2003 GMC Sonoma Owner's Manual - Page 223

0: there some things I should not do when Are driving down a hill? 0 Shift back to a low gear, release the parking brake, and drive straight down. A: Yes! These are important because if you ignore them you could lose control and have a serious accident. 0 If the engine won't start, get out and get help. Driving Across an Incline Sooner or later, an off-road trail will probably go across the incline of a hill. If this happens, you have to decide whether to try to drive across the incline. Here are some things to consider: When driving downhill, avoid turns that take you across the incline of the hill. A hill that's not too steep to drive down may be too steep to drive across. You could roll over if you don't drive straight down. Never go downhill with the transmission in NEUTRAL (N), or with the clutch pedal pressed down in a manual shift. This is called "free-wheeling". Your brakes will have to do all the work and could overheat and fade. 0 0: Am I likely to stall when going downhill? A: It's much more likely to happen going uphill. But if it happens going downhill, here's what to do. Stop your vehicle by applying the regular brakes. Apply the parking brake. Shift to PARK (P) (or to neutral with the manual transmission) and, while still braking, restart the engine. A hill that can be driven straight up or down may be too steep to drive across. When you go straight up or down a hill, the length of the wheel base (the distance from the front wheels to the 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 between the left and right wheels) may not prevent the 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. 4-22