Freeing A Stuck Vehicle

If your vehicle becomes stuck in mud, sand or snow, it can often be moved by a rocking motion. Turn your steering wheel right and left to clear the area around the front wheels. Then shift back and forth between DRIVE and REVERSE. Using minimal accelerator pedal pressure to maintain the rocking motion, without spinning the wheels, is most effective.

CAUTION!
Racing the engine or spinning the wheels may lead to transmission overheating and failure. Allow the engine to idle with the shift lever in NEUTRAL for at least one minute after every five rocking-motion cycles. This will minimize overheating and reduce the risk of transmission failure during prolonged efforts to free a stuck vehicle.

NOTE: If your vehicle is equipped with Traction Control or Electronic Stability Control (ESC), turn the system OFF before attempting to “rock” the vehicle.

CAUTION!
• When “rocking” a stuck vehicle by moving between DRIVE and REVERSE, do not spin the wheels faster than 15 mph (24 km/h), or drivetrain damage may result.

• Revving the engine or spinning the wheels too fast may lead to transmission overheating and failure.

It can also damage the tires. Do not spin the wheels above 30 mph (48 km/h) while in gear (no transmission shifting occurring).

WARNING!
Fast spinning tires can be dangerous. Forces generated by excessive wheel speeds may cause damage, or even failure, of the axle and tires. A tire could explode and injure someone. Do not spin your vehicle’s wheels faster than 30 mph (48 km/h) or for longer than 30 seconds continuously without stopping when you are stuck and do not let anyone near a spinning wheel, no matter what the speed.

    See also:

    Automatic Transmission
    CAUTION! Damage to the transmission may occur if the following precautions are not observed: • Shift into PARK only after the vehicle has come to a complete stop. • Shift into or out of RE ...

    Department Of Transportation Uniform Tire Quality Grades
    The following tire grading categories were established by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The specific grade rating assigned by the tire’s manufacturer in each category is sh ...

    Traction Control System (TCS)
    This system monitors the amount of wheel spin of each of the driven wheels. If wheel spin is detected, brake pressure is applied to the slipping wheel(s) and engine power is reduced to provide e ...