533
Driving your vehicle
✽✽NOTICE
• Do not drive in water if the level is
higher than the bottom of the vehi-
cle.
• Check your brake condition once
you are out of mud orwater. Press
the brake pedal several times as
you move slowly until you feel nor-
mal braking forces return.
• Shorten your scheduled mainte-
nance interval if you drive in off-
road conditions such as sand, mud
or water (see “Maintenance under
severe usage conditions” in section
7). Always wash your vehicle thor-
oughly after off road use, especial-
ly cleaning the bottom of the vehi-
cle.
• Since the driving torque is always
applied to the 4 wheels the per-
formance of the 4WD vehicle is
greatly affected by the condition of
the tires. Be sure to equip the vehi-
cle with four tires of the same size
and type.
• A full time four wheel drive vehi-
cle cannot be towed by an ordi-
nary tow truck. Make sure that
the vehicle is placed on a flat bed
truck for moving.
WARNING - 4WD driving
• Avoid high cornering speed.
• Do not make quick steering
wheel movements, such as
sharp lane changes or fast,
sharp turns.
• The risk of rollover is greatly
increased if you lose control
of your vehicle at high speed.
• In a collision, an unbelted per-
son is significantly more like-
ly to die compared to a person
wearing a seat belt.
• Loss of control often occurs if
two or more wheels drop off
the roadway and the driver
over steers to re-enter the
roadway. In the event your
vehicle leaves the roadway, do
not steer sharply. Instead,
slow down before pulling
back into the travel lanes.
WARNING - Driving
through
water
Drive slowly. If you are driving
too fast in water, the water can
get into the engine compart-
ment and wet the ignition sys-
tem, causing your vehicle to
suddenly stop. If this happens
and your vehicle is in a tilted
position, your vehicle may roll
over.
