1994 GMC Jimmy Owner's Manual - Page 179

Driving Acrossan Incline Sooner or later, an off-road trail will probably go across theincline of a hill. If this happens, you have to decide whether to try to drive across the incline. Here are some things to consider: 0 A hill that canbe driven straightup or down may be too steep to drive across. When you straight up or down a hill,the length of the wheel go base (the distancefrom the front wheels tothe rear wheels)reduces the likelihood the vehicle will tumble end over end. But when you drive across an incline, the much more narrow track width (the distance the between theleft and right wheels) may not prevent vehicle from tilting and rolling over. Also, driving across an incline puts more weight on the downhill wheels. This could cause a downhill slide or a rollover. Surface conditions can bea problem when you drive across a hill. Loose gravel, muddy spots,or even wet grass cancause your tires to slip sideways, downhill. If the vehicle slips sideways, can hit it something that will tripit (a rock, a rut, etc.) and roll over. of Hidden obstaclescan make the steepness the inclineeven worse. If you drive across arock with the uphill wheels, if the downhill or wheels drop into a rutor depression, your vehicle can tilt even more. 0 0 For reasons like these, you need to decide carefully whether to try to drive across an incline. Just because the trail goes across the incline doesn't mean you have to drive it. The last vehicle to try it might have rolled over. Q: What if I'mdriving A: across an incline that's not too steep,I hit but some loose gravel and start to slide downhill. What should I do? If you feel your vehicle starting to slide sideways, turn downhill. This should help straighten out the vehicle prevent the side slipping. and However, a much better way prevent this isto get out and "walk to the course" so you know what the surface is before you driveit. like 4-21