1996 Oldsmobile Achieva Owner's Manual - Page 187

Driving On Grades Reduce speed and shift to a lower gear before you start down a long or steep downgrade. If you don't shift down, you might have to use your brakes so much that they would get hot and no longer work well. On a long uphill grade, use the highest gear possible. If you cannot maintain posted speeds, driving at a lower speed may help avoid overheating your engine and transaxle. Parking on Hills You really should not park your vehicle, with trailer a attached, on a hill. If something goes wrong, your rig could start to move. People can be injured, and both your vehicle and the trailer can be damaged. But if you ever have to park your rig on a hill, here's how to do it: 1. Apply your regular brakes, but don'tshift into PARK (P) yet, or into gear for a manual transaxle. 2. Have someone place chocks under the trailer wheels. If you have a manual transaxle with FIFTH ( 5 ) gear, it's better not to use FIFTH ( 5 ) gear. Just drive in FOURTH (4) gear (or, as you need to, a lower gear). 3. When the wheel chocks are in place, release the regular brakes until the chocks absorb the load. 4. Reapply the regular brakes.Then apply your parking brake, and then shiftto PARK (P), or REVERSE (R) for a manual transaxle. 5. Release the regular brakes.