Pontiac 1996 Grand Am Owner's Manual page 187

Turn Signals When Towing a Trailer
The green
arrows
on your instrument panel will flash
whenever you signal a turn or lane change. Properly
hooked up, the trailer lamps will also flash, telling other
drivers you're about to
turn,
change lanes or stop.
When towing a trailer, the green arrows on your
' .
instrument panel will flash for turns even if the bulbs on
the trailer are burned out. Thus, you may think drivers
behind you are seeing your signal when they are not.
It's important to check occasionally to be sure the trailer
bulbs are still working.
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 bxmsaxle.
If you have a manual transaxle with FWTH ( 5 ) gear,
it's better not to use FIFTH (5)
gear. Just drive in
FOURTH (4)
gear (or- as
vou 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.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Apply your regular brakes, but don't shift into
PARK (P) yet, or into a gear for a manual transaxle.
Have someone place chocks under the trailer wheels.
When the wheel chocks are in place, release the
regular brakes until the chocks absorb the load.
Reapply the regular brakes. Then apply your
parking
brake,
and
then shift to PARK (P), or REVERSE (R)
for a manual transaxle.
Release the regular brakes.
4-39