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Driving On Grades
Reduce speed and shift to a lower gear
before you start dawn a long or
steep downgrade. If you don't shift down, you might have to use your
brakes so much that they would get hot and no longer work well.
On a long uphill grade, shift down and reduce your speed
to around 45 mph
(70
km/h)
to reduce the possibility of engine and transmission overheating.
If you have an automatic transmission, you should use "D" when towing a
trailer. Operating your vehicle in
"D"
when towing a trailer will minimize
heat buildup and extend the life of your transmission.
Or,
if you have a
rrianual transmission with fifth gear, it's better not to use fifth gear, just
drive in fourth gear (or, as you need to, a lower gear).
Parking on Hills
You really should not park your vehicle, with a trailer attached, on a hill.
If
something goes wrong, your rig could start to move. People can be injured,
and both your vehicle and the trailer can be damaged.
But if you ever have to park your rig on a hill, here's how to do it:
1. Apply your regular brakes, but don't shift into
"P"
(Park) yet, or into
2. Have someone place chocks under the trailer wheels.
3. When the wheel chocks are in place, release the regular brakes until the
gear for a manual transmission.
chocks absorb the load.
4. Reapply the regular brakes. Then apply your parking brake, and then
shift into
"P"
(Park), or "R" (Reverse) for a manual transmission.
5. If you have a four-wheel drive vehicle with a manual transfer case shift
lever, be sure the transfer case is in a drive gear-not in
"N" (Neutral).
6. Release the parking brakes,
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