28th February 2010, 13:40
| #1 |
| Distinguished - BHPian   Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Chennai
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28th February 2010, 13:44
| #2 |
| Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Chennai
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28th February 2010, 16:39
| #3 | |
| BHPian  Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Madras
Posts: 234
Thanked: 60 Times
| Quote:
 Assembly point - Opposite TIDEL Park : Time - 7:30 Vehicles in attendance - 5x540, 1x3B, 1x500D, 1xMG410W Started a little behind schedule and drove straight to Hotel Harish near Kelambakkam Town for breakfast. Everyone helped themselves to quite an elaborate filling failing which the only other option to munch on for the next few hours was rock, sand, a few famished trees and a lot of heat and light. Reached the OTR spot and everyone quickly got down to running the regular chores. Basic check ups, locking hubs, ensuring ideal tyre pressure and that customary bewildered look after a panoramic glimpse of the terrain, the heat and the possibility of those ridiculously quarried pits that were well on its way to becoming our first obstacle. For the first timers to Chennai OTRs it was the ideal induction. Well, 'ideal' from the eyes of just one man I guess. The recent quarrying at this site has left behind brilliant obstacles that require more than a day to explore. With climbs over 25-30 feet in height at crazy angles, some of the obstacles were truly treacherous. Started off with a few quick inclines and declines which were then tried with different approach and exit points while pushing the vehicles and drivers to the limit. All first timers were quickly put through their paces and they acclimatized to the vehicles and terrain in no time. The second obstacle was a true tester. A 25 feet incline that drops into a pit that is hardly enough to hold a vegetable cart from where the drivers had to do a three point turn towards a double hump decline that was riddled with boulders. To add to it it had a steep drop off on one side and insurmountable boulders on the other which meant that a moments lapse in concentration would have you stuck high and dry. Well in this case quite literally high and dry at 25 feet with the sun baking you at close to 40 degrees in 90% humidity. Photos would be a lot more descriptive than my rant. Went about doing a few climbs and descends post that. Almost every attempt was successful and this was highly satisfying as the terrain was actually quite tricky. We managed to find a very picturesque spot besides a huge lake resulting from all the quarrying. Vinod fantasized a few picture perfect picnic photos on the banks of this lake so we looked around to find a way to get there. Now this place was at least 200 meters from where we were. Forgot to mention - 200 meters downwards in a straight line off a rock face. We finally found the approach trail that went down but unfortunately it seemed a little tricky as it was hardly the width of a jeep with an edge that looked like bread crumbs directly overlooking the Lake . Everyone was tired and hungry by now, so we decided to leave Vinod's fantasies behind for the time being with the intent of satisfying it someday else.  Overall it was a really good OTR. Though it was a short one it did serve its purpose of exploring a different spot that had changed so much from the last time Jeeps arrived here. Good terrain, great obstacles thanks to all the stone quarrying that has been going around here. Hope to explore this spot more extensively in the near future. Hope to see truck loads of pics and videos. Last edited by Jaggu : 1st March 2010 at 14:36. Reason: Please limit to 2 smilies per post. Thanks | |
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28th February 2010, 17:25
| #4 |
| Senior - BHPian  Join Date: May 2006 Location: Greater Chennai
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| @Vijay: STGH  We need a more elaborate report my friend - This is so unlike your style and is not even 1 page long. What about the 2wd Jeep that did NOT make it? What about the THAR Test driver who was attempting the same in a '88 540 ? The 2nd obstacle was atleast 60 degrees with the landing with of a jeep on the top followed by a short descent wherein we had to do a 3 point turn. The Descent was simpler with the trick being to observing one's spotter implicitly! Last edited by headers : 28th February 2010 at 17:35. |
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28th February 2010, 17:31
| #5 |
| BHPian  Join Date: May 2008 Location: who cares
Posts: 787
Thanked: 142 Times
| Words will be kept to a minimum. Thanks a lot to Vinod for giving me a ride to and from the stop, to Arka, Headers for putting up with my dumb questions. Vijay for making all of us laugh. But man I never though those odd looking things (read : Jeeps) could do this. The catch phrase for this OTR - " Who is driving the steering or You...???" Ride for the day  Driver for the day  Team for the day (Ram(forgot you tbhp handle man), ram.west's bro - Lakshman as Arka calls him, Vinod)  Breakfast stop and the rides take a break  Tea + some bottled water and we are ready to go.  Namma Vijay  4x4addict's bilstein shocks  Propeller and Venom Rider  All ride queue up before we turn towards the venue  |
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28th February 2010, 17:43
| #6 | |
| Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2006 Location: Greater Chennai
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28th February 2010, 17:45
| #7 | |
| BHPian Join Date: May 2008 Location: who cares
Posts: 787
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| A quick stop before we go "into the wild"  en-route  another one + dust and lots of it.  Arka testing the terrain  The expression says it all, eh ?  Sanjay, (forgot the other chap's name), Headers, Ram (the one who's tbhp handle I forgot), ram.west (red T), (forgot the other chap's name) Sorry guys I have a tough time remembering names. Please fill in the blanks.  Vinod doing the "Jeep thing"  Another chap who's name I forgot  In this case what goes down must climb back up  4x4 addict in action  EDIT: Quote:
EDIT2: My net connection is testing my patience, so might upload next batch only tmrw. Last edited by yzfrj : 28th February 2010 at 17:53. | |
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28th February 2010, 22:12
| #8 |
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1st March 2010, 00:39
| #9 |
| Senior - BHPian  Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Germany
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1st March 2010, 08:21
| #10 | |
| Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Chennai
Posts: 4,483
Thanked: 4,531 Times
Infractions: 0/1 (5) | Quote:
We lost a whole day on the last OTR since we didn't have a winch. We ended up having to use a landcruiser and nissan patrol to try to extract a jeep stuck in deep/wet sand. The landcruiser/patrol were also not able to gain much traction as all tires were under the water on sand. Since no one has a winch installed yet (Arka's got damaged) we try to get by with tow ropes to pull stuck vehicles out. I am in the process of installing a winch in my mm540. Should be ready in a week or so. | |
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1st March 2010, 08:32
| #11 |
| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Germany
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| @4x4 addict, i have seen winching operations with a landcruiser, if the ground is not hard the vehicle just sinks in owing to its weight thus making the winching more difficult, you can imagine winching out a vehicle weighing close to 2.5 tonnes  Spike |
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1st March 2010, 09:21
| #12 |
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1st March 2010, 09:37
| #13 | |
| Senior - BHPian  | Quote:
This terrain comprised of loose rubble and rocks. This terrain didn't require winching at all. Human push/lift was enough. As you rightly pointed out since no vehicle had winch we didn't try loose muck/sticky clayey mud. Recovery takes more time than off roading, and in hot sun this was the last thing we wanted to happen. This terrain was interesting and the last climb was tricky as i kept on loosing ground (rubble) and couldn't charge fast on to the assent as there was a sheer drop on the other side. We all could make it subsequently. Almost all jeeps specially MM540's/ CJ 500D suffered big blows on the skid plate. (Arka's was an exception on 31inch tyres). Was a short and sweet off road :-) @wicked wheels- Trepedor tyres are good but nothing outstanding on this kind of hard rocky surface. They tend to dig in faster than others. p.s- I am the Thar advocate whose leg is being pulled Last edited by vinod_nookala : 1st March 2010 at 09:40. | |
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1st March 2010, 10:05
| #14 | |
| BHPian Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Madras
Posts: 234
Thanked: 60 Times
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 Come on Vinod... You are the only one who can demonstrate and justify the 2WD High Ratio theory. | |
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1st March 2010, 10:29
| #15 |
| Senior - BHPian  | Kelambakkam. Hi Guys, This was the first OTR in 5 year when we finished on time i.e 20mins before the schedule. The Terrain was loose rocks and shingle, with a lot of packed earth climbs and descents. We will be visiting this spot more often .However we only did 2 Climbs and Descents as time was short. 4x4addict's JEEP was a Real Performer, on the road and OTR. (Kick *** Mechanical Upgrades, however I prefer it with the original Soft-top; now is it considerably heavier). Regards, Arka |
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