Cruise Control
I travel to/from BC and Denver quite often (Sierra, 6.2L) sometimes towing a smallish (under 4000 ibs) trailer and sometimes, not. I travel the major highways and, depending on whether the trailer is attached or not, will do under 65 (with trailer, in manual 5th gear) or at the speed limit (without trailer, OD at 80 on some stretches). And, of course, some of the hills are quite steep and/or long. I use cruise control whenever I get a chance but do not use tow/haul.
In cruise, going uphill, the cruise will kick in and accelerate when the speed drops down only a couple KMH. makes sense. However, when going downhill, often the cruise will not slow the vehicle until it is about 8 or 9 km above the set speed - this is sort of dependent on the steepness of the hill.
So, two questions - Is it normal for cruise to kick in and slow the vehicle this much above the set speed? and - Sometimes it seems the cruise will use the transmission to slow the vehicle and other times, the brake (or maybe even a combo of both). And often, especially when it is slowing from the 8 or 9 above the set speed, the deceleration is quite severe. It has been like this since new. So, for these severe decelerations, do the vehicle brake lights come on? I expect they would if the brake is involved but do they activate when the cruise utilizes the transmission to rapidly slow down? There has been occasions when a following vehicle comes up on me rapidly when this slowing occurs and am wondering if they are lulled into a false sense of confidence because they don't see a brake light.
Sorry for the long post but wanted to include all the pertinent info.
Marv
In cruise, going uphill, the cruise will kick in and accelerate when the speed drops down only a couple KMH. makes sense. However, when going downhill, often the cruise will not slow the vehicle until it is about 8 or 9 km above the set speed - this is sort of dependent on the steepness of the hill.
So, two questions - Is it normal for cruise to kick in and slow the vehicle this much above the set speed? and - Sometimes it seems the cruise will use the transmission to slow the vehicle and other times, the brake (or maybe even a combo of both). And often, especially when it is slowing from the 8 or 9 above the set speed, the deceleration is quite severe. It has been like this since new. So, for these severe decelerations, do the vehicle brake lights come on? I expect they would if the brake is involved but do they activate when the cruise utilizes the transmission to rapidly slow down? There has been occasions when a following vehicle comes up on me rapidly when this slowing occurs and am wondering if they are lulled into a false sense of confidence because they don't see a brake light.
Sorry for the long post but wanted to include all the pertinent info.
Marv
