Owner`s manual
Driving Across an Incline
Sooner or later,
an
off-road trail will probably go across the incline
of
a
hill.
If this happens,
you
have to decide whether to
try
to drive across the incline.
Here are some things
to
consider:
0
0
0
A
hill
that can be driven straight
up
or down may be too steep to drive
across. When you go straight up or down a hill,
the
length of the wheel
base (the distance from the front wheels to the rear wheels) reduces the
likelihood the vehicle will tumble end over end. But when you drive
across an incline, the much more narrow track width (the distance
between the left and right wheels) may not prevent the vehicle from
tilting and rolling over. Also, driving across an incline puts more
weight
on the downhill wheels. This could cause
a
downhill slide
or
a
rollover.
Surface conditions can
be
a
problem when you drive across a hill.
Loose gravel, muddy spots, or even wet grass can cause your tires to
slip sideways, downhill.
If
the vehicle slips sideways,
it
can
hit
something that
will
trip
it
(a
rock, a rut, etc.) and roll over.
Hidden obstacles can make the steepness
of
the incline even worse. If
you drive across a rock
with
the uphill wheels, or
if
the downhill
wheels drop into
a
rut or depression, your vehicle can tilt
even
more.
For reasons like these, you need to decide carefully whether to try
to
drive
across an incline. Just because
the
trail goes across the incline doesn’t mean
you
have
to drive
it.
The last vehicle to try
it
might have rolled over.
Q:
What if I’m driving across
an
incline that’s not
too
steep, but
I
hit
some loose gravel and start to slide downhill. What should
I
do?
At
If you feel your vehicle starting to slide sideways,
turn
downhill. This
should help straighten out the vehicle and prevent the side slipping.
However, a much better way to prevent this
is
to get out and “walk the
course”
so
you know what the surface is like before you drive
it.
4-21