Driving On Grades - Pontiac 1994 Grand Am Owner's Manual

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Driving On Grades
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, use the highest
gear possible. If you cannot maintain
posted speeds, driving at a lower speed
may help avoid overheating your engine
and transaxle.
If you have a manual transaxle 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 PARK (P) yet, or into gear
for a manual transaxle.
2. Have someone place chocks under the
trailer wheels.
3.
When the wheel chocks are in place,
release the regular 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 transaxle.
5. Release the regular brakes.
When You Are Ready to Leave After
Parking on a Hill
1. Apply your regular brakes and hold
the pedal down while you:
Start your engine;
Shift into a gear; and
Release the parking brake.
2. Let up on the brake pedal.
3.
Drive slowly until the trailer is clear
of the chocks.
4. Stop and have someone pick up and
store the chocks.
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