UphillDo not attempt to climb hills until you havemastered basic maneuvers on flat ground.Drive straight up hills, and avoid crossing theside of a hill, which increases your risk of roll-over. Practice first on gentle slopes before at-tempting steeper hills. Always check theterrain carefully before attempting any hill.To climb a hill, you need traction, momentum,and steady throttle. For more traction andcontrol for climbing steeper and/or rougherslopes, shift into low gear and select 4WD or4WD Diff. Lock. Travel fast enough to main-tain momentum, but not so fast that you can-not react to changes in the terrain as youclimb.Slow down when you reach the crest of the hillif you cannot see clearly what is on the otherside – there could be another person, an ob-stacle, or a sharp drop-off.If you start to lose traction or momentumwhen climbing, and decide you will be unableto continue, use the brakes to stop. Do not at-tempt to turn the vehicle around. With yourfoot on the brake pedal, look behind you andplan your descent. Shift the drive select leverinto reverse so you can use engine braking toslow your descent. Release the brake and be-gin to coast down the hill. Use engine brakingas much as possible, gently applying thebrakes when necessary.EE.book Page 20 Friday, August 3, 2007 4:52 PM
