5-57
Dri
ving y
o
ur v
ehicle
5
Parking on hills
Generally, if you have a trailer
attached to your vehicle, you should
not park your vehicle on a hill. People
can be seriously or fatally injured,
and both your vehicle and the trailer
can be damaged if unexpectedly roll
down hill.
However, if you ever have to park
your trailer on a hill, here's how to do
it:
1. Pull the vehicle into the parking
space. Turn the steering wheel in
the direction of the curb (right if
headed down hill, left if headed up
hill).
2. If the vehicle has a manual trans-
mission, place the vehicle in neu-
tral.
3. Set the parking brake and shut off
the vehicle.
4. Place chocks under the trailer
wheels on the down hill side of the
wheels.
5. Start the vehicle, hold the brakes,
shift to neutral, release the parking
brake and slowly release the
brakes until the trailer chocks
absorb the load.
6. Reapply the brakes, reapply the
parking brake and shift the vehicle
to R (Reverse) for manual trans-
mission.
7. Shut off the vehicle and release
the vehicle brakes but leave the
parking brake set.
•
When towing a trailer on steep
grades (in excess of 6%) pay
close attention to the engine
coolant temperature gauge to
ensure the engine does not
overheat.
If the needle of the coolant
temperature gauge moves
across the dial towards “H”
(HOT), pull over and stop as
soon as it is safe to do so, and
allow the engine to idle until it
cools down. You may proceed
once the engine has cooled
sufficiently.
•
You must decide driving
speed depending on trailer
weight and uphill grade to
reduce the possibility of
engine and transmission
overheating.
CAUTION
Parking on a hill
Parking your vehicle on a hill
with a trailer attached could
cause serious injury or death,
should the trailer break loose.
WARNING
