Black plate (21,1)GMC Sierra Owner Manual - 2011
Driving and Operating 9-21
{WARNING
Coasting downhill in N (Neutral)
or with the ignition off is
dangerous. The brakes will
have to do all the work of slowing
down and they could get so hot
that they would not work well.
You would then have poor braking
or even none going down a hill.
You could crash. Always have the
engine running and the vehicle in
gear when going downhill.
.Stay in your own lane. Do not
swing wide or cut across the
center of the road. Drive at
speeds that let you stay in
your own lane.
.Top of hills: Be alert—
something could be in your
lane (stalled car, accident).
.Pay attention to special road
signs (falling rocks area, winding
roads, long grades, passing or
no-passing zones) and take
appropriate action.
Winter Driving
Driving on Snow or Ice
Drive carefully when there is snow
or ice between the tires and the
road, creating less traction or grip.
Wet ice can occur at about 0°C
(32°F) when freezing rain begins to
fall, resulting in even less traction.
Avoid driving on wet ice or in
freezing rain until roads can be
treated with salt or sand.
Drive with caution, whatever the
condition. Accelerate gently so
traction is not lost. Accelerating too
quickly causes the wheels to spin
and makes the surface under the
tires slick, so there is even less
traction. Try not to break the fragile traction.
If you accelerate too fast, the drive
wheels will spin and polish the
surface under the tires even more.
The
Antilock Brake System (ABS)
on page 9‑68 improves vehicle
stability during hard stops on
slippery roads, but apply the brakes
sooner than when on dry pavement.
Allow greater following distance on
any slippery road and watch for
slippery spots. Icy patches can
occur on otherwise clear roads in
shaded areas. The surface of a
curve or an overpass can remain
icy when the surrounding roads
are clear. Avoid sudden steering
maneuvers and braking while
on ice.
Turn off cruise control on slippery
surfaces.
Black plate (80,1)GMC Sierra Owner Manual - 2011
10-80 Vehicle Care
Uniform Tire Quality
Grading
Quality grades can be found
where applicable on the tire
sidewall between tread shoulder
and maximum section width.
For example:
Treadwear 200 Traction AA
Temperature A
The following information relates
to the system developed by the
United States National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration
(NHTSA), which grades tires
by treadwear, traction, and
temperature performance.
This applies only to vehicles
sold in the United States.
The grades are molded on the
sidewalls of most passenger car
tires. The Uniform Tire QualityGrading (UTQG) system
does not apply to deep
tread, winter-type snow tires,
space-saver, or temporary use
spare tires, tires with nominal
rim diameters of 10 to 12 inches
(25 to 30 cm), or to some
limited-production tires.
While the tires available on
General Motors passenger
cars and light trucks may vary
with respect to these grades,
they must also conform to
federal safety requirements and
additional General Motors Tire
Performance Criteria (TPC)
standards.
All Passenger Car Tires Must
Conform to Federal Safety
Requirements In Addition To
These Grades.
Treadwear
The treadwear grade is a
comparative rating based
on the wear rate of the tire
when tested under controlled
conditions on a specified
government test course.
For example, a tire graded
150 would wear one and a
half (1½) times as well on
the government course as
a tire graded 100. The relative
performance of tires depends
upon the actual conditions of
their use, however, and may
depart significantly from the
norm due to variations in
driving habits, service practices
and differences in road
characteristics and climate.
Black plate (2,1)GMC Sierra Owner Manual - 2011
i-2 INDEX
AuxiliaryRoof Mounted Lamp . . . . . . . . . . . 6-7
Auxiliary Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-34
Axle, Front . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-36
Axle, Rear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-37
B
Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-34 Jump Starting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-98
Load Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-9
Power Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-10
Voltage and ChargingMessages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-41
Blade Replacement, Wiper . . . 10-41
Bluetooth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-50
Brake Pedal and AdjustableThrottle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-35
Brake System Warning Light . . . 5-27
Brakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-30 Antilock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-68
Assist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-69 Brakes (cont.)
Fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-32
Parking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-69
System Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-42
Braking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-3
Break-In, New Vehicle . . . . . . . . . 9-34
Bulb Replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-48 Center High-MountedStoplamp (CHMSL) and
Cargo Lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-47
Fog Lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-6
Halogen Bulbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-44
Headlamp Aiming . . . . . . . . . . . 10-42
Headlamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-44
License Plate Lamps . . . . . . . 10-48
Pickup-Box Identification and Fender Marker
Lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-45
Taillamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-46
Taillamps, Turn Signal, Stoplamps, and
Back-Up Lamps . . . . . . . . . . . 10-46
Buying New Tires . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-77
C
Calibration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-6
California
Fuel Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . 9-85
Perchlorate MaterialsRequirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-3
Warning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-3
Camera, Rear Vision . . . . . . . . . . 9-78
Canadian Vehicle Owners . . . . . . . . iii
Capacities and Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-2
Carbon Monoxide Engine Exhaust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-44
Tailgate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-10
Winter Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-21
Cargo Lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-8
Cautions, Danger, and
Warnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv
CD Player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-15
CD/DVD Player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-22
Center Console Storage . . . . . . . . 4-2
Black plate (14,1)GMC Sierra Owner Manual - 2011
i-14 INDEX
U
Ultrasonic Parking Assist . . . . . . 9-76
Uniform Tire QualityGrading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-80
Universal Remote System . . . . . 5-61 Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-67
Programming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-61
Using this Manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv
V
Vehicle Canadian Owners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii
Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-3
IdentificationNumber (VIN) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-1
Load Limits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-25
Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-41
Personalization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-52
Reminder Messages . . . . . . . . . . 5-50
Remote Start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-5
Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-12
Towing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-103 Vehicle Care
Tire Pressure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-66
Vehicle Identification Service Parts IdentificationLabel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-1
Ventilation, Air . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-11
Visors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-20
Voltmeter Gauge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-18
W
Warning Brake System Light . . . . . . . . . . . 5-27
Warning Lights, Gauges,
and Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-12
Warnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv Cautions and Danger . . . . . . . . . . . .iv
Hazard Flashers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-5
Washer Fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-29
Washer Fluid Messages . . . . . . . 5-51 Wheels
Alignment and Tire
Balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-81
Different Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-79
Replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-82
When It Is Time for New Tires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-76
Where to Put the Restraint . . . . 3-56
Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-18 Manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-19
Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-19
Rear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-20
Windshield Wiper/Washer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-5
Winter Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-21
Wiper Blade Replacement . . . . 10-41