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Driving On Grades
Parking on Hills
Reduce speed and shift to a lower gear before you start
down 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 are towing a trailer and you have an automatic
transmission with overdrive, you may prefer to drive in
DRIVE (D) instead of AUTOMATIC OVERDRIVE
(a)
or, as you need to, a lower gear). Or, if you have a
manual transmission with FIFTH (5) or SIXTH (6) gear,
it is best to drive in FOURTH (4) gear (if five speed
manual transmission) or FIFTH ( 5 ) gear (if you have a
six speed manual transmission) (or, as you need to, a
lower gear).
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
PARK (P) yet, or into gear for a manual transmission.
2. Have someone place chocks under the trailer wheels.
3. When the wheel chocks are in place, release the
regular brakes. Then apply your parking brakes until
the chocks absorb the load.
4. Reapply the regular brakes. Then apply your parking
brake and then shift to PARK(P) or REVERSE (R)
for a manual transmission.
5. Release the regular brakes.
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