BlueOrb wrote:Hi! I should probably ask this question in the forum you mentioned, but I'll try here first! I went out into the desert for the first time yesterday (after 10 months of thinking about it), with 3 friends. We went in My Fortuner (2.7 VVTi version), and took all the right kit in case we got into trouble. After having to be pulled out of soft sand by a couple of indian camel farmers with a water tanker (!) we then managed to get stuck in betwen the dunes near to Fossil Rock, and only got out after a hair raisiing jump over the top of a dune, at speed, as a last resort! (A bit like the end of Free Willy....!). So my question is : Is it something i did, or are Fortuners just rubbish for the desert?!!!!!!!! I am really keen to do more desert excursions, but am now thinking i need to get another car before i try something more adventurous than Fossil Rock....and my boss won't be too pleased when he sees the video of how i made his company car fly.......
First of all let me congratulate you on have the b@lls on taking the first step and stepping of the tarmac. Many drive highly powerfull offroad monsters but the maximum action they ever see is the regular mall crawling. * sigh* just look at the amount of jumeriah jane mallcrawlers outthere !
Bro 99% of the times its driver error and not the car. Any 4x4 is good enough for the desert. Ofcourse some cars perform better than others but basically its driver skill. A skilled driver in an underpowered car can go places where an unskilled with a real offroad performance beast will struggle. One of the founding members and a senior offroader from our club uses a 4cyl Prado( Grey Prado in the 3rd pic ). Same engine as your fortuner and heavier body if not the same weight. And he goes everywhere, and has even been to the empty quarter several times in that thing. So nothing wrong in the car dept.
As for getting stuck lemme tell you something, it does not matter wheter you have been driving in the desert for 50 years or 5, lemme assure you.= of something YOU ARE GOING TO GET STUCK. OK a seasoned driver might get stuck less often but everynow and then he/she is still going to get stuck. We have a saying in the offroading community The sand is no ones friend. And if you come across someone who brags he does not ever get stuck. That can only means two things. Either he is a liar or hasn't driven on anything other than the beach !
Its unclear when you said you went with three friends that wether you were three cars or 3 pax. If you went out on your own with 3 pax, that was probally wasn't the smartest thing to do. In fact you should never go out to the desert on you own. On a minimum there should be two cars, incase one breaks down or gets stuck, the other can pull you out or go for help. Anyways alls well that ends well.
As for you jump I, assuming you were sitting in the depression ( or bowl or pocket as we call them ) of fossil rock. There is always more than one way to attack a dune. Also a typical newbie mistake of not easing off the gas as you reach the crest of the dune and you end up getting some air and hopefully not doing a hard nosedive or worse flipping over.
Since you already joined the club. There is good info there on what kind of safety and recovery gear you need to have. What prelimiary checks need to be made. Also signup for any newbie drives comming up, where you be taught basic offroad skills, proper way to deflate your tyres, what to do in case of a stuck, the proper way to do a self recovery, the proper way to tow your car out of a stuck and a whole lot more. Also don't worry we are not really tight arsed about some strict made up rules and regulations. As basically the idea is to have fun and learn offroading and not get the feeling your attending boot camp ! Our drives ususally end up with a relaxed round of tea, some snacks and some banter reflecting on the days drives at the nearest cafeteria from the exit point.
Most of the drives you can bring you family along for the trips aswell. My wife always rides shotgun in most of my trips ! Also we also do family orientated BBQ and Camping events aswell. Although the camping season is pretty much over
