Adaptative cruise control

[bruceb58]

On 9/24/2025 at 2:23 PM, UWSkier said:

In the Mercedes, I only ever use adaptive cruise. In my Silverado, I hate it and disable it (since I'm usually towing).  GM's implementation is crap compared to more refined brands.

Basically had adaptive cruise control on 90% of the time on a 1500 mile trip towing a 6500# trailer. I would not have wanted to do the trip with out it.

[Chuck FB]

3 hours ago, bruceb58 said:

Basically had adaptive cruise control on 90% of the time on a 1500 mile trip towing a 6500# trailer. I would not have wanted to do the trip with out it.

I was wondering what you've noted as far as brake pad wear on these trucks for their miles, if it seems similar to prior trucks that never had the cruise connected to the braking system. Of course there are the variables such as the braking capacity of the trucks in question over the years as the components are ever changing as time goes on with probable higher capacity brakes as gross combined weight ratings have gone up historically. 

[bruceb58]

22 hours ago, Chuck FB said:

I was wondering what you've noted as far as brake pad wear on these trucks for their miles, if it seems similar to prior trucks that never had the cruise connected to the braking system. Of course there are the variables such as the braking capacity of the trucks in question over the years as the components are ever changing as time goes on with probable higher capacity brakes as gross combined weight ratings have gone up historically. 

I have 12K miles on my truck. I will let you know in 5  more years.

[Chuck FB]

5 hours ago, bruceb58 said:

I have 12K miles on my truck. I will let you know in 5  more years.

I thought somewhere on this forum there was someone talking about having severely short brake pad life and possibly some brake parts replaced on warranty although I could be completely wrong on the warranty part. The gist was that it was very odd and talk about that it must have been a high wearing pad material or that something was wrong. I believe that was where someone brought up the idea of the adaptive cruise wondering if that was a possible reason. 

 

Also I wonder how accurate the wear indicators on the dash are, I think I might be at 98% front and 99% rear as I have few miles at 3500 and not towing or doing anything wild or wacky, however if a lot of gravel roads are driven or our wonderful corrosive slop with sand during the winter that corrodes and works as a grinding compound, that will take a lot of life out of brakes even when they are not being applied. Rear rotors on trucks depending on the vehicles design ( back spacing of the wheel ) and conditions driven on don't last nearly as long as the former drum brakes that protected themselves from the elements far better as the front tires are constantly throwing crap towards the rear. It would not surprise me if the rear wears at a faster rate than the front this winter, I will find out. 

[UWSkier]

On 9/26/2025 at 7:36 PM, bruceb58 said:

Basically had adaptive cruise control on 90% of the time on a 1500 mile trip towing a 6500# trailer. I would not have wanted to do the trip with out it.

That's good if it works for you.  I just did a 5000 mile tow of my 8000# travel trailer cross country, and the only time I'd turn mine on is if there were lane closures that had us down to a single lane and I wanted to keep a large distance.  If I use it during regular interstate cruising, I find it's constantly hitting the brakes when people pass me and move back to the right, or if I'm in the left lane to pass a line of slow cars, it leaves a big gap and people keep cutting in front of me, slowing me down, making everyone think I'm the left lane bandito.  It leads to people passing me on the right.  It's a bit too cautious in tow/haul for my liking.

[redwngr]

I use cruise almost every time I'm in the truck.

 

Adaptive cruise is another tool in the kit.

 

For many years I manually operated regular cruise to 'sorta' behave like adaptive cruise.

Hit pause to slow down when approaching slower traffic that I can see I won't be able to pass.

Bump the controls up or down to maintain distance when pacing others. 

 

Sometimes on longer trips it was a sort of game to see how many miles were possible without needing to use the brakes or  throttle. 

 

I find that I need to interact with the controls for cruise much less often when it's set to adaptive cruise. 

 

And of course in some traffic situations -- I'm mostly thinking about heavy commuter type traffic on limited access roads -- neither type of cruise is usable. 

 

I've never been in a vehicle with 'super cruise', but I wonder how well it would behave in those situations that regular cruise or adaptive cruise don't work well?  

 

We also have a mid-size GMC suv with adaptive cruise.

I don't like it's programming as well as the Sierra..

 

 

[Dunn]

the adaptive cruise in my 23 high country was jerky but in 24 SLT it is pretty seamless....dont know why or if they updated but it works really well.....even in LA traffic