Q: Are there some things I should not do whendriving down a hill?A: Yes! These are important because if you ignorethem you could lose control and have a seriousaccident.• When driving downhill, avoid turns that take youacross the incline of the hill. A hill that’s not too steepto drive down may be too steep to drive across. Youcould roll over if you don’t drive straight down.• Never go downhill with the transmission inNEUTRAL (N). This is called “free wheeling”. Yourbrakes will have to do all the work and couldoverheat and fade.Q: Am I likely to stall when going downhill?A: It’s much more likely to happen going uphill. But ifit happens going downhill, here’s what to do.• Stop your vehicle by applying the regular brakes.Apply the parking brake.• Shift to PARK (P) and, while still braking, restart theengine.• 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 InclineSooner or later, an off-road trail will probably go acrossthe incline of a hill. If this happens, you have todecide whether to try to drive across the incline. Hereare some things to consider:• A hill that can be driven straight up or down may betoo steep to drive across. When you go straight up ordown a hill, the length of the wheel base (thedistance from the front wheels to the rear wheels)reduces the likelihood the vehicle will tumble endover end. But when you drive across an incline, themuch more narrow track width (the distance betweenthe left and right wheels) may not prevent the vehiclefrom tilting and rolling over. Also, driving across anincline puts more weight on the downhill wheels. Thiscould cause a downhill slide or a rollover.• Surface conditions can be a problem when you driveacross a hill. Loose gravel, muddy spots, or even wetgrass 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 theincline even worse. If you drive across a rock with theuphill wheels, or it the downhill wheels drop into a rutor depression, your vehicle can tilt even more.4-28
