cruise control slack

Factory installed cruise control takes a sec or 2 to kick in after setting.
Also is a bit sloppy in maintaining speed.

Is this an adjustment to the actuator cable? do we have an actuator cable?

Short peek under the hood didn't show anything obvious..... maybe under the big cover?

 

No cable, 2nd Gen is drive-by-wire.
That's just the way they are.
Worse on the 2.7 than the 4.0, but when you start getting into hilly terrain, I'd suggest disabling it.

The cruise will not slow you down, and it lags a bit in speeding up because it is by nature a reactive system rather than a proactive system.
The Cruise system has to respond AFTER it senses the speed drop below or rise above the setting (and there's a bit of hysteresis, which is the lag you sense).
Compared to when you are controlling speed, you see the hill ahead so you can gradually add throttle before you drop speed.

 

^X2; also, one way to beat the lag feeling when you set it is to set it, say 65, then leave you foot on the gas to hold 65 for a few seconds to let the system react and then gradually let you foot relax off the gas. this will lessen , if not do away with the drop that you sense as it picks up.

The computer needs to know where you are when you set the control , it does that by allowing the truck to slow a bit then is able to pick up to the speed that was set.

in the hills, I drop off by 5 mph and drop to 4th; this will usually allow the truck (DCSB / Sport V6 auto) to manage all but the steepest on the cruise, but you will suffer in the fuel consumption and will work the trans more than you might like.

You need to use your own judgment; in some cases you are a better manager then the cruise control, after all it does not have a brain and it can not see what is coming up in order to be proactive.

I see you have a scangauge; if you have Firm ver. 4.13 and a 2010+ model (you do) then you can monitor trans temp. When you are in the hills keep it in cruise and D and watch your trans temp; you wont like it.

 

Thanks!
Now at least I know there's no cable to adjust
I agree with all the comments here re how it's been performing - and where I drive it's pretty hilly.
Better than nothing, but not as good as other brands'.

 

I rented a PT Cruiser a few years ago.
It's cruise was more hyperactive than my '08 Tacoma.
The '03 Tundra was pretty good, but it still overreacted on steep hills.
Had an '07 Explorer... it too was a little overreactive.

The Silverado was beautiful, but that was behind a 400cid Diesel.
I could set the cruise to 70 and it would climb out of LA, though gorman, and down into Laval on I-5 without downshifting once.

 

Cruise control on this truck is one of many functions in need of upgrading to keep up with current technology. As the OP notes, cruise control is slow to engage and slow to respond to terrain change. The dash indicators only tell you if cruise control is on; no indicator if it's been engaged. At a minimum, there should be an indicator telling the driver whether or not cruise control is set. Better, it could tell you what speed it's set to. Lack of viable competition in its class has made Toyota complacent with the Tacoma.

 

I've never seen any cruise with anything more than a simple "on" indication.

Only difference is some light up the dash only when the cruise is engaged, rather than simply "armed".
Never seen one on a non-luxury vehicle that has more than one light, or a set-speed display.

 

Even so, no technology update can make up for the lack of sufficient horsepower. IMO that is the root problem in most cruise control issues.

The tacoma is not that bad but you do have to manage it. On the other hand, cruise on a 4 banger Geo is a joke. If you are dealing with a 6L motor probably a lot better.

 

I think it is the automatic transmission. There are no issues like this with the stick.

Honda you have a separate button to "Arm" the cruise, and you do that once the day you drive off the lot.

From then on you "set" and the light comes on and you know you are in CC. You don't have to keep arming the thing every time you hit the brakes. Better design imo.

 

My cruise control has worked well, never had a problem, but then there isn't a hill within 100 miles of my house.

The few times I've traveled in the "mountains" on the East Coast I don't bother with it.

 

It's the downshift sensitivity... One of the hills on my way to work and another on the way home, if I leave cruise set and try to maintain 70, the hill climb is a process of jumping between the top 3 gears alternating between WOT and off the gas.
With stick, you are controlling the transmission, so the cruise can only simply apply more throttle until speed drops to 10mph below the set point where it disengages.

The issues with the automatic can be mitigated to a degree by pulling it out of OD before hitting the hill.

That's how GM cruise works. The arming switch can be left on 24/7.

You don't have to rearm the Toyota every time you hit the brakes... it remains armed until the ignition is shut off. You do have to hit "resume" like any cruise. At least on mine, it retains set speed after coming to a complete stop (but won't automatically accelerate on "resume" until after I cross 30mph)

 

Oops, I forgot. I do have to rearm frequently only because I'm shutting of the motor 8-10 times every day commuting to and from work.

 

I have two other vehicles.
2011 Subaru Forester - two dash indicators: one indicates cruise is on, another indicates engaged.
2011 VW GTI - indicates on or off, set or not (and at what speed), and engaged or not.

There's room for Toyota to improve.

 

Toyota has this on other vehicles. My 2010 Prius II had separate indicators for cruise on and cruise set. My 2011 Prius V (with Dynamic Radar Cruise Control) shows on, set, and target speed. The Tacoma is behind the times, even for Toyota.

Mike

 

It's a truck.

 

Oh yeah, sorry forgot.