Hill decent control

15 Z71 · September 30, 2016

So I'm going to a friend of mine house this weekend, he has 6 acres of land. I'm going to be doing some stuff with my truck. It has lots of hills and was going to try out my hill decent. Has any one used theirs yet? If so, how does it work? Does it only work in 4 low? And can you set the speed or does it do it its self?

Silvern Sentry · September 30, 2016

You can always look in the manual and the MyGMC/Chev phone app gives access to manual as well there is a thread sticky above in this very forum.

Hill Descent Control (HDC) If equipped, HDC can be used when driving downhill. It sets and maintains vehicle speed while descending a very steep incline in a forward or reverse gear. The HDC switch is on the center stack, below the climate controls. Press 5 to enable or disable HDC. Vehicle speed must be below 50 km/h (31 mph). The HDC light displays on the instrument cluster when enabled. HDC can maintain vehicle speeds between 3 and 22 km/h (2 and 14 mph) on an incline greater than or equal to a 10% grade. A blinking HDC light indicates the system is actively applying the brakes to maintain vehicle speed. When HDC is activated, the initial HDC speed is set to the current driving speed. It can be increased or decreased by pressing the +RES or SET- steering wheel controls or by applying the accelerator or brake pedal. This adjusted speed becomes the new set speed. HDC will remain enabled between 22 and 60 km/h (14 and 37 mph); however vehicle speed cannot be set or maintained in this range. It will automatically disable if the vehicle speed is above 80 km/h (50 mph) or above 60 km/h (37 mph) for at least 30 seconds. 5 must be pressed again to re-enable HDC. When enabled, if the vehicle is at a speed above 22 km/h (14 mph) and less than 60 km/h (37 mph), a DIC message will display. See Vehicle Speed Messages 0 164.

Willyone · September 30, 2016

Quite a few steep hills around here. I don't bother with the hill decent, I just downshift as needed, so as not to heat and warp the rotors. That works very well at most any speed (o:

SouthernSilveradoGuy85 · September 30, 2016

Quite a few steep hills around here. I don't bother with the hill decent, I just downshift as needed, so as not to heat and warp the rotors. That works very well at most any speed (o:

Hill Decent only works at low speed so you won't have a problem with overheating the rotors.

I've only tried it out a couple times and it didn't really do it smooth. It just wasn't steady so it was as if you hit the brake, let off and hit the brake again. I would probavbly prefer controlling the braking myself.

thefishhawk · September 30, 2016

Try it out and see what you think but I'm with SSG85...the thing is a clicking, ticking, jerking mess. And I've had it turn itself off in the middle of a hill more than once. Went back to just old school using 4 low if I need that kind of control on a descent. Idea is good, but it needs some work.

it would be interesting to find out how it compares to Toyota's.

TJay74 · September 30, 2016

At the operating range of 2mph to 14mph I doubt you are going to warp any rotors while using hill descent.

15 Z71 · September 30, 2016

Thanks guys. Figured i may try it out. I have had my truck about a year now and never used it.

truckguy82 · September 30, 2016

I tried it once on an area that I had no problem with traction but its the kind of area when covered with snow you can potentially have full lock on the brakes and still slide.

It was odd. I'd turn it on at like 5 mph and just took my feet off the pedals, and it would just gradually increase speed and then turn itself off. Don't know why it did that.

moose201 · October 1, 2016

I haven't used it on my new Sierra yet but I've used it quite a bit on our Grand Cherokee in the Moab area and I was very impressed. I only used it in low range in very steep and rocky descents where the Jeep gearing was insufficient to maintain control. It just creeped downhill like a granny gear. I'll try it soon in the Sierra but I can't imagine it being very useful unless you are in low range, first gear.

Vic15 · October 1, 2016

The noise you hear is the anti-lock brakes working to keep the speed constant.

TxTruckMan · October 3, 2016

I used mine when I was doing some rocky mountain trails this summer in Colorado. It worked pretty good. My only complaint is that it would shut off after a period of time. It doesn't appear to work over the period of several minutes. I think my brakes were getting hot. I was going very slow in 4LO down very steep inclines.

tnchevy · October 3, 2016

I tried mine when I first got it (got a steep hill in the back of my property). It worked as advertised but as others have mentioned I would rather put the truck in 4low and do it the old school way.

SAD1962 · October 21, 2016

I have used the downhill descent control several times, and it worked great (but made a lot of noise - more than what i would have expected from the ABS system) the first time or two, but I also have the problem where it just disengages, and gives me a message on the DIC that i was going too fast for this feature. I have reported it to the dealer twice now, but I am not getting any satisfaction. They even took it several miles out of town to test drive it, and said it was fine - but it clearly isn't. I would like to know more about other similar failures - seems like a problem for several silverado drivers.

redwngr · October 22, 2016

I have used the downhill descent control several times, and it worked great (but made a lot of noise - more than what i would have expected from the ABS system) the first time or two, but I also have the problem where it just disengages, and gives me a message on the DIC that i was going too fast for this feature. I have reported it to the dealer twice now, but I am not getting any satisfaction. They even took it several miles out of town to test drive it, and said it was fine - but it clearly isn't. I would like to know more about other similar failures - seems like a problem for several silverado drivers.

It's only supposed to work up to 14 mph.

Between 14 and 37 it will stay turned on but not engaged.

If above 37 for 30 seconds or more it will shut off and the button will need to be re-pressed to turn back on.

SAD1962 · October 23, 2016

I got that. If I press the switch 5 at say, 10 mph going down a steep grade, the majority of the time it doesn't engage, just accelerates downgrade and gives me a "you're going too fast" after i roll past 14.