Cruise Control acting up?

All,
First post. Purchased a used 2015 Tacoma about 4 months ago. I took it on it's first trip from Houston to Austin this weekend. I used the cruise most of the way and noticed that on most simple bridges, the cruise seemed to drop the truck from 4th gear all the way to 2nd gear. It drops to 3rd for maybe 1 second before dropping again to 2nd gear. Is this normal behavior?

 

Yup. Totally normal.

It sucks.. but, normal.

 

I would recommend manually downshifting when you approach hills (cruise control will not be effected by this), it usually helps quite a bit. Conversely, you can hit the gas pedal and take over that manually for the hill - then when you let off the pedal it'll return to your normal set speed.

 

That's one of many reasons why I bought a MANUAL.

 

Same, but mine didn't come with cruise control lol... (i've since added cruise)

 

Normal for going up grades. CC is for flat (or near flat) roads.

Disable it on an up-grade, or the computer will try to maintain that speed by reving up and downshifting like crazy.

 

Speak for yourself, but I've always found that cruise control REALLY shines on hills, since you don't have to focus so much on keeping a consistent speed.

 

Point taken, but I believe this depends on the power to weight of your vehicle. I have 2 Toyotas, both 4-bangers with AT, and this is my experience on steeper grades. The motor just doesn't have the HP to maintain speed on any grade above 'mild'. If either one had a V6, I likely wouldn't have the same issue.

 

There is a huge difference in the power curves on a 2TR, compared to your '99.

 

I drive a pretty decent commute to work 5 days a week. 95% highway through the hills of PA. I just use the cruise basically because it is easier to maintain speed. The truck does really well. I somewhat don't like how firm the truck downshifts but everyone says it's normal. Aside from that, it works really well for my drive. If I drive w/o the cruise, I find it harder to maintain a consistent speed (which is a peeve of mine on the highway), so I prefer CC.

 

Hate to say it but yes very normal. It's hunting for a gear that will meet the load and road speed.

If you have oversized tires it makes matters worse.