2005 CHEVROLET SUBURBAN Owners Manual

When cleaning the cassette tape player with the
recommended non-abrasive cleaning cassette, it is
possible that the cassette may eject, because the cut
tape detection feature on the radio may recognize it as a
broken tape, in error. To prevent the cleaning cassette
from being ejected, use the following steps:
1. Turn the ignition on.
2. Turn the radio off.
3. Press and hold the TAPE DISC button for
ve seconds. READY will appear on the display and
the cassette symbol will ash for ve seconds.
4. Insert the scrubbing action cleaning cassette.
5. Eject the cleaning cassette after the manufacturer’s
recommended cleaning time.
When the cleaning cassette has been ejected, the
cut tape detection feature will be active again.
A non-scrubbing action, wet-type cleaner which uses a
cassette with a fabric belt to clean the tape head
can be used. This type of cleaning cassette will not
eject on its own. A non-scrubbing action cleaner may not
clean as thoroughly as the scrubbing type cleaner.
The use of a non-scrubbing action, dry-type cleaning
cassette is not recommended.After the player is cleaned, press and hold the eject
button for ve seconds to reset the CLEAN indicator.
The radio will display --- or CLEANED to show the
indicator was reset.
Cassettes are subject to wear and the sound quality
may degrade over time. Always make sure the cassette
tape is in good condition before the tape player is
serviced.
Care of Your CDs and DVDs
Handle discs carefully. Store them in their original cases
or other protective cases and away from direct sunlight
and dust. If the surface of a disc is soiled, dampen
a clean, soft cloth in a mild, neutral detergent solution
and clean it, wiping from the center to the edge.
Be sure never to touch the side without writing when
handling discs. Pick up discs by grasping the outer
edges or the edge of the hole and the outer edge.
Care of the CD and DVD Player
The use of CD lens cleaners for CDs is not advised,
due to the risk of contaminating the lens of the CD optics
with lubricants internal to the CD mechanism.
3-137

Fixed Mast Antenna
The xed mast antenna can withstand most car washes
without being damaged. If the mast should ever
become slightly bent, straighten it out by hand. If the
mast is badly bent, replace it.
Check occasionally to make sure the mast is still
tightened to the cowl. If tightening is required, tighten by
hand, then with a wrench one quarter turn.
XM™ Satellite Radio Antenna
System
The XM™ Satellite Radio antenna is located on the roof
of your vehicle. Keep this antenna clear of snow and
ice build up for clear radio reception.
The performance of the XM™ system may be affected if
the sunroof is open.
Loading items onto the roof of your vehicle can interfere
with the performance of the XM™ system. Make sure
that the XM™ satellite antenna is not obstructed.
Chime Level Adjustment
The radio is the vehicle chime producer. To change the
volume level, press and hold pushbutton 6 with the
ignition on and the radio power off. The chime volume
level will change from the normal level to loud, and
LOUD will appear on the radio display. To change back
to the default or normal setting, press and hold
pushbutton 6 again. The chime level will change from
the loud level to normal, and NORMAL will appear
on the radio display. Each time the chime volume is
changed, three chimes will sound as an example of the
new volume selected. Removing the radio and not
replacing it with a factory radio or chime module will
disable vehicle chimes.
3-138

Your Driving, the Road, and Your Vehicle..........4-2
Defensive Driving...........................................4-2
Drunken Driving.............................................4-3
Control of a Vehicle........................................4-6
Braking.........................................................4-6
Anti-Lock Brake System (ABS).........................4-7
Braking in Emergencies...................................4-8
Traction Assist System (TAS)...........................4-9
Locking Rear Axle........................................4-10
StabiliTrak
®System......................................4-11
Steering......................................................4-14
QUADRASTEER™........................................4-16
Off-Road Recovery.......................................4-19
Passing.......................................................4-19
Loss of Control.............................................4-21
Off-Road Driving...........................................4-22
Driving at Night............................................4-37
Driving in Rain and on Wet Roads..................4-38
City Driving..................................................4-40Freeway Driving...........................................4-41
Before Leaving on a Long Trip.......................4-42
Highway Hypnosis........................................4-43
Hill and Mountain Roads................................4-44
Winter Driving..............................................4-45
If Your Vehicle is Stuck in Sand, Mud,
Ice or Snow..............................................4-50
Rocking Your Vehicle to Get It Out.................4-50
Recovery Hooks...........................................4-51
Loading Your Vehicle....................................4-52
Adding a Snow Plow or Similar Equipment.......4-57
Towing..........................................................4-62
Towing Your Vehicle.....................................4-62
Recreational Vehicle Towing...........................4-62
Level Control...............................................4-65
Autoride
®.....................................................4-66
Trailer Recommendations...............................4-66
Towing a Trailer...........................................4-67
Section 4 Driving Your Vehicle
4-1

Your Driving, the Road, and
Your Vehicle
Defensive Driving
The best advice anyone can give about driving is:
Drive defensively.
Please start with a very important safety device in your
vehicle: Buckle up. SeeSafety Belts: They Are for
Everyone on page 1-23.
Defensive driving really means “be ready for anything.”
On city streets, rural roads, or freeways, it means
“always expect the unexpected.”
Assume that pedestrians or other drivers are going to
be careless and make mistakes. Anticipate what
they might do. Be ready for their mistakes.Rear-end collisions are about the most preventable of
accidents. Yet they are common. Allow enough following
distance. It is the best defensive driving maneuver, in
both city and rural driving. You never know when the
vehicle in front of you is going to brake or turn suddenly.
Defensive driving requires that a driver concentrate on
the driving task. Anything that distracts from the driving
task — such as concentrating on a cellular telephone call,
reading, or reaching for something on the oor — makes
proper defensive driving more difficult and can even
cause a collision, with resulting injury. Ask a passenger to
help do things like this, or pull off the road in a safe place
to do them yourself. These simple defensive driving
techniques could save your life.
4-2

Drunken Driving
Death and injury associated with drinking and driving is
a national tragedy. It is the number one contributor
to the highway death toll, claiming thousands of victims
every year.
Alcohol affects four things that anyone needs to drive a
vehicle:
Judgment
Muscular Coordination
Vision
Attentiveness
Police records show that almost half of all motor
vehicle-related deaths involve alcohol. In most cases,
these deaths are the result of someone who was
drinking and driving. In recent years, more than
16,000 annual motor vehicle-related deaths have been
associated with the use of alcohol, with more than
300,000 people injured.Many adults — by some estimates, nearly half the adult
population — choose never to drink alcohol, so they
never drive after drinking. For persons under 21,
it is against the law in every U.S. state to drink alcohol.
There are good medical, psychological and
developmental reasons for these laws.
The obvious way to eliminate the leading highway
safety problem is for people never to drink alcohol and
then drive. But what if people do? How much is “too
much” if someone plans to drive? It is a lot less
than many might think. Although it depends on each
person and situation, here is some general information
on the problem.
The Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) of someone
who is drinking depends upon four things:
The amount of alcohol consumed
The drinker’s body weight
The amount of food that is consumed before and
during drinking
The length of time it has taken the drinker to
consume the alcohol
4-3

According to the American Medical Association, a 180 lb
(82 kg) person who drinks three 12 ounce (355 ml)
bottles of beer in an hour will end up with a BAC
of about 0.06 percent. The person would reach the
same BAC by drinking three 4 ounce (120 ml) glasses
of wine or three mixed drinks if each had 1-1/2 ounces
(45 ml) of liquors like whiskey, gin, or vodka.It is the amount of alcohol that counts. For example, if
the same person drank three double martinis (3 ounces
or 90 ml of liquor each) within an hour, the person’s
BAC would be close to 0.12 percent. A person
who consumes food just before or during drinking will
have a somewhat lower BAC level.
There is a gender difference, too. Women generally
have a lower relative percentage of body water
than men. Since alcohol is carried in body water, this
means that a woman generally will reach a higher BAC
level than a man of her same body weight will when
each has the same number of drinks.
The law in most U.S. states, and throughout Canada,
sets the legal limit at 0.08 percent. In some other
countries, the limit is even lower. For example, it is
0.05 percent in both France and Germany. The
BAC limit for all commercial drivers in the United States
is 0.04 percent.
The BAC will be over 0.10 percent after three to
six drinks (in one hour). Of course, as we have seen, it
depends on how much alcohol is in the drinks, and
how quickly the person drinks them.
4-4

But the ability to drive is affected well below a BAC of
0.10 percent. Research shows that the driving skills
of many people are impaired at a BAC approaching
0.05 percent, and that the effects are worse at night. All
drivers are impaired at BAC levels above 0.05 percent.
Statistics show that the chance of being in a collision
increases sharply for drivers who have a BAC of
0.05 percent or above. A driver with a BAC level of
0.06 percent has doubled his or her chance of having a
collision. At a BAC level of 0.10 percent, the chance
of this driver having a collision is 12 times greater; at a
level of 0.15 percent, the chance is 25 times greater!
The body takes about an hour to rid itself of the alcohol
in one drink. No amount of coffee or number of cold
showers will speed that up. “I will be careful” is not the
right answer. What if there is an emergency, a need
to take sudden action, as when a child darts into
the street? A person with even a moderate BAC
might not be able to react quickly enough to avoid
the collision.There is something else about drinking and driving that
many people do not know. Medical research shows that
alcohol in a person’s system can make crash injuries
worse, especially injuries to the brain, spinal cord, or
heart. This means that when anyone who has been
drinking — driver or passenger — is in a crash, that
person’s chance of being killed or permanently disabled
is higher than if the person had not been drinking.
{CAUTION:
Drinking and then driving is very dangerous.
Your reexes, perceptions, attentiveness, and
judgment can be affected by even a small
amount of alcohol. You can have a serious — or
even fatal — collision if you drive after drinking.
Please do not drink and drive or ride with a
driver who has been drinking. Ride home in a
cab; or if you are with a group, designate a
driver who will not drink.
4-5

Control of a Vehicle
You have three systems that make your vehicle go where
you want it to go. They are the brakes, the steering, and
the accelerator. All three systems have to do their work at
the places where the tires meet the road.
Sometimes, as when you are driving on snow or ice, it
is easy to ask more of those control systems than
the tires and road can provide. That means you can lose
control of your vehicle. SeeTraction Assist System
(TAS) on page 4-9.
Braking
Braking action involves perception time and reaction
time.
First, you have to decide to push on the brake pedal.
That is perception time. Then you have to bring up your
foot and do it. That is reaction time.
Average reaction time is about three-fourths of a
second. But that is only an average. It might be less
with one driver and as long as two or three seconds or
more with another. Age, physical condition, alertness,
coordination, and eyesight all play a part. So do alcohol,
drugs, and frustration. But even in three-fourths of a
second, a vehicle moving at 60 mph (100 km/h) travels66 feet (20 m). That could be a lot of distance in an
emergency, so keeping enough space between
your vehicle and others is important.
And, of course, actual stopping distances vary greatly
with the surface of the road, whether it is pavement
or gravel; the condition of the road, whether it is
wet, dry, or icy; tire tread; the condition of your brakes;
the weight of the vehicle; and the amount of brake
force applied.
Avoid needless heavy braking. Some people drive
in spurts — heavy acceleration followed by heavy
braking — rather than keeping pace with traffic. This is
a mistake. Your brakes may not have time to cool
between hard stops. Your brakes will wear out much
faster if you do a lot of heavy braking. If you keep pace
with the traffic and allow realistic following distances,
you will eliminate a lot of unnecessary braking.
That means better braking and longer brake life.
If your engine ever stops while you are driving, brake
normally but do not pump your brakes. If you do,
the pedal may get harder to push down. If your engine
stops, you will still have some power brake assist.
But you will use it when you brake. Once the power
assist is used up, it may take longer to stop and
the brake pedal will be harder to push.
4-6