1993 GMC Sonoma Owner's Manual - Page 185

Driving Across an lncline Sooner orlater,an off-road trailwillprobablygoacrosstheincline of ahill. If thishappens,youhave to decidewhether to trytodriveacrosstheincline. Herearesomethings to consider: A hillthatcanbedrivenstraightupordownmaybe too steep to drive across.Whenyougostraightup or downahill,thelength of thewheel base(thedistancefromthefrontwheels to therearwheels)reducesthe likelihoodthevehiclewilltumble end overend. But whenyoudrive acrossanincline,the much morenarrowtrackwidth(thedistance between the left and rightwheels)maynotpreventthevehiclefrom tiltingand rolling over. Also, drivingacrossaninclineputsmoreweight on the downhillwheels. This couldcauseadownhillslideorarollover. Surfaceconditions can beaproblemwhenyoudriveacrossahill.Loose gravel,muddyspots,orevenwetgrass can causeyourtires to slip sideways,downhill.If the vehicleslipssideways,it can hitsomethingthat willtrip it (arock,arut,etc.)androllover. Hiddenobstaclescanmakethesteepness of theinclineevenworse.If youdriveacrossarockwiththe uphill wheels,or if thedownhillwheels drop into arutordepression,yourvehicle can tilt evenmore. . For reasonslikethese,youneed to decidecarefullywhether to try todrive acrossanincline.Just because the trail goesacrosstheinclinedoesn'tmean youhave to driveit. The lastvehicle to tryitmighthaverolledover. Drivingacrossaninclinethat's too steepwillmakeyourvehicle roll over.You could beseriouslyinjuredorkilled. If youhaveanydoubt aboutthesteepness of theincline,don'tdriveacrossit.Findanother routeinstead Q: WhatifI'mdriving across aninclinethat'snottoosteep,but I hit someloosegravelandstart to slidedownhill.Whatshould I do? A: If you feel yourvehiclestarting to slidesideways, turn downhill.This should helpstraightenoutthevehicle and preventthesideslipping.However, a much betterway to preventthis is to getoutand"walkthecourse" so you knowwhatthesurface is likebefore you drive it. - 4-3 1