I’m passionate about helping the 4wd community and I'm developing an online course so i can help as many people as I can to get out there and wheel well on their 4wd adventures. To register your interest and for free and exclusive training videos visit madmatt4wd.com.au/register

Few things to note... First, it's an excellent technique. Second, if you stall on the way up the hill (eg due to poor gear selection), you can use the same technique to restart the vehicle and continue on your way. Lastly, in relation to manual vehicles, this isn't always possible. Some have a safety switch on the clutch to prevent you engaging the starter with your foot off the clutch. Others you can damage the starter or have issues with the electronics if you try to use this technique. Newer Isuzu 4WD trucks are an example of that, eg the 139-260, 45-150 etc. Get to know your vehicle and find out before you need to use it. If your vehicle has hill start assist, you may want to use that instead.

Perfect, got that important lesson in a Vic Pol 4x4 course in 1985. Well demonstrated Matt.

As a young lad in 1989 I purchased my 1st 4WD, a brand new manual GQ Patrol and immediately joined the Nissan Patrol 4WD club. On my first 4WD training course with the club the instructors took us to their tracks out near the Colo river west of Sydney and while traversing up a steep rock ledge I lost some traction before stalling the vehicle on the ledge at a very acute angle with the vehicle in precarious position still pointing very steeply directly up the slope but stationary with my foot on the brake pedal (engaged in 1st or 2nd?, low range). I was scared sh#@less but one the instructors talking to me from outside the vehicle thru the drivers side window asked me to apply the handbrake and give me time to regain some composure. He then calmly ran me thru the plan to continue up the ledge (what the #uck I thought to myself) and onto the flat ground just beyond. Following his instructions I then released the handbrake and then slowly took my foot off the brake pedal being reassured in the process that the vehicle would not roll back down the slope because the engine compression would hold the vehicle on the slope (this was a revelation to inexperienced me). He then asked me to set the smallest amt of manual hand throttle (the GQ had this feature) and lastly restart the engine and then steer up the rock slope. When I restarted the engine I was amazed as the vehicle just effortlessly lifted up, lurched forward and seemly climbed that ledge all by itself and me out of a dangerous situation. I’ll never forget that experience, the relief I felt and the valuable lessons learned that day. At that time the GQ was a new model following on from the MQ and it may have just earned some early cred from the troops on hand that day. Watch the video again folks, it’s the next best thing to having an experienced instructor standing at your side working to get you out of trouble.

This is a massively underrated skill. I think the best way to get the most out of it, is the identify the stall before the truck starts to skid too far sideways. Like the bloke in the LR did.

Except for the auto, learned this in 74 doing my Army driving course. Great to see. I remember one off road expert revved to 12,000 rpm, clutch out. Gear box landed in Mt.Isa, clutch in Bowen and never found the tailshaft.

Great video! I learnt this procedure many years ago when learning to drive Cat1 4x4 tankers in the RFS. During the 93-94 fires west of Cessnock, a Striker (Cat2) was severely damaged when the driver lost forward traction on a steep off-road climb. He stopped on the hill with the foot brakes alone. The vehicle started to slid, dragging the front wheels backwards. In a panic, he then applied the handbrake. On the vehicle, the handbrake is applied to the tailshaft not the wheels. With the momentum and weight of the vehicle at the wheel end and the brake stopping the gearbox end, the tail shaft began to twist, eventually snapping completely! With nothing left but the foot brake to to stop the vehicle, it ended up loosing control and gained speed down the hill. It drifted off the track, hitting many trees and rocks before coming to a stop. Nobody was injured but the damage to the vehicle was extensive! Had the driver known this procedure, he could have safely reversed down to a safe location. I use this technique in my vehicle regularly.

Great video Matt, I love my manual 4WD. Great refresher for me it’s second nature to put my foot on the clutch.

Thanks mate a great reminder after completing off-road driving driving and from someone who travels solo most of the time 👍

Thanks for making all these great vids👍👍 Lake Havasu 🌞 Az

Can't wait to see more of the jeep build 👍🏻

Great Video Mate! Hope things are well!

This Hill start Recovery has saved me and Hundreds of My buddies Dozens of times on Steep Moab Climbs 8:26 great Method of Recovery and Control matt

Another awesome vid Matt. Starting the car in gear and clutch out, is like sitting down to wee. I’ve never done it this always before always had the clutch in. I’ll try it in a few weeks time. It makes sense to do so. I’ve learned something new today. Thanks Matt. Keep up the great work 👏👏👏

We used to teach and call it "the stall procedure" in early 2000's Greatest way to recover back down without damage.

Been 4wding for quite a few years now. I still get extremely anxious whenever I've got to stop halfway up a steep climb. Manual GQ. I to this day have to stop myself and take a deep breath every time

Did a course with Isuzu when I first got it they showed us that bloody comes in handy once you get the hang of it

For my auto and probably most others, my lowest gear is not first-low, but rather reverse-low. I think everyone should try reverse low down a smooth hill without braking to get a feel for it. I was amazed how slow and controlled it can be with no brakes. Of course steeper and rougher may require feathering brakes.

Thanks for the manual driving help. I appreciate this video. Is this basically the same procedure when your going up a hill, stall but want to keep going up?

Nice work Matt. This also shows a huge benefit of auto vs manual if you had a faulty stater motor.

Thumbs up just for the mirror shot. Mad Matt's Blue Steel. I'd pay for a print of that, mirror in the frame.

For the auto there is also the option to use the accelerator to drive through the brake when on really steep or loose gravel hills to stop the tyres from locking up and to maintain the ability to steer.

You can use some bright colored tape on the steering wheel to assure that your wheels are in a straight position this helps in a situation if the vehicle starts sliding and your not sure which position your wheels are in and also when back down a hill like in the video

Nice work Matt, love the stuff you do Tried some stuff recently, more difficult than what I've done before. I found constantly that I'd start an obstacle going up hill, and the angle put me in a position where I couldn't see what was right in front of me and I'd easily lose track of the line I was trying to take (solo 4wheeling, no spotter). Maybe that's just an experience thing, but I was wondering if you had anything related to that kinda stuff? Cheers

I'm confident that there will be newcomers to 4WD reading these comments. One observation I've consistently made when I've taken individuals who have limited or no experience in 4WD is their apprehension when tackling even the slightest angles. As a novice 4WD enthusiast, you might quickly feel uncomfortable. Adapting these techniques while under pressure can prove to be quite challenging, particularly if you're driving a manual transmission. I've even encountered individuals driving automatics who occasionally mix up the gears, switching between "D" and "R," uncertain about when to release the brake and apply reverse power - and even questioning whether it's necessary. Additionally, when navigating steep terrain, some may use "D" to utilise engine power to reposition the vehicle against the force of gravity, maintaining control and preparing for a reactive recovery process if necessary. Then the steering aspect, wheel position etc as Matt mentions becoming a whole other part of some recovery situations on a hill. The key point here is that when you learn these techniques online, it's always a wise idea to put them into practice on a test track or in a controlled environment. This allows you to become familiar with how the vehicle responds to your inputs. Then, when the time comes, you'll be able to apply these experiences to your specific situation. While not every situation will be identical, over time, you'll develop a mental understanding of what's required when you encounter these scenarios. A good video Matt I reckon would be to demonstrate why your front wheels don't steer you when in going backwards on steep stuff while they are locked up. I find people don't quickly understand the physics of why vehicles slide and steering input does nothing while going going backwards due to the braking situation on the front wheels. Great video as always.

Had a situation a few years back out near Lithgow where this would have been great to know. I stalled on a steep hill towing a trailer and ended up jack knifing the trailer and was stuck for a couple of hours while people sat there watching rather than helping, they had winches etc where as I didn't. I tried to get my brother to chock the back wheels but even with decent sized rocks I still rolled back over them. I tried to take off forward amd eventually had my timing slip and that left my vehicle dead. If I had have known how to do a controlled up hill start I probably could have gotten out of it.

@7:03 wouldn’t work in my situation as in my Ute you need to have the clutch engaged to start the engine however I haven’t had any issues hill starting off-road great content Matt

I'll add a bit to manual part. There are vehicles with built-in "foolprof" switch that prohibits the starter to turn if the clutch is engaged.Those may need some slight modification to this technique. I'm not a big off-roader but I have some experience on dirt roads.

Good work Matt, the more people know this technique the better. It's good idea to practice stall stop recovery before it's required in anger. You don't need to be on a steep slope in the bush, find a nice quiet easy spot and practice, get the muscle memory going because long time manual driving, it's not "normal" to stop without engaging the clutch. On the downside though, most new manual gearbox vehicles have a clutch interlock, that makes the process slightly trickier. Can you cover that in a new video? Cheers John

A bit unrelated but along similar lines, once I stopped on a steep slope (unsure of the precise angle but it was pretty steep), and wanted to continue driving (not reversing) but when I was putting in drive there was not enough power to accelerate and the car kept sliding backwards which was scary. My solution was to flip to the semi-auto side of the auto-gear box and put first gear and drive up. I wonder though if there is a safer/more elegant procedure for an auto gear box to start driving forward on a steep slope.

I had to think for a while as to why you use the key to start the car and not let it roll start (or turn the key while the clutch is in while going for reverse) the only reason I could think of (not sure if I got the correct answer) is will the car momentary lock up (like when you push start a car and drop the clutch) when allowing the car to roll backwards to start and would turning the key make it more controlled?

After watching your video on front vs back lockers, I recently tried this technique. A little nerve racking at first, but the reverse was so controlled. Can starting the vehicle in gear this way cause any mechanical issues down the track? Cheers Matt.

Thanks, Mat, for such an excellent video. Would the engine not halt again when you turn the ignition on while the car is in reverse without pressing the clutch? I was always under the impression that the car wouldn't start in gear without pressing on the clutch! Would appreciate your answer.

I haven't driven a manual for quite some time now, but have driven them a lot. I have started a car with a dead battery using this technique, but it had a kick to it before the car started, which I believe would be enough to change the circumstances on a hill. Doesn't that kick happen in these circumstances? Or is that related to the type of car and clutch? (that specific car was pretty old, maybe the newer ones don't do it?)

Can you specify if you need to be in Low Range or High Range please?

I really like the educational videos, but I did try to sign up for the onlinne content, but things didn't work, maybe because I'm in the UK? As I look at it I don't really need to participate, but you can never knoweverything and refreshers are good things to do. Mal.

Hi Matt, thanks for the tutorial. I have a few things I would like clarification on. First, would engaging the vehicle into 4WD low range help while reversing down , the engine braking should help in controlling the downforce right. And what if the track has loose gravel & vehicle losing traction at some point while coming down, what technique would be my best to control the slide.

I found telling people that stalling a car is safe caused more disbelief than telling them to start a car in gear without clutch.

Would there be anything wrong with just putting the vehicle in neutral instead of reverse? When backing down a boat ramp it's common to use neutral instead of reverse to allow you to more delicately control the speed at which you want to go backwards

Do vehicles not have a "neutral sfety switch" down there? Most all modern vehicles (in the states at least) won't engage the starter when you turn the key unless the clutch is depressed or transmission is in neutral. To do this method that switch must be disabled.

How strong is the park pin in an auto transmission? Can it shear off under too much strain. Just asking as an old 80 series owner who’s handbrake with all new parts and adjustments still barely works.

Is it normal to have to put all my weight on my brake when parked on a steep incline. Triton auto and engine running. It was scary, felt like it wasn't holding me unless I forced the brake pedal like crazy.

Do you have a video for the procedure when the brakes don’t hold you? Like on a wet clay hill?

What if it still rolls down even if you stall it for engine brake. Or is that not possible?

Yep, I certainly found it weird to start the car in reverse without the clutch depressed. I've never tried that before. Will give it a go when the tracks reopen soon. If you tried that on flat ground, in first gear moving forward, the car would unhappily bunny hop and stall. Is it because you're on a steep slope that that doesn't happen? Is it also because you're in reverse?

Manual Jimny 2020 here. Cant start it without using the clutch pedal :-/

Some vehicles will not start with the clutch out. Older ones probably will.

Why not put the auto on P - doesn't this provide engine break ?

Not good if you own n70 lux brakes and hand brake are useless