might be problem with other jeeps also. Now to figure out whats the problem with gypsy before opening the bonnet I switched on my lightforce lights to check and it was working but we cannot kept it on its about 400 watts so switched off immediately.one thing was clear my battery is alive, in mean time i placed the hazard sign symbol at back of the road. I literally felt there is big issue,my friend rajesh opened the bonnet within 30 sec he figured it out problem, the wire connecting battery to dynamo got shorted, luckily i had wires and tape in my gypsy connected it temporary and gypsy started without any fuss and i looked back convoy is behind us, I asked Sharath what happened he told me look at tyres i thought puncture but deeper look it was full of oil and sharath told the problem. the problems are sorted out and the convoy is ready to move the best part Ayur county was very near to us (5 Km), finally reached at 1.20 am.

rjstyles69 · 2nd February 2009, 13:03

sharath dont you think this trail would have been even more treacherous if it had rained ? I mean , in the video you have posted I see that Suresh stephan had to back off twice and redo the route. With rains I am sure cross that section would have been really painful. Aint it ?

Also congratulations I see that you finished that stretch at one go.

My question, how do you think the gypsy would have performed here. Could it perform better coz of the lesser weight advantage ?

Samurai · 2nd February 2009, 13:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by rjstyles69

With rains I am sure cross that section would have been really painful. Aint it ?

I think jack33 can tell you how bad it can get. The word I heard was impossible on AT tyres.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rjstyles69

My question, how do you think the gypsy would have performed here. Could it perform better coz of the lesser weight advantage ?

No need to guess. Let's ask the Gypsy guys who did the stretch.

khan_sultan · 2nd February 2009, 13:14

Oh. if it were raining, this whole Munnar OTR trail would have been just toooooooo good.

We could have been there forever :-)

The Stock gypsy would do it comfortably -- but with bouncing around all over the place. Also, the light weight of the Gypsy does help.

PS: In an OTR trail, even an inch here or there over a rock/muddy pit like this can mean getting stuck or not getting stuck.
Most of the times, one does not have 100% control over steering/tyres direction and there are far tooooo many variables at play in an OTR trail.

And that's the fun part -- getting stuck also and not getting stuck also.

Samurai · 2nd February 2009, 13:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by khan_sultan

Most of the times, one does not have 100% control over steering/tyres direction and there are far tooooo many variables at play in an OTR trail.

Exactly, luck also plays a big role here. We can always pontify later in hindsight. It is very difficult to micro-manage the vehicle once it is bouncing along such slushy/rocky stretches when the steering wheel is spinning back and forth. We can only give broad brush strokes.

finneyp · 2nd February 2009, 14:20

Wow, OTR trail was very interesting!
The trail looks very scary at certain points, but if you have a Jeep and liitle bit of off-road driving skills, it looks possible.

Red Liner · 2nd February 2009, 14:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by finneyp

Wow, OTR trail was very interesting!
The trail looks very scary at certain points, but if you have a Jeep and liitle bit of off-road driving skills, it looks possible.

Little bit? Why dont you join us for an OTR before judging what kind of skills are required?

M P Sreenivasan · 2nd February 2009, 15:19

This time for MGE and Munnar OTR I had fixed Michelin A/T 235/75R/15 tyres and I did not experience any stearing wheel turning uncontrollably or any shifting of the tyres while traversing on inclined patches. The vehicle responded so well that I was amazed to feel the vehicle going where exactly I wanted it to go without any deviation, that is to say that vehicle went in the path exactly as I intended it to move!!!. Reached Bengaluru at 7-00AM on 26th. Does any body has any idea as to how many vehicles went back the same OTR route. sreeni armada 1997 - yezdi 250cc 1978 - fiat 1964 super select.

Samurai · 2nd February 2009, 15:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by Red Liner

Little bit? Why dont you join us for an OTR before judging what kind of skills are required?

I guess he is influenced by my example.

finneyp, you better get a SWB if you want to do such trails with only little bit of skill.

2nd February 2009, 08:59	#46
vinaydas Senior - BHPian Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Bengaluru Posts: 1,399 Thanked: 148 Times	lol KnN air intakes good one!! hope its a cold air intake for enhanced performance maybe next connect a turbo charger from the exhausts for explosive performance ^_^ Nice pics btw, exp for the jeeps n gypsies ne other vehicle.?(you kinda tend to get bored as most OTR threads have either a gypsy doin it or the jeep) the last pic n vids are terrific.. hope uve had put seat belts on else imagine you falling off your jeep while tryin to cross the path!! Admin Note: Chat/SMS Lingo is not permitted on Team-BHP. Please don't use short forms like 'n' 'ne' 'uve', etc. Last edited by Samurai : 2nd February 2009 at 09:23. Reason: SMS warning
	() Thanks

2nd February 2009, 11:07	#48
DKG Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Hyderabad Posts: 3,711 Thanked: 1,389 Times View My Garage	Beautiful country (some patches of the forest cover are divine) great group of Jeep enthusiasts and one can see its the kind of gathering that makes the sport so much fun. Thanks for the lovely reports Samurai and your pictures are special.
	() Thanks

2nd February 2009, 11:13	#49
dwaraka Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,240 Thanked: 229 Times	Samurai, You have covered each and every part perfectly. Photos and videos too speak great lot. Rightly said GTO. 5 star for this report. Good show. BTW am changing the tyres to Yokohoma Geolander 235 75 R 15 soon. Dwarak
	() Thanks

2nd February 2009, 11:45	#50
jack33 BHPian Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: kochi Posts: 128 Thanked: 8 Times	Sharath, Actually after dinner everybody backed out from the idea of going back the same trail and so my 540 had to go alone. Attached Thumbnails
	() Thanks

2nd February 2009, 13:03	#53
rjstyles69 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Bengalooru.. Posts: 4,343 Thanked: 842 Times View My Garage	sharath dont you think this trail would have been even more treacherous if it had rained ? I mean , in the video you have posted I see that Suresh stephan had to back off twice and redo the route. With rains I am sure cross that section would have been really painful. Aint it ? Also congratulations I see that you finished that stretch at one go. My question, how do you think the gypsy would have performed here. Could it perform better coz of the lesser weight advantage ?
	() Thanks

2nd February 2009, 13:14	#55
khan_sultan Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Noida/Bangalore Posts: 4,925 Thanked: 5,853 Times View My Garage	Oh. if it were raining, this whole Munnar OTR trail would have been just toooooooo good. We could have been there forever :-) The Stock gypsy would do it comfortably -- but with bouncing around all over the place. Also, the light weight of the Gypsy does help. PS: In an OTR trail, even an inch here or there over a rock/muddy pit like this can mean getting stuck or not getting stuck. Most of the times, one does not have 100% control over steering/tyres direction and there are far tooooo many variables at play in an OTR trail. And that's the fun part -- getting stuck also and not getting stuck also.
	() Thanks

2nd February 2009, 14:20	#57
finneyp Senior - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Bangalore Posts: 2,716 Thanked: 319 Times View My Garage	Wow, OTR trail was very interesting! The trail looks very scary at certain points, but if you have a Jeep and liitle bit of off-road driving skills, it looks possible.
	() Thanks

2nd February 2009, 15:19	#59
M P Sreenivasan Newbie Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 24 Thanked: 63 Times	stearing wheel turning This time for MGE and Munnar OTR I had fixed Michelin A/T 235/75R/15 tyres and I did not experience any stearing wheel turning uncontrollably or any shifting of the tyres while traversing on inclined patches. The vehicle responded so well that I was amazed to feel the vehicle going where exactly I wanted it to go without any deviation, that is to say that vehicle went in the path exactly as I intended it to move!!!. Reached Bengaluru at 7-00AM on 26th. Does any body has any idea as to how many vehicles went back the same OTR route. sreeni armada 1997 - yezdi 250cc 1978 - fiat 1964 super select.
	() Thanks