Just got home from a Valentines day camp in the Shwaib area of Al Ain on the Oman border so I thought I would provide a run down of the trip...The Land Cruiser didn't disappoint!
It was a mid day start on a surprisingly warm Friday (Valentines day-eve). Junction 43 on the Al Ain road (if you are coming from Dubai) then turn back so you are headed back in the direction of Dubai. After 3k or so there is a right turn for a mosque and the perfect place for airing down. This is an area we have explored a few times from both sides of the border fence. (I have attached a video from one of last years camps in the area in which another families pet Beagle decided to get lost for 24h)
With 20 PSI in the tires, the convoy of our 100, a 200, a 150 series Prado and a Jeep JKU set off into the dunes (Headed straight for the Oman border fence). Soon we were out of the farms and into the open dunes. Our 100 was decidedly overloaded (as usual for us!) and the self diagnosed sag in our rear suspension was taking the toll of a 400 kg+ load of wood and cool boxes. More on that in another post.
A few hours later we were forced to take an emergency lunch break after the gearbox on the Prado came to a clattering halt at the bottom of a bowl. Initial reports suggested they were stuck but then once the rest of the group heard the shrieking noise that was made when shifted into drive. It then wouldn't do anything, no matter what gear. A little while later, we decided that we would try to pull it out of the bowl in order to have it recovered professionally, however, just as we were about to line up for the tow the Prado suddenly decided that it wanted to move and it got all of 50 metres out of the bowl before it clattered again and came to a halt. We decided to enjoy a spot of lunch whilst deciding what was going to be done.
Lunch over and we had to move on to find a campsite. We had decided to leave the Prado at one of the farms down by the border fence to prevent causing any more damage. Yet more weight was added to the remaining cars and we trekked on to the campsite.
We were lucky enough to find a bowl that was at least slightly sheltered from the sunset winds. Once the camp was set up our 100 series was freed of its load and I was able to take it for a play. It performed as expected: goes anywhere but negatively affected by the breakover and departure angles which both seemed to hit at any chance they got. I had toyed with taking the side steps off before we left home just to see what difference it might make, however the tools I had handy weren't of the right size. Whilst attempting to tighten to floor mounted spare tire I also toyed with the idea of removing that because the space gained is incredible, but I wouldn't want to risk it! Otherwise, it performed perfectly...except the weak suspension which would bottom out every chance it got! @Thebedouin60 we have also got into the mindset that we will keep this for as long as it lasts so hopefully (crossed fingers!) my Dad will allow for some work to be done that will enhance the off road capability to new standards.
In the end it was a fantastic camp (as per usual) and not even gearbox trouble could shadow the beauty of the sand dunes at sunrise.
Pictures from the trip are accessible through @griffgw on instagram.
Video from last season of the Beagle misadventure! (At 2.53 you can see 'The Stick Game' being performed!)
It was a mid day start on a surprisingly warm Friday (Valentines day-eve). Junction 43 on the Al Ain road (if you are coming from Dubai) then turn back so you are headed back in the direction of Dubai. After 3k or so there is a right turn for a mosque and the perfect place for airing down. This is an area we have explored a few times from both sides of the border fence. (I have attached a video from one of last years camps in the area in which another families pet Beagle decided to get lost for 24h)
With 20 PSI in the tires, the convoy of our 100, a 200, a 150 series Prado and a Jeep JKU set off into the dunes (Headed straight for the Oman border fence). Soon we were out of the farms and into the open dunes. Our 100 was decidedly overloaded (as usual for us!) and the self diagnosed sag in our rear suspension was taking the toll of a 400 kg+ load of wood and cool boxes. More on that in another post.
A few hours later we were forced to take an emergency lunch break after the gearbox on the Prado came to a clattering halt at the bottom of a bowl. Initial reports suggested they were stuck but then once the rest of the group heard the shrieking noise that was made when shifted into drive. It then wouldn't do anything, no matter what gear. A little while later, we decided that we would try to pull it out of the bowl in order to have it recovered professionally, however, just as we were about to line up for the tow the Prado suddenly decided that it wanted to move and it got all of 50 metres out of the bowl before it clattered again and came to a halt. We decided to enjoy a spot of lunch whilst deciding what was going to be done.
Lunch over and we had to move on to find a campsite. We had decided to leave the Prado at one of the farms down by the border fence to prevent causing any more damage. Yet more weight was added to the remaining cars and we trekked on to the campsite.
We were lucky enough to find a bowl that was at least slightly sheltered from the sunset winds. Once the camp was set up our 100 series was freed of its load and I was able to take it for a play. It performed as expected: goes anywhere but negatively affected by the breakover and departure angles which both seemed to hit at any chance they got. I had toyed with taking the side steps off before we left home just to see what difference it might make, however the tools I had handy weren't of the right size. Whilst attempting to tighten to floor mounted spare tire I also toyed with the idea of removing that because the space gained is incredible, but I wouldn't want to risk it! Otherwise, it performed perfectly...except the weak suspension which would bottom out every chance it got! @Thebedouin60 we have also got into the mindset that we will keep this for as long as it lasts so hopefully (crossed fingers!) my Dad will allow for some work to be done that will enhance the off road capability to new standards.
In the end it was a fantastic camp (as per usual) and not even gearbox trouble could shadow the beauty of the sand dunes at sunrise.
Pictures from the trip are accessible through @griffgw on instagram.
Video from last season of the Beagle misadventure! (At 2.53 you can see 'The Stick Game' being performed!)
