1996 Chevrolet S10 Pickup Owner's Manual - Page 157

Driving in Mud, Sand, Snow or Ice When you drive in mud, snow or sand, your wheels won't get good traction. You can't accelerate as quickly, turning is more difficult. and you'll need longer braking distances. It's best to use a low gear when you're in mud the -deeper the mud, the lower the gear. In really deep mud, the idea is to keep your vehicle moving so you don't get stuck. I A C . UTIC-T: I Driving on frozen lakes, ponds or rivers can be dangerous. Underwater springs, currents under the ice, or sudden thaws can weaken the Your ice. vehicle could fall through the ice and you and your passengers could drown. Drive your vehicle on safe surfaces only. When you driveon sand, you'll sense a change in wheel traction. But it will depend upon how loosely packed the Driving inWater sand is. On loosely packed sand (as beaches or sand on dunes) your tires will tend to sink into the sand. This has Light rain causes no special off-road driving problems. an effect on steering, accelerating and braking. You may But heavy raincan mean flash flooding, and flood want to reduce the airpressure in your tiresslightly waters demand extreme caution. when driving on sand. This will improve traction. Find out how deepthe water is before you drive through Hard packed snow and ice offer the worst tire traction. it. If it's deep enough to cover your wheel hubs, axles or On these surfaces, it's very easy to lose control. On wet exhaust pipe, don't try it-- you probably won't get ice, for example, the traction is so poor that you will through. Also, water that,deep can damage your axle have difficulty accelerating. And if you do get moving, and other vehicle parts. poor steering anddifficult braking can cause you slide to out of control. 4-26