59
Speed, Acceleration and Braking
For safety, when towing a trailer, we recommend that you drive
5-10 MPH slower than normal.
When towing a trailer, you must always keep in mind that you are adding
load to your tow vehicle. Allow for slower acceleration when pulling out
into traffic.
Braking distances are also greater; so leave a longer distance between
you and the car ahead of you. If you regularly travel in heavy traffic,
have a smaller tow vehicle, or drive in mountains, you should consider
having electric trailer brakes installed. Trailer brakes are required in
some states.
Downgrades
-
If
signs warn there is a long, steep
downgrade ahead, slow down and shift into a lower gear,
BEFORE starting downhill. Shift into a lower gear on both
automatic and manual transmissions.
The engine should do the majority of the braking for you. If you are in a
low enough gear, you will only need to intermittently use your brakes.
The steeper the downgrade, the lower the gear and the slower you
should go.
Without applying brakes, your engine should hold below 2/3
of the red-line RPM. (if red-line is 6000 RPM, don’t exceed 4000 RPM)
If the engine exceeds 2/3 of red-line, you are in too high a gear and going
faster than you should.
On long downgrades, stop periodically to allow your brakes to cool
before continuing. If you experience hard brakes or brake fade, stop as
soon as possible and allow brakes to cool fully before continuing.
Uphill
- On longer or steeper upgrades, your automatic transmission
may downshift. This will cause the engine RPM’s to rise. Very high
RPM’s put more strain on the tow vehicle’s engine and transmission.
You should slow down to keep the RPM’s below the 2/3 of red-line
when going uphill as well.
When climbing hills, you may want to manually shift your transmission
into a lower gear to keep it from hunting up and down the gears.
TIP: Going Uphill or Downhill, drive using the tachometer
rather than the speedometer.
