Off−Road Driving Precautions - Toyota RAV4 2000 Owner's Manual

Off−road driving precautions
CAUTION
Always observe the following precau-
tions to minimize the risk of serious
personal injury or damage to your ve-
hicle:
D
Drive carefully when off the road.
Do not take unnecessary risks by
driving in dangerous places.
D
Do not grip the steering wheel
spokes when driving off−road. A
bad bump could jerk the wheel and
injure your hands. Keep both hands
and especially your thumbs on the
outside of the rim.
D
Always check your brakes for effec-
tiveness immediately after driving in
sand, mud, water or snow.
D
After driving through tall
mud, rock, sand, rivers, etc., check
that there is no grass, bush, paper,
rags, stone, sand, etc. adhering or
trapped on the underbody. Clear off
any such matter from the under-
body. If the vehicle is used with
these materials trapped or adhering
to the underbody, a breakdown or
fire could occur.
D
In a rollover crash, an unbelted per-
son is significantly more likely to
die than a person wearing a seat
belt. Therefore, the driver and all
passengers should fasten their seat
belts whenever the vehicle is mov-
ing.
D
When driving off−road or in rugged
terrain, do not drive at excessive
speeds, jump, make sharp turns,
strike objects, etc. This may cause
loss of control or vehicle rollover
causing death or serious injury. You
are also risking expensive damage
to your vehicle's suspension and
chassis.
grass,
NOTICE
z If driving through water, such as
when crossing shallow streams,
first check the depth of the water
and the bottom of the river bed for
firmness. Drive slowly and avoid
water so deep as to have the bat-
tery pack, motor, controller and so
on flooded.
z Take all necessary safety measures
to ensure that water damage to the
battery and motor or other compo-
nents does not occur.
Water entering the motor will cause
severe motor damage. Water enter-
ing the battery pack may cause
short−circuit.
Water can wash the grease from
wheel bearings, causing rusting and
premature failure, and may also en-
ter the differentials and transmis-
sion case, reducing the gear oil's
lubricating qualities.
z Sand and mud that has accumu-
lated in brake drums and around
brake discs may affect braking effi-
ciency and may damage brake sys-
tem components.
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