[bantejas]

Missed on this one! Not that I'd have gotten my truck (got enough abuses the last time) but could have joined some one! I was out on a bike trip with my friends and with our own problems with REs. Anyways, I should be game the next time if some one is willing to take me . Happywheels, shall we to take your car ?

[hrag]

Thank you all for the wonderful day out. I'm guilty of not carrying enough food & water & money (to buy the previous two items) but had a full tank of diesel though.

Sorry I could not help push the stuck vehicles as I had come in leather slippers and found the clay / slush extremely treacherous. I slipped and fell twice (even without my slippers) as I tried to join the rest in rescuing the Scorpio and decided to stay on the road and not add to potential casualties.

[vinod_nookala]

Originally Posted by ex670c

Lets do a joint OTR in November-December.

Regards,

Arka

Iam IN guys! Yercaud/salem should be good. But recee is a must. Alternatively Bangalore jeepers can also suggest some good scenic tried and tested terrain which is equi-distant to both of us.

I expect some mad rush of vehicles to this OTR already

[HappyWheels]

Originally Posted by bantejas

... Happywheels, shall we to take your car ?

Oh sure; we will take my car, park it at the meeting spot and jump into any of the available 4x4's.

Originally Posted by hrag

... Sorry I could not help push the stuck vehicles as I had come in leather slippers and found the clay / slush extremely treacherous...

Not sure what is the best foot wear for the clay. Had the same experience in the first OTR. Ended up doing twists dance at regular intervals to remove them, with little success.

[Rajachu]

Originally Posted by hrag

Thank you all for the wonderful day out. I'm guilty of not carrying enough food & water & money (to buy the previous two items) but had a full tank of diesel though.

Sorry I could not help push the stuck vehicles as I had come in leather slippers and found the clay / slush extremely treacherous. I slipped and fell twice (even without my slippers) as I tried to join the rest in rescuing the Scorpio and decided to stay on the road and not add to potential casualties.

Hrishi,

even with sneakers u couldnt have made it,,,,,we must have some sort of boots preferebly produced by maxis tyre company to have little grip on that terrain.....Raj

[star_aqua]

Originally Posted by HappyWheels

Not sure what is the best foot wear for the clay. Had the same experience in the first OTR. Ended up doing twists dance at regular intervals to remove them, with little success.

The solution is to spend 400 bucks for a pair of gum boots and keep it in your vehicle permanently.

[siddartha]

156 posts! missed a lot of the action here.havent been loggin in too much lately.

There were 2 basic flaws on our part in this otr:
1. no vehicle with winch. ( this is the first thing i told vinay and shahnawaz as aoon as i met them that morning)

2. we did not recce the last bit properly i.e the slush feild.
reason - i think it was already dark by the time we reached the slush feild, it was raining , everyone was wet and hungry and we had toiled for abt 3 hours recovering the safari and trying to start dwarak's gypsy, so we took it for granted and we thought we will just crossover to the tarmac easily.


About the safaris,the xenon and the scorpio: these vehicles are not really suited for this aavalakonda type of trail/terrain. The weight, the long wheel base and the wider track width of these vehicles becomes a disadvantage.
It hurts see my 20 year old gypsy get scratched , i can imagine what guys with their new safaris and xenons would be feeling. this trail is very narrow and there are lots of thorny bushes everywhere.

The slush feild:

shahnawaz cleared it first guess it wasnt too much trouble for the spidey.
As i approached the slush feild, dwarak was almost half way thru. dwarak cleared it with a lof of ease ( compared to me,in retrospect when i saw him pass thru , i was telling myself this aint gonna be a big deal) The 1.8 litre engine sure did its job well even though it was buring oil.

As i started moving , the first few meters were ok, but the slush was getting softer and my wheels were diggin in deeper, and by the time i reached the halfway mark, i was in such deep s**t that i wasn moving an inch anymore. nothing works when the slush is soo deep and soft. so all i did was nurse my clutch, dint wanna burn it , kept the revs as low as possible , gentle accelaration and moved inch by inch. i was glad i could get out , it was a bloody struggle.


luckily we managed to find the alternative route ( slightly better ) for the rest of the vehicles along the periphery of the feild, if not all of us would have been in there together endlessly as the slush was way worse towards the center.

scorpio clutch: rehaan has never been easy on that vehicle.( i was told so and i did witness it this time) so i guess the clutch finally gave way after all those other previous otrs. if it wasnt here at aavalakonda it would have given way somewhere else in the next otr. so were were the unlucky lot who had to deal with it in this otr .

About my mg410: the 970 cc engine does not have any torque at low revs, this engine makes whatever little power after 3000 rpm or so. so i have to keep the revs a lil on the higher side to get any performance, especially for the bigger, tougher obstacles, also my tyres are not really "grippy stuff" . so i use a lil more speed and try and clear the obstacles at one go. i just ensure i dont lose power halfway over the obstacle.

Thanks to vinay for remembering the trail ,i think he knows this trail like the back of his hand. me and shahnawaz had forgotten some bits.

[khan_sultan]

Originally Posted by siddartha

... 2. we did not recce the last bit properly i.e the slush feild......we took it for granted and we thought we will just crossover to the tarmac easily.

You bet. I remember, I was the first one to climb that mound and get into that slush field. Around midway into the field I realized that the vehicle was just not moving and had to really rev the gypsy.
Even then it did not occur to me that it is sooo much slush there and wondered why I had to rev the gypsy so much. I came to a halt and tried to put in 2nd L and move just to check what the issue is. The vehicle just did not move at all and then I realized what a deep muck we were in. From then on it was full throttle till the end of the field where I realized that there is NO way forward.

Now, I could see that the road was just 5 ft away but there was a ditch running parallel to the road and no way one could get into that ditch. So I just turned left and hoped that it would lead to an exit, BUT that was again very mucky and luckily found an exit and came to the tarmac.

IIRC, Rajachu was behind me and the moment I reached the tarmac I just parked the vehicle (left it running -- remember you came later and switched it off) and rushed through that muck to warn the rest of the folks that don't even try and bring the safari etc there. Believe me, even walking through that was nightmare in the darkness.

It would have been the perfect climax if we had some safari etc there on that track.

Thanks to vinay for remembering the trail ,i think he knows this trail like the back of his hand. me and shahnawaz had forgotten some bits.

Oh, I didn't remember even 10% of the trail. Good that you/Vinay remembered it and were leading in the front.

[dwaraka]

Originally Posted by ex670c

Hi Dwarka,

I'll answer in points.

1) If the V-Pull/Diagonal pull didn't work efficiently Its an Indication -- WINCH!!!!!!

2) If the Nylon Cables have Clevis Hooks or D-Shackles then a Damper is absolutely necessary

3) If everyone is responsible for their own well-being, what the use of having experience and sharing it.

4) Lets do a joint OTR in November-December.

Regards,

Arka

Thanks Arka for the clarification. Will ensure this happens in future OTRs

Originally Posted by hrag

Thank you all for the wonderful day out. I'm guilty of not carrying enough food & water & money (to buy the previous two items) but had a full tank of diesel though.

Sorry I could not help push the stuck vehicles as I had come in leather slippers and found the clay / slush extremely treacherous. I slipped and fell twice (even without my slippers) as I tried to join the rest in rescuing the Scorpio and decided to stay on the road and not add to potential casualties.

Now this is very must to have full length trousers and sports shoes. Hrag, then you will be as capable as your safari beast.

Originally Posted by condor

@McL, let's ask Dwarka how me managed to do that. Would be a very useful tip, I think .. esp when idling in traffic & traffic jams..

Initial diagnosis is electronic coil is the culprit. Hence, misfiring and smoke. May be associated with head gasket. The problem worsened on OTR day. I rarely take my gypsy for inside city travel. Been using for OTR and long travel only.

Have already given the gypsy for problem solving. Will miss it for next OTR.

[Nikhilb2008]

Oh man! What a fantastic OTR event! I'm dying to come to one of these soon! I think I should start bugging Shahnawaz, Hrishi, Hari and the others every weekend to see when something is planned!

I read the entire 12 pages in one sitting and I'm kicking myself for being so young with other so-called more important things to do than go to an OTR with fellow enthusiasts! Wish I was born a few years earlier! :(

It has been superb fun reading the entire thread!

[Baburajs]

I dont know about others , but i am having fun reading this. Yes the thread have gone OT many a times but still. It was a good pot boiler . But neverthless a great OTR that you guys had. Even though it was a little scary for the people who really attended.

I also have seen and interacted with the experts in the group and never have felt any problems. They are always there to help and offer advise when we do something wrong.

[HappyWheels]

Seems like a good way to Friday morning: people, read this post by khan:

Originally Posted by khan_sultan

... Around midway into the field I realized that the vehicle was just not moving and had to really rev the gypsy.
Even then it did not occur to me that it is sooo much slush there and wondered why I had to rev the gypsy so much. I came to a halt and tried to put in 2nd L and move just to check what the issue is. The vehicle just did not move at all and then I realized what a deep muck we were in. From then on it was full throttle till the end of the field where I realized that there is NO way forward.
...
... rushed through that muck to warn the rest of the folks that don't even try and bring the safari etc there. Believe me, even walking through that was nightmare in the darkness.
....

So, it this what we are getting into here? Too much slush?

Khan, please run back and tell other to take a detour! (And you sir, please don't full throttle till the end. )

Regardless, this thread is / was quite fun to read. Thanks to all.

TGIF!

EDIT:

Ah! The term I was searching for. You said it right, Babu!

Originally Posted by Baburajs

I dont know about others , but i am having fun reading this. Yes the thread have gone OT many a times but still. It was a good pot boiler ...

The first experience I had (and the only one so far) with the team at OTR brought out the same thought in me. They (Khan & Aqua), who were there with more capable machines, were more interested in letting us (aka, newbie's) try out our vehicles and also have a go at the terrain in their vehicle. This, after they spent their time and effort driving down all that way! That's team spirit and the passion to teach others what they had learnt before thru experience.

Originally Posted by Baburajs

... I also have seen and interacted with the experts in the group and never have felt any problems. They are always there to help and offer advise when we do something wrong.

[Rajachu]

Originally Posted by khan_sultan

You bet. I remember, I was the first one to climb that mound and get into that slush field. Around midway into the field I realized that the vehicle was just not moving and had to really rev the gypsy.
Even then it did not occur to me that it is sooo much slush there and wondered why I had to rev the gypsy so much. I came to a halt and tried to put in 2nd L and move just to check what the issue is. The vehicle just did not move at all and then I realized what a deep muck we were in. From then on it was full throttle till the end of the field where I realized that there is NO way forward.

Now, I could see that the road was just 5 ft away but there was a ditch running parallel to the road and no way one could get into that ditch. So I just turned left and hoped that it would lead to an exit, BUT that was again very mucky and luckily found an exit and came to the tarmac.

IIRC, Rajachu was behind me and the moment I reached the tarmac I just parked the vehicle (left it running -- remember you came later and switched it off) and rushed through that muck to warn the rest of the folks that don't even try and bring the safari etc there. Believe me, even walking through that was nightmare in the darkness.

It would have been the perfect climax if we had some safari etc there on that track.



Oh, I didn't remember even 10% of the trail. Good that you/Vinay remembered it and were leading in the front.

Shanawaz/siddu

yes i was just behind him once we left the farm house.Spidey get into the slushy area and move little front and me too join with him,,,but for the first time from shanawaz i got a feeling of thinking twice!!!!!once he moved i was seeing a new trail which is almost the wheel half of slush and we manged to escape with ease....shanawaz even with out switching off the spidey went awat to warn them and i parked and came back to the terrain to see rajesh stuck for the first time in this OTR!!!!that too just 30 mtrs away from the tarmac,,,,,by the time Dwarak reached the road and from the road we pulled rajesh a bit and he took off from there.Then Siddu reached after some dancing in the slush,,,,,so now we 5 are out but the balance 5 is at the sa,e spot,,,,,,and now u know what took place

[Jaggu]

Mods Note: Please stick to the topic of the OTR and updation with pictures, we will be forced to lock the thread if irrelevant conversations carry on.

Thread opened! Lets stick to OTR and pictures and deviations will be strictly Moderated.

[arjunrudra]

how did the safaris perform in comparison to the others.wich was the best machine there?
my guess wud be the white crawler gypsy!