Silverado 2500 gas downhill speed control process

[Acheron2010]

There are a lot of controls in the cockpit of a late model Chevrolet Silverado 2500 gas truck for towing a trailer.
Brake assist, towing gears, manual gear control, trailer brake controls.

Please describe your process when descending a mild, and a steep 6 percent or so grade.

Approach speed, gear, brakes, max RPM you use before shifting, etc.
Anything to help a newbie from riding the brakes all the way.

thanks,

[tjdonahoe]

Originally Posted by Acheron2010

There are a lot of controls in the cockpit of a late model Chevrolet Silverado 2500 gas truck for towing a trailer.
Brake assist, towing gears, manual gear control, trailer brake controls.

Please describe your process when descending a mild, and a steep 6 percent or so grade.

Approach speed, gear, brakes, max RPM you use before shifting, etc.
Anything to help a newbie from riding the brakes all the way.

thanks,

Down hill in the same gear you went up in.....or lower...

[Adventure.AS]

Cruise control downhill works great on my TV (not the same as yours.) The computer regulates fuel flow and engine braking and downshifts transmission automatically. Occasionally I will use the manual control on the trailer brakes to slow the rig more when coming to a turn as using the brake pedal will disengage the cruise control.

[Daquenzer]

You should watch how they do it on the gauntlet tests. Google your truck brand gauntlet test. In short: When the truck gets to a certain speed they apply the breaks when in tow haul mode or when in a certain gear. On an 8 mile trip down a 7% grade they tapped the breaks about 12 times with a similar truck. On this stretch they never get over 60 mph, and they try to keep it around 50 mph going down. And they are loaded pretty much to the max on these tests.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IssetxE5FU

[Acheron2010]

I watched the video, interesting, but doesn't answer the questions.
How did they use the integral brake controller to set up the trailer brakes.
What gears did they start with, or was it always just in drive? No use of the manual shifting features?
No use of brake assist? Why or why not?

[Daquenzer]

Follow your manuals instructions for setting up the gain. That takes little experimentation on level surface. 2. If you watch the video note that they put it in tow haul mode. That is what your truck should be in towing. Then when it got to a certain speed going down They would tap the brakes and note the RPMs go up because the truck would automatically shift gear down to engine break. That is why trucks have Tow haul mode. The tow haul mode is there so you do not have to manually shift. The computer on the truck does for you. You can do it yourself if you don’t have a tow haul mode. The big thing is to start down hill at the desired speed. If you go up at 55 you may want to down at 50.

[hoagy_007]

I just purchased a 2018 GMC Denali 3500 hd and it took less than 5 min to adjust the brake controller with the TT brakes (there should be videos on this).

In regards to braking and speeds going down a steep grade I use Tow Mode and the exhaust brake on the GMC and brings the speed down to ~50 mph or less. I'm not shy about going slow in the right lane and let anyone in a hurry pass me on the left.

If I remember adjusting the TT brakes was just letting the TV go while in drive (no gas) and squeezing the brake controllers together until you get the right amount of braking.

[AlinCal]

Many years ago an old trucker told me to never start down a hill any faster than you could climb it.
It came a little late at the time, I was a kid in an overloaded runaway truck towing a flat bed trailer doing 80+mph down the Grapevine(interstate 5) into Bakersfield Ca and luck was on my side with no traffic and a pretty straight road.

[mojo]

Originally Posted by Acheron2010

There are a lot of controls in the cockpit of a late model Chevrolet Silverado 2500 gas truck for towing a trailer.
Brake assist, towing gears, manual gear control, trailer brake controls.

There are a lot of different grades of hills and descents you'll encounter and that is why your truck and trailer have different options. Most downgrades vary in steepness throughout the descent. Using tow/haul mode works until you get to a flat area and you must accelerate beyond wht's comfortable to get the TV to upshift. Sometimes it is better to manually shift gears in these situations. Your trailer brakes may be set correctly for the flatlands, but you may want to click them up a notch on downgrades and reset when reaching the bottom. You have to adjust for the situation that makes you feel most comfortable.

[Daquenzer]

When you are in tow mode just keep the speed down in hill areas. Don’t over think this. Drive a comfortable speed. Try to drive at a speed where breaking is a minimum.