2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003
I just spotted a new Jaguar XF on the road today. I think its the best looking 4-door in the market at the moment. I was never a huge fan of Jaguars but the new XF really looks cool. If anyone at Jaguar reads this blog, I want to test drive the car for a day or two! [Link]
I am planning to lift my Wrangler and install larger 33″ tires on it. Late last month I got the tires which I expected would be the hardest thing to get until recently I realized getting new black steel wheels are even harder. I wanted either American Racing or Cragar black steel wheels. I found an American Racing dealer in Kuwait but they didn’t have anything I was interested in and if I wanted to place an order for wheels they would only be delivered in August or September. So I decided to check and see what I could find in Dubai, I gave Icon Auto a call and they didn’t have what I wanted either. The only option I had left was to order the wheels from the US and ship them to Kuwait but 5 steel tires would weigh a ton.
Each wheel weighs 12KG and five wheels would mean a total weight of 60KG. Shipping them with Aramex or USWS would cost me around KD200 which is a ridiculous amount to pay specially when my five wheels combined would cost me only KD50. Surprisingly though it turns out its a lot cheaper to have the stuff shipped directly from the supplier in the US to Kuwait. I just ended up ordering five Cragar 342’s (pictured above on the Wrangler) for $215 from Quadratec and shipping them to Kuwait will cost me only $353 with Fed Ex. Thats not really bad at all and I am extremely surprised. Once my wheels get here the third and final thing I need to do is order the lift kit.
Update: Added more pictures of the same rims on other Wranglers which you can check out by clicking on continue.
For those of you following up on this years F1 races; Applebees with Renault, is going to be airing all F1 races at 8.30pm on the day of the race (at all locations). In addition to winning prizes during each race at Applebees Bneid Al-Gar; you can also enter the draw to win a Renault Clio RS.
The first race of the season in Melbourne, Australia will be airing at 8:30 pm at Applebees on Sunday 16th March.
Good to see that local companies are local race-oriented events.
More information at the Facebook group [Here]
Posted by K.
I’ve heard of huge pileups like this before but I don’t think its ever happened in the Gulf before. Yesterday a major accident happened on the Dubai – Abu Dhabi highway. Weather conditions were foggy and slippery and people were still speeding so when the first accident occurred a chain reaction followed resulting in the huge 60 car pileup. They originally said it was a 200 car pileup but I guess that was just an original estimate. You can check out pictures and details on the accident [Here]
Thanks sinnerorsaint
DA from ChillNite just posted two pictures he took of a Pagani Zonda in Kuwait. I think it’s the first one here since I never saw one on the roads before neither did I hear about anyone owning one. Check out ChillNite for the pictures. [Link]
During lunch I went with my friend at work in his Defender pickup truck and picked up my tires. They are HUGE, a lot bigger then I expected them to be. Once I get home I am going to put them side by side with my current tires just to get a better idea of the size difference.
Mishary from SOMEcontrast took pictures of new petrol machines now installed at the Oula gas stations. They look pretty cool but not to sure if the petrol machine actually accepts cards like in the US or we still need to drive up to the window and pay. Now where are the gas station mini markets I heard we would get after the privatization? [Link]
Last night I was thinking that the biggest hurdle with my Wrangler lift will be getting the right tires at the right price. When I posted about my plan to lift the Wrangler last week I also posted the prices of the tires and the availability, simply put I had only 3 options with one of the options costing just too much. I had to choose between either Maxxis or Hankook tires so after doing some research I decided to go with the Hankook Dynapro MT RT03. They are no where near as popular at the BF Goodrich tires in the Jeep Forums but the few people who do own the tires have said they were really great. Two users actually who owned BFG MT tires posted that the Hankooks were nearly as good as the BFG’s offroad but were a lot quieter on the road and cost a lot less too. The thing is there is not BFG dealer in Kuwait, the closest one is in Bahrain and although its tempting to drive all the way there to pick up the tires and come back, thats not really practical.
Anyway I passed by the Hankook dealer (Tel: 884737) today and its a good thing I did. They only had 5 tires left in all of Kuwait and I needed 5 tires so I bought them all on the spot. Even though I haven’t ordered my lift yet and even though I don’t even have rims to mount the tires on it didn’t matter, I needed the tires sooner or later and with only 5 tires in stock I had to get them now. They cost me KD37.500 per tire which isn’t bad at all, cheap even when compared to my BMW tires. Now I need to pass by on Wednesday with a pickup truck and pick up the tires since they didn’t fit inside my Wrangler, the tires are huge!
I can never get enough of watching Qataries drive their Patrols on two wheels. I need to learn how to do this with my Wrangler. [YouTube]
Now that I finished with the audio install in my Wrangler the next thing I am going to do is get a lift so I could install 33″ tires. After scouring the Jeep Forum and doing a lot of research I decided to go with the DPG Ultimate Trailgunner Suspension System which is a kit put together by DPG for Jeep Wranglers and consists of a 2.5″ Old Man Emu suspension system combined with DPG springs, a 1.25″ JKS body lift and a bunch of other parts which I need for the Wrangler install like adjustable track bars, quick disconnects and bump stops, etc.. basically all the parts I need to get 33″ tires installed on my Wrangler. You can check it out [Here]
Now as usual I always try to purchase stuff from Kuwait first but also as usual I get put off by the prices. I found the Old Man Emu dealer in Kuwait which is Naser Al-Sayer (Tel: 4747137) but their prices were more than double that of the US. Even with shipping it would be a lot cheaper and more reliable to order the parts from a specialized place like DPG in the States.
So now that I solved my suspension lift issue I have another problem with the tires and wheels. My current setup is 31″ tires with 15×7 wheels, for my 33″ setup I need to get 15×8 wheels and 33×12.5xR15 tires. I found some really nice American Racing wheels (black steelies) for KD16 per wheel but they will cost me an arm and a leg to ship to Kuwait. So I decided to pass by the American Racing dealer in Kuwait who are Silicon Valley Group (Tel: 4826723) to see how much the wheel cost here. The visit was pretty disappointing, they barely had anything in stock, they had nothing that fits the Wrangler and the employee there really had no clue about anything. They are even the local dealers for Mickey Thompson tires yet they only had one model from the size I wanted 33×12.5xR15 and even worse they only had one tire in stock. The guy told me I could place an order for anything I wanted but that it would get here by August/September. Very disappointing.
For tires I wanted BF Goodrich AT/KO but I couldn’t find a local dealer so I started calling other places to see what they had and this is what I found:
Goodyear Wrangler MT/R
33×12.5R15
KD80 per tire (slow shipping, 2 months to arrive)
KD110-120 per tire (fast shipping, 2 weeks to arrive)
Tel: 884737
Mickey Thompson Desert King
33×10.5R15
KD90 (1 tire in stock)
Tel: 4826723
Maxxis MT762 Bighorn
33×12.5R15
KD42
Tel: 4824256
Hankook Dynapro MT RT03
33×12.5R15
KD37 (6 tires in stock)
Tel: 884737
I also tried Dunlop, Toyo and Yokohama but they didn’t have any in stock or in Toyo’s case no one ever answered the phone. I am extremely disappointed with the state of some of the dealerships in Kuwait. Prices are expensive, they don’t have a large stock and ordering stuff with them takes ages. Gives me less and less reason to buy stuff from Kuwait.
Update: A friend gave me a link to a website of shop in Dubai called Icon Auto who sell and install lifts for the Wrangler. Their price is very competitive compared to the US. For example a 2.5″ suspension lift costs $659 in the States, $800 in Dubai and $1100 in Kuwait. How come we don’t have a place like Icon Auto in Kuwait?? [Link]
The Rolls-Royce Phantom is probably one of the sexiest cars on the market and yesterday a two door version got released and it looks even better. [Link]
If you check the tiny holograms of the Kuwait emblem on the new license plates you will notice they are all upside down. (not shown in picture above)
I thought I needed an hour more work today but it ended up taking like three. I was experiencing some vibration sounds yesterday so today I removed the 4 speakers and stuff the area behind them with a lot more pollyfill (pillow stuffing). This ended up improving the sound quality and killing any vibrations I was hearing. I also cleaned up the wires in the rear, and fastened my amp and subwoofer into the trunk.
Even though I have the amp and sub installed in the trunk, when the rear seat is folded up there is still a lot of room for Geo to get in, sit and walk around. When the rear seat is down the amp is hidden and there is still some room next to the sub for some grocery bags.
I tuned the sound system a bit but will wait two more weeks for all the speakers to break in before I spend more time tuning things. Although it was really exhausting work it was a good learning experience. Next project I am probably going to try is to install is a suspension lift by myself. I already have the step by step instructions just need to get the right tools.
