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Old 23rd February 2009, 12:13   #46
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Originally Posted by randeep04 View Post
@Steeroid,

Could you find out and let me know the cost of the rear brake lights and the antina shown in the below pic. Its just a request, as and when you visit the accessories and parts shop just please find out the cost.

Thanks.
Brake lights shouldnt be an issue - we can buy either new or from the scrapyard for very little money.

The 'antenna' you're talking about is NOT a radio antenna, but a flagmast. In this case, the chap has mounted his flag on a fishing rod because it is rectractable. The flag on my defender is mounted on a flexible 'fire stick' which is meant for this purpose and is easier to mount - but is not retractable. The fire stick comes in different quality levels, ranging from Dhs.150 to Dhs.370. You can also get gutter-mounts for these so they are placed high enough on the vehicle for visibility.

PS: Feel free to give us a shout when you come down to DXB. You can pm wheeler, v1kram, Joz, islandman, -GT- or me. Any BHPian is welcome on any of our rides.

Last edited by Steeroid : 23rd February 2009 at 12:18.
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Old 23rd February 2009, 12:54   #47
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Nice pics guys. I had loads of fun in GT's LC and the brute Defender. Thanks to GT & Steer, I also learnt a lot about off roading in the desert and a lot more about what to do and what not to do when you are stuck!

The Defender over heating took me by surprise. While attempting to go up the steep slope, we could feel the car not delivering power properly. It maxed out too soon. Never the man to give up, Steer went around the huge rock and we were soon trying to climb to the top from the other side. With some brilliant driving by Steer we were almost there and that's when the Fortuner decided to come straight into us. We conquered the summit next time around and it was such a 'high'. But the Defender was clearly not very happy - being pushed to the redline in the hot sun got him literally fuming!

The H2 was driven by really good driver and it also had the much needed biofuel. I think the F150 is fairly capable. Somewhere in between, we had to tail the F150 for quite sometime to get to the menu (everyone else were either stuck or busy rescuing) and i was impressed with the way the car handled the terrain. Not to say the driver (Arshad) ain't good but I think the 5.5 ltr engine has a whole lot of torque to take the car places.

And pleasure meeting with all of you after a long time. Let's catch up again soon.
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Old 23rd February 2009, 15:23   #48
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Steeroid View Post
Brake lights shouldnt be an issue - we can buy either new or from the scrapyard for very little money.

The 'antenna' you're talking about is NOT a radio antenna, but a flagmast. In this case, the chap has mounted his flag on a fishing rod because it is rectractable. The flag on my defender is mounted on a flexible 'fire stick' which is meant for this purpose and is easier to mount - but is not retractable. The fire stick comes in different quality levels, ranging from Dhs.150 to Dhs.370. You can also get gutter-mounts for these so they are placed high enough on the vehicle for visibility.

PS: Feel free to give us a shout when you come down to DXB. You can pm wheeler, v1kram, Joz, islandman, -GT- or me. Any BHPian is welcome on any of our rides.
Thanks Steeroid,

Please also let me know where one can buy the Flag mast and lights from, as a friend of mine would be coming to Dubai next week and so I shall ask him to pic the same up.

Cheers !!!!!!


Cheers
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Old 23rd February 2009, 15:31   #49
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Originally Posted by randeep04 View Post
Please also let me know where one can buy the Flag mast and lights from, as a friend of mine would be coming to Dubai next week and so I shall ask him to pic the same up.
Ask him to go to Robbie's Garage (next to Times Square on Shk Zayed Road) and ask for Robbie Singh. The Firestik is available there and he has several variations of the standard Jeep tail-lamp, including the original. He also has a lot of accessories like OME suspension components, lift kits, roof-mounted lamp assemblies, winches and other off-road equipment.
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Old 23rd February 2009, 15:54   #50
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BFGs on steer's veh

Hi Steer,

You have BFGs on your vehicle . Can you pls let me know below things regarding BFGs as it is one of the 3 tyres I am thinking to put on my 550 . Other 2 are Yokos and Michellins
Overall performance, traction,tyre noise on tarmac , life of tyre, any drawback etc.

Thanks for this info.

Tarkesh
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Old 23rd February 2009, 15:59   #51
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Whoa, some serious eye-candy in here for 4x4 enthusiasts. Well done guys! Great to see offroaders being used for...well...offroading.

1. Did all the 4x4s make it through all stages? Or did most stop before things got difficult?

2. What was the temperature like?

3. How did these vehicles, in particular, perform : -GT's- LC200 (awesome rig man!), Steers defender, Montero (see a couple) and the Fortuner?

4. Was rescue a properly co-ordinated exercise? Or informal (amongst surrounding 4x4s)?
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Old 23rd February 2009, 16:12   #52
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ricky_3007 View Post
Hi Steer,

You have BFGs on your vehicle . Can you pls let me know below things regarding BFGs as it is one of the 3 tyres I am thinking to put on my 550 . Other 2 are Yokos and Michellins
Overall performance, traction,tyre noise on tarmac , life of tyre, any drawback etc.

Thanks for this info.

Tarkesh
Already posted in the offroad tyres and rims thread sometime back when there was this debate on BFGs being inferior to the Geos.

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Originally Posted by GTO View Post
Whoa, some serious eye-candy in here for 4x4 enthusiasts. Well done guys! Great to see offroaders being used for...well...offroading.
Some of the vehicles you see, particularly those of the marshals and some other drivers like me and Greg in the 7" Lift Cherokee see action only on the weekends and mostly only off the road.

Most (in fact all) newbie vehicles and those of some other members like -GT- are multi-use vehicles that also see some offroad action.

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1. Did all the 4x4s make it through all stages? Or did most stop before things got difficult?
There were 2 separate drives - an advanced/intermediate drive with 3 marshals and the newbie drive with 8 or 9 marshals. Obviously the newbie section was sedate, had more compact sand and smaller slopes. Easy track, really.

The only vehicles which were sent back were a Jeep Grand Cherokee which we found to our dismay had NO recovery points front OR rear, and a Mitsubishi Outlander whose driver was too scared to even reverse on slopes. He was literally crying to get back after a few consecutive stucks - wheeler got his desert drive when he drove the outlander back to civilization since the driver was jittery by then.

There was also a diesel Defender 110 which was almost brand new. The chap was trying to 'crawl' his way out of sand - he hadnt learnt yet that there is no 'crawl' in this terrain. You put pedal to metal and dont ever stop for anything.

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Originally Posted by GTO View Post
2. What was the temperature like?
30-ish. Not too hot, actually quite nice in the shade.

Quote:
Originally Posted by GTO View Post
3. How did these vehicles, in particular, perform : -GT's- LC200 (awesome rig man!), Steers defender, Montero (see a couple) and the Fortuner?
There is no 'Montero' here - its the Pajero. They did quite okay though they did get stuck occassionally. The Fortuner went through the newbie drive quite uneventfully like any Toyota would.

I have already mentioned my escapades. I'm not sure if -GT- got stuck this time - he probably did because he had a busted bumper (AGAIN! - how many times will you replace it, Giridhar?) when we regrouped in the end.

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4. Was rescue a properly co-ordinated exercise? Or informal (amongst surrounding 4x4s)?
Rescue is the last option - we encourage people to try and get out of the situation, then try to loosen up their wheels by shovelling out the sand (ouch!). Pulling them out is the last option.

The event was obviously co-ordinated. About 11 Marshals and a few experienced drivers put aside their time and their usual pleasure (from desert drives) to take about 28 newbies into the desert for the first time.

Managing a large number of newbies is not a very easy task and full kudos to the marshals - they were very very busy, which is why relative fewbies like me and some others also had to jump in to help, dig out and rescue if need be. At one point wheeler and I were trying to manage about 6 newbies who were struggling up a particular slope that the others couldnt see because they were either on a higher level or covered by the dunes below.

Last edited by Steeroid : 23rd February 2009 at 16:29.
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Old 23rd February 2009, 16:21   #53
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Steer, needless to say that you are really having as blast bashing dunes in the desert. It's always great to see pictures of your defender.

Looks like you are 'fully' addicted to off-roading now and an OTR is one of the to-do list items in your weekend agenda.

BTW, in summers, do people go out dune bashing or do people then have night/late evening OTR's?



Cheers,
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Old 23rd February 2009, 16:36   #54
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Looks like you are 'fully' addicted to off-roading now and an OTR is one of the to-do list items in your weekend agenda.
EVERY bloody weekend without fail, from day 3 of my ownership experience.

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BTW, in summers, do people go out dune bashing or do people then have night/late evening OTR's?
Night OTRs, but not everyone can attend - you need a certain level of experience which I currently do not have...hopefully will fix that by the time summer really hits us.
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Old 23rd February 2009, 22:26   #55
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GTO View Post
How did these vehicles, in particular, perform: -GT's- LC200 (awesome rig man!)?
As always, LC's are extremely capable machines that can perform on any terrain as long as it is driven by a capable driver. Though I have previously done 'wadi (rocky river bed)'s and slippery mountain track's with my previous Jeep Grand Cherokee, I started with the desert's only recently - along with Steer.

There is one problem that is really irritating me with my LC200 - it has got a stupid plastic (or fiber glass, whatever..) bumper that is way too low for a rugged offroader. This bumper just about gets hurt at the simplest of off-road terrains. I have changed my bumper once only about three weeks ago and the new one got 'bumped' in the last two desert drives.

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I'm not sure if -GT- got stuck this time - he probably did because he had a busted bumper when we regrouped in the end.
Actually, the busted bumper was a result of hitting an unknown, invisible 'bowl' just across a 'crest' (at a bit of high speed). Didn't really get stuck this time. (stuck, meaning..having to get pulled out by other vehicles)

Did have a couple of occasions that we were 'kinda getting stuck', but could manage to get out on our own - once using the 'rear diff-lock' and the second time with a bit of push by a couple of guys.

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Night OTRs, but not everyone can attend - you need a certain level of experience which I currently do not have...hopefully will fix that by the time summer really hits us.
That is the spirit, my friend!!!
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Old 23rd February 2009, 23:08   #56
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Nice pics guys. I had loads of fun in GT's LC and the brute Defender. Thanks to GT & Steer, I also learnt a lot about off roading in the desert and a lot more about what to do and what not to do when you are stuck!
The pics that I posted were taken by Joz and I realized he has got a pretty good composition skill when I looked at the pics!

Joz:
You are a pretty good learner; I am sure you will do wonders when you get a 4x4 for yourself.

This guy - Joz - was so good that he could read and understand the sand!

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We conquered the summit next time around and it was such a 'high'. But the Defender was clearly not very happy - being pushed to the redline in the hot sun got him literally fuming!
I didn't know that you are such a good composer of your text too. Good stuff Joz!

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And pleasure meeting with all of you after a long time. Let's catch up again soon.
Surely, you are going to join us once again next Friday, aren't you? Come on in Joz, you got to get addicted soon (& get yourself a 4x4)
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Old 24th February 2009, 09:57   #57
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Quote:
Originally Posted by -GT- View Post
There is one problem that is really irritating me with my LC200 - it has got a stupid plastic (or fiber glass, whatever..) bumper that is way too low for a rugged offroader. This bumper just about gets hurt at the simplest of off-road terrains. I have changed my bumper once only about three weeks ago and the new one got 'bumped' in the last two desert drives.
The downside of getting the metal ones is they looked ugly. It might be worth your while exploring if attractive metal bumpers that allow for a sharper approach/departure angle are available. That should address your problem
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Old 24th February 2009, 20:27   #58
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How about removing the Bumpers before the drive? I have seen such a bolero in coorg OTR thread. But then, it depends on how easily you can remove it, and there are no vital parts behind Bumpers.

Thanks
--Sree--
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Old 24th February 2009, 20:39   #59
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The downside of getting the metal ones is they looked ugly. It might be worth your while exploring if attractive metal bumpers that allow for a sharper approach/departure angle are available.
Proper metal bumpers by ARB or similar are pretty expensive, of course ugly and very heavy. For example, ARB front bumper is about 100kg and once installed the front of the vehicle gets even lower by almost an inch.

No easy fix, but I will continue to explore..

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Originally Posted by sreerajunnithan View Post
How about removing the Bumpers before the drive? But then, it depends on how easily you can remove it.
These bumpers are not the simple 'bolt on - bolt off' types to do that; it will probably take a couple of hours each time.
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Old 24th February 2009, 20:43   #60
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No easy fix, but I will continue to explore..
Come to my office or come home - in both locations we have a couple of LCs with very neat metal bumpers (not ARB) that are allegedly pretty light too.
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