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, 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 a manual
transmission with fifth gear, you may prefer 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
transmission.
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 transmission.
5.
If you have a four-wheel drive vehicle, be sure
the transfer case is
in
a drive gear -- not in
NEUTRAL
(N).
6.
Release the regular brakes.
To Next Page
Loading...
Need help?
General
