Driving Across an InclineSooner or later, an off-road trail will probably go acrossthe incline of a hill. If this happens, you have to decidewhether to try to drive across the incline. Here are somethings to consider:{CAUTION:Driving across an incline that is too steep willmake your vehicle roll over. You could beseriously injured or killed. If you have anydoubt about the steepness of the incline, donot drive across it. Find another route instead.• A hill that can be driven straight up or downmay be too steep to drive across. When yougo straight up or down a hill, the length of thewheel base — the distance from the front wheelsto the rear wheels — reduces the likelihoodthe vehicle will tumble end over end. But whenyou drive across an incline, the much more narrowtrack width — the distance between the left andright wheels — may not prevent the vehiclefrom tilting and rolling over. Also, driving acrossan incline puts more weight on the downhill wheels.This could cause a downhill slide or a rollover.• Surface conditions can be a problem when youdrive across a hill. Loose gravel, muddy spots,or even wet grass can cause the tires to slipsideways, 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 theincline even worse. If you drive across a rock with theuphill wheels, or if the downhill wheels drop into a rutor depression, your vehicle can tilt even more.For reasons like these, you need to decide carefullywhether to try to drive across an incline. Just because thetrail goes across the incline does not mean you have todrive it. The last vehicle to try it might have rolled over.When driving across an incline that is not too steep, thevehicle can hit some loose gravel and start to slidedownhill. If you feel your vehicle starting to slidesideways, turn downhill. This should help straighten outthe vehicle and prevent the side slipping. However, amuch better way to prevent this is to get out and “walkthe course” so you know what the surface is likebefore you drive it.4-22
