I am planning my first long distance drive in my Mahindra Thar. It is a 2016 Thar Crde having done 10,000 kms. in 2 years and 02 free services have been done, based on time and not on kms. driven
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| My sturdy stead |
To make matters interesting, my drive is planned to Spiti, one of the remotest and most dangerous places you can drive to in India. So I need to carry all my spares, as getting any help in such areas is difficult, if not impossible.
As with any Thar owner, I have been customising my car little-by-little, since I got it 2 years back. In fact, one of the reasons I got the Thar was because of the scope for customisation and making it a personal statement. I have already made the following changes to my Thar:
- Changed the front and rear bumpers to off-road type
- Changed the tyres to Maxxis Bighorn 980 A/T – size 31 x 10.5 r15
- Changed to steel rims – 15″ 160 pcd
- Installed a snorkell for water-wading
- Installed extra LED lights for night off-roading / highway driving
- Installed a farmer’s jack on the bonnet, to help with the larger tyres
- I have also retuned my Thar with Pete’s Automotive. Much smoother and more power output now.
Getting back to the trip, considering the seriousness of preparing the Thar well, I took my trusty Thar to the M&M workshop. It was important for me to learn to make small repairs and maintenance myself. I was lucky to have great technicians at the local M&M dealer, Jitendra Wheels, who helped and guided me in DIY remedies for roadside repairs, understanding and identifying problems and location of equipments such as fuse box etc.
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| Getting ready |
The complete list of things I changed in my Thar during the servicing:
- Oil filter
- Engine oil
- Brake pads (The existing pads had done only 10K kms. But I changed them to be safe and carried the old pads as back-up)
- Fuel filter
- Air filter
- Engine coolant top-up
- Wiper blades
- Wheel alignment & balancing
- All bulbs checked
The entire servicing took 4 hours. I sincerely feel that my standing on the shop floor made a lot of difference as every little thing was double-checked and tightened. The total servicing bill was approx. Rs. 12,000 (No labour charge as it was free service).
Apart from the above, I already have a clutch pipe protection plate and differential guard fitted in my Thar (Both of Metal House brand, bought from www.bluegarage.in). While on this topic, the clutch pipe protector fit like a glove. However, the diff guard required some cutting to match the diff screws. Luckily, the diff oil did not leak while installing the guard.
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| * Pics from Blurgarage.in website |
Also, I got underbody and silencer exhaust anti-rust coating done from 3M (http://carcarestores.3mindia.co.in). This is for controlling the rust and not providing any more chance to water to damage the underbody.
Next up was the list of spares and tools I needed to carry. This was more important than the servicing as my entire trip depended on being prepared. Me being the anxious type, I believe in preparing and planning everything in minute detail. So my shopping for spares, tools and tackles started well in advance.
The complete list of things I carried:
The complete list of things I carried:
- Sturdy Tool bag – I have an Excel Tool bag – Large size. Bought from www.amazon.in for Rs. 1,550. It’s very sturdy and large enough to fit most of the spares and tools.
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| * Pic from internet |
- Wiper blades – Bosch brand; 12″ size
- Brake pads
- Engine Coolant
- Air filter
- Brake oil
- Engine oil
- Clutch cable joints
- Spare headlight and taillight bulbs
- Fuses –
- Toolkit –
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| Socket Set |
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| Spanner Set |
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| Allen key (Hex key) set |
In my experience, we can use the above three toolkits and for pretty much any work on the car.
- Towrope – 5 Tons capacity, 5 meters length – (Bought from HVK Store). Don’t believe the low cost ones (Rs. 300-500) available on online shopping sites. I bought one and it couldn’t tow even a cycle, much less a Thar. Please buy a good quality rope.
- Jumper cable – Again, be careful and buy good quality cable.
- 25L extra fuel can
- Spare keys (Very important but often forgotten)
- Duck Tape & Double sided tape
- WD 40 (Life saver and a MUST)
- Cut resistant gloves
- Fire Extinguisher
- Foldable chair – From Decathalon store
- Misc. tools (scissors, large torch, zip-ties, Mseal etc.)
- Air pump – TIREWELL 12V Digital Tyre Inflator – I bought this product from www.amazon.in based on 400+ reviews giving it high rating. I have used it frequently since then. It takes about 4-5 mins. to fill a completely flat tyre of Innova. Plus, the air pressure indicator is pretty accurate (I have filled air from machine and cross-checked in tyre shop machine). The machine does vibrate during operation but it’s not a dealbreaker. The construction is also quite sturdy.
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| * Pic from internet |
This rounded off the preparation of the vehicle for my epic journey. I also carried a medical kit and two oxygen cylinders for AMS. Stay tuned for my further posts on road trips and my experiences on wheels.
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