[Samurai]

Shahnawaz rates Yoko MTs over Trepadors for both offroad and tarmac. http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/4x4-te...ml#post2030500

I am not worried much about their long life, Don't think I drive more than 4K a year in my Jeep.

Edit: Tini, I already have my 5 year old 15 inch rim.

[dhanushs]

Originally Posted by 4x4addict

Sharath, If you haven't bought your rims, yet or if you can trade you rims for 16, you can get MRF Wanderer 265/70/16. They are same OD and tread width as 31x10.5x15. This is what I am running. New ones are about 7.5K per tyre. Good value for money.

Tini, the wanderers are great VFM tyres, but, I guess their off-road (slush) performance is not on par with Geolander?

Originally Posted by Samurai

I am not worried much about their long life, Don't think I drive more than 4K a year in my Jeep.
.

So, why not MT's?

[Samurai]

Well, 90% of the drive will be on tarmac. I don't want to lose braking power. Same reason why I don't touch NDMS.

[Samurai]

Well, I haven't updated this thread in more than a year. That is because I haven't really done anything interesting with my Jeep since 2013. I have attended BODA OTR 2014 and RFC 2014, but not as a driver.

So, what's happening? There is no single dominant reason, but many thoughts are contributing towards this.

1) Most OTR events have turned competitive. I have no interest in that. I got into offroading for going to exotic places and making friends in those laid back environments.
2) My business requires more attention than before, thus I have less time to devote to offroad events and garage visits. Too many date clashes.
3) I have a special need child who is growing older, I need to devote more time to him.
4) I have realised that I enjoy OTRs mainly for the people I meet there. That I can do even without a Jeep, without the headache of maintaining one.
5) After learning to drive offroad, my interest has also drifted towards understanding the physics behind it. I have started get more thrill out of learning that. For example, I learned the real meaning of 'slip' (as in limited slip) only couple months ago.
6) Since my primary car Grand Vitara is a fulltime 4x4, I regularly drive on rough terrains where normal cars will really struggle. So it generally satiates my need to offroad, reducing the itch to take out the Jeep.

As a result my fully prepped offroad Jeep is mostly parked at office, rarely taken out anywhere. So I had decided to do one more event before I put it on sale. That event was supposed to be BODA annual OTR 2015. But work interfered again. I am too busy at work to take off for the event. Got a major project deadline coming up.

Therefore, I have put my MM550 on sale. I am in no hurry, it goes when it goes.

Here is the link to the classifieds: http://classifieds.team-bhp.com/buy-...ra/MM550.html/

[Tejas@perioimpl]

Another one bites the dust!

[DHABHAR.BEHRAM]

Dear Sharath - I agree completely with your point no 1. I also want to off-road because I love to do it, not because I want to compete in it. So, I will just refuse to do silly things, especially no water crossing because I know that the aggregates are not water proof! Also, all said and done, now I don't have to prove anything to anybody.

Dear Tejas - yes, it is really sad to know that the Jeep will go from Sharath's hands, but happy to see that somebody will get a very nicely prepared Jeep. I hope that somebody will also continue the off-roading tradition. My best wishes for this activity.

Best regards,

Behram

[Tejas@perioimpl]

Exactly. Although i organise a lot of competitive events, i personally don't like to break my vehicles in speed based events and thus avoid competitions. Ofcourse i get taunted a lot because of that. And like you, i hate water obstacles.

[svsantosh]

Exactly my thought when I saw your post ending. I read it like a normal post (I generally dont jump to the bottom, middle, scan for endings) at least in your writings.

Confused ...

...because of coincidences. I sell, you decide to sell (CJ story)

I have been wanting to do something for my CJ (I really missed it wanted to pay a small tribute to it) and next day I read you want to sell your 550.

Anyways, this is my new home and everytime someone asks "what-the-xx" this is, I can proudly start from beginning...





PS - I still am very-much in touch with the CJ340 and during december, spent a day with it in Salem.

Here it is, in all its Offroad-Gladiator-Glory.

[jeeva]

Originally Posted by svsantosh

Anyways, this is my new home and everytime someone asks "what-the-xx" this is, I can proudly start from beginning...

Nice home.
I see your ex-Armada around my little village in The Nilgiris.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Most OTR events have turned competitive. I have no interest in that. I got into offroading for going to exotic places and making friends in those laid back environments.

Originally Posted by Tejas@perioimpl

thus avoid competitions.

Come on guys, there's no compulsion that you can offroad only in competitions. They've recently come up. But that shouldn't stop us from doing what we've been doing all these years: Offroading for the fun of it. When I do, it's usually with 1 - 3 other vehicles only. Whether you like big or small groups is a personal preference. There's no right or wrong.

@ Samurai: Honestly, you should've never sold your CJ340 in the first place. Especially after all the time & effort you spent in building it. I never agreed with your idea of a 'family friendly offroader' (a Jeep with a 50 year old basic mechanical design can never be one).

I don't take offroading too seriously. K.I.S.S. . Go out, have a good time and come back home happy. There's a reason why my Jeep has nearly zero mechanical mods (only major change from the time she was new in 1997 is the 2.1 -> 2.5L diesel which, incidentally, doesn't feel too different in nature).

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by GTO

Come on guys, there's no compulsion that you can offroad only in competitions. They've recently come up.

Yes, but they have replaced the earlier non-competitive events.

Originally Posted by GTO

@ Samurai: Honestly, you should've never sold your CJ340 in the first place. Especially after all the time & effort you spent in building it. I never agreed with your idea of a 'family friendly offroader' (a Jeep with a 50 year old basic mechanical design can never be one).

Well, in one sense you are right. After driving a CJ for 5 years, closed door Jeep feels not so Jeep like. But there were practical problems. I had multiple close calls due to all drum brakes, and while driving to distant events I was slowing down the convoy due to my slower Jeep.

[brraj]

This off road prepared beauty is now ours.



While getting this jeep from manipal to bangalore(440kms) was a bit tensed thinking that we might have some issues, but reached home safely with out any.
As its a jeep we even tought it will be a bumpy ride till bangalore but we were wrong.

Thanks sharath for all the off road prerequisites.

[Samurai]

It has been 10 days since I let go the Jeep. Everyday when I reach office, I have a hallow feeling when I don't see the familiar sight. After 7 continuous years of being a Jeep owner, I am no more one.

When brraj told me he wanted to buy it and drive it back, I was in Bangalore. I had to call the mechanic to pick it up from my office, service it and return it back, all in my absence. One needs that kind of trusty and competent mechanic to keep the Jeep healthy, especially if you are not that hands-on in automotive stuff, like me.

I hadn't driven the Jeep in many months, so there was no reason to hang on to it when others can enjoy it. I at least have the satisfaction of maintained it well when I owned it. Two people with no prior Jeep experience, could drive it 440kms without a hitch. I hear they hit 100kmph (GPS) on long 4-lane stretches. That must be the doing of having DI engine mated with 4.27 axle ratio. I have never taken it on 4-lane with that combo, so I have never exceeded 70kmph myself.

So what's next for me... I don't know. But I am keeping my options open. I still have a fulltime 4x4 with me, so I can always scratch the itch, very carefully.

[DHABHAR.BEHRAM]

Originally Posted by Samurai

So what's next for me, I don't know. But I am keeping my options open.

Dear Sharath - hello after a very long time. I can understand how you must be feeling but life moves ahead. Don't give up the itch is what I can say. I also have a huge itch but I have kept it dormant for now. When the time comes, you know what I am going to buy, I suggest you do the same when the price drops to a reasonable and affordable level.

After all, we know that cars and SUVs are not Jeeps. ONLY JEEPS ARE JEEPS!

By the way, 25 June will be the 5th anniversary of the Lonavla EXAMM. How time flies!

Best regards,

Behram Dhabhar

[Tejas@perioimpl]

Originally Posted by DHABHAR.BEHRAM

By the way, 25 June will be the 5th anniversary of the Lonavla EXAMM. How time flies!

Hello to you as well!

You've got a fantastic memory about dates and car numbers as i observe from previous posts!

Being one of the organisers of EXAMM, i forgot the dates myself

Should we expect a new 4x4 from the Tata Stable anytime?