Hill Climbing and Descending:

Take a good look before you start. Walk it if possible, choose the easiest route, avoiding rocks, stumps, holes etc., check for departure and approach angles that could cause problems. Find out what's at the top of the hill. Make sure everything inside the vehicle is safely stowed away or tied down.

Select your gear and go at a steady pace, using the accelerator as little as possible, but enough to avoid stalling. Stay on the power but if a wheel spins, come off the power enough to get traction again. If you stop on the hill, apply the brakes and clutch and immediately select reverse. On the way down, release the brakes and engage the clutch fully - do not use the brakes. If the wheels lock you'll lose steering and slide sideways and could even roll over. Without braking, reverse down the hill in gear in the straightest line you can. . You can safely back down a hill far too steep to climb without braking, as the engine will brake safely for you.


To slow your descent down a hill don't use the brakes, use engine braking .Should the back end start to slide around, then accelerate slightly so that you regain control. If you do brake when driving down a hill and a skid develops, ease of the brakes. Although it goes against your instincts, you will gain traction again and be able to steer. To be steerable, Wheels must be turning and If your vehicle turns sideways it will probably roll.

Driving on Long Grass:

Long grass can hide the most amazing obstacles and holes, as well as wrapping round the crank pulley, blocking the radiator and even catching fire on the hot exhaust.

Driving on Sand:

It's not really a major problem driving on moist or wet sand, if you can see tyre patterns then you know that the sand is firm. If the tyre tracks are narrow v's, the sand is soft. You should check that there isn't virtually all dry sand just below the surface. If you're following another vehicle which is breaking through a thin crust, drive your own crust, don't follow in their tracks, there's less chance of loosing critical momentum that way.

Maintaining momentum, avoiding braking and not making sharp turns, are the golden rules for driving in soft sand. When you're setting off, do it slowly, slipping the clutch if necessary, in an automatic, use 2nd gear. But you must never change gear or slip the clutch when you're under load, or you will come to a stop immediately. You might need a running start to get enough momentum, but we are not talking about speed here, but you should be in the highest gear that will do the job.

To reduce the need for momentum, reduce the tyre pressure by half. Compressor air pumps come in very useful here! Spinning wheels will dig the vehicle in to the chassis in seconds, so if you do come to a stop, get out and take a look first. Don't try to power your way out of your difficulties, if necessary use a recovery technique.

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