Highway says 5% grade, 2021 Yukon Instruments say 2-3degrees

tagexpcom · Nov 21, 2023

We recently purchased a used 2021 Yukon Denali and one of the features is the 'level' of the vehicle. We live among the mountains - so anyplace we go to escape town requires going over a 5% or 6% grade as posted on the various highways out of town.

However, I've noticed that the rig's 'level gauge' never exceeds 3% even though the grade appears to be 5% according to the road signs.

Is the onboard vehicle level gauge inaccurate or am I misunderstanding the expected level of accuracy? Not meaning to come of as critical (LOVE the rig) but rather a 2% difference seems like a lot so I'm curious.

B-train · Nov 21, 2023

That's an interesting question. I have that in mine, but never had hills steep enough to play with it on a regular basis. I know the trucks have a rake to the front for aerodynamics, maybe that's not figured in?

The way to get scientific about it would be to park on a grade, see what the truck says, and then use a level to check the actual grade. I'd probably recommend a not busy road though. LOL

StephenPT · Nov 21, 2023

I've noticed this as well. I've pulled some hills and thought "I wonder what % grade I'm on." When I look at the pitch it's saying somewhere between 1-3%. Much less than I think it would be. The roll however seems to be very sensitive and will show numbers higher than expected.

Marky Dissod · Nov 21, 2023

tagexpcom said:
... among the mountains - anyplace we go to escape town requires going over a 5% or 6% grade as posted on the various highways ...
... noticed that the rig's 'level gauge' never exceeds 3%, even though the grade appears to be 5% according to the road signs.

Govt covering its arse by never understating the grade; they'd rather overstate for their protection.

tagexpcom · Nov 22, 2023

Was watching a vid on grades and 5% grade means 5ft up over 100ft BUT.... that doesn't mean 5 degrees. Found this calculator - https://www.easy-calculators.com/percent-to-degrees.php - and 5% grade = 2.86 degrees

So the rig is correct when it shows 2-3 degrees angle on 5% grade

B-train · Nov 22, 2023

Cool find! Thanks for sharing!

Fless · Nov 22, 2023

tagexpcom said:
Was watching a vid on grades and 5% grade means 5ft up over 100ft BUT.... that doesn't mean 5 degrees. Found this calculator - https://www.easy-calculators.com/percent-to-degrees.php - and 5% grade = 2.86 degrees
View attachment 414825

So the rig is correct when it shows 2-3 degrees angle on 5% grade

A "degree" value wasn't mentioned in your original post. We thought you were talking apples-to-apples. Does your truck read in degrees?

tagexpcom · Nov 22, 2023

You're right - the rig shows degrees. I have been mentally lazy all my life and just equated 5% grade with 5 degrees - but of course they're not the same

Amended the title to say degrees instead of %

BlaineBug · Nov 23, 2023

tagexpcom said:
We recently purchased a used 2021 Yukon Denali and one of the features is the 'level' of the vehicle. We live among the mountains - so anyplace we go to escape town requires going over a 5% or 6% grade as posted on the various highways out of town.

However, I've noticed that the rig's 'level gauge' never exceeds 3% even though the grade appears to be 5% according to the road signs.

Is the onboard vehicle level gauge inaccurate or am I misunderstanding the expected level of accuracy? Not meaning to come of as critical (LOVE the rig) but rather a 2% difference seems like a lot so I'm curious.

Noticed the same thing, specifically with Monteagle Mountain in Tennessee. I believe the grade signs say 5-6%? I've never seen more than 2 or 3% on the display.

BlaineBug · Nov 23, 2023

tagexpcom said:
Was watching a vid on grades and 5% grade means 5ft up over 100ft BUT.... that doesn't mean 5 degrees. Found this calculator - https://www.easy-calculators.com/percent-to-degrees.php - and 5% grade = 2.86 degrees
View attachment 414825

So the rig is correct when it shows 2-3 degrees angle on 5% grade

Should have read that first. I didn't even think of the unit measurement being different. Grade sign goes by too fast at 140 mph.

Highway says 5% grade, 2021 Yukon Instruments say 2-3degrees

tagexpcom

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