User Guide
Q: Are there some things
I
should
not
do when
A:
Yes! These are important because
if
you ignore
driving down
a hill?
them you could lose control and have a serious
accident.
When driving downhill, avoid turns that take you
across the incline of the hill. A hill that’s not too steep
to drive down may be too steep to drive across. You
could roll over
if
you don’t drive straight down.
Never go downhill with the transmission in
NEUTRAL (N), or with the clutch pedal pressed
down in a manual shift. This is called “free-wheeling.”
Your brakes will have to do all the work and could
overheat and fade.
Q:
Am
I
likely
to
stall when going downhill?
A:
It’s much more likely to happen going uphill. But
if
it
happens going downhill, here’s what to do.
Stop your vehicle by applying the regular brakes.
Apply the parking brake.
Shift to
PARK
(P)
(or to neutral with the manual
transmission) and, while still braking, restart the
engine.
Shift back to a low gear, release the parking brake,
and drive straight down.
If
the engine won’t start, get out and get help.
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:
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.
0
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.
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