I will confess right upfront that I do not know all there is to know about engine brakes. I had a '99 W9 ( 475 Cat, 18 speed, 3.55 rears and 24.5 rubber). When I sold the truck it had 728,000 miles on it. The last I knew of the truck it had 940,000 some miles on it. The engine, trans., and rears had not been touched other than the usual repairs. No major repairs in other words. This is how I drove it: I did not wait until I was at a stop sign or turn to begin slowing down. I used the engine brake and dropped down a few gears. When I was under 30 mph I would also apply the brakes lightly because that would be all I needed. I put brakes on the truck only because I thought it was not slowing down the way I thought it should. This was at 672,000 miles. I did not replace the drums because they didn't show heat stress or a lot of wear. I drive this way because the engine brake was originally designed to do just that. The heavy log trucks in the woods of the Pacific Northwest needed more than service brakes to maintain a safe speed going down steep grades. If you think I have just dished out a load of crap you can help yourselves by researching engine brakes and learning how to use them properly. This goes for the rookies and those who have been driving a long time. I am not going to waste my time to refute the erroneous statements in the thread that brought you here. Read up on it before you make any more comments on engine brakes. If I can learn something I am all for it. I may be an old dog but I still like learning. Let the comments begin. Geez. I just had a terrible thought: what if I am the one who is all wrong.
Using an engine brake
Discussion in 'Trucks [ Eighteen Wheelers ]' started by bigguns, Jan 29, 2015.
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I use my engine brake the exact same way, hardly any regular brakes at all, even when light. When I am heavy and going down a grade, I use the Stab method and I ignore "no engine brk" signs all the time. My life is more important than any sign or ticket, not to mention the people I may take out if my brakes fail because I used them 100% I know a lot of the old timers use the "light pressure" method,,keeping light pressure on the brake peddle as they go down a steep grade, heavy. I don't like that method myself but, that is my opinion. Slow and easy is the best method by far...
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I drive the same way I kinda imagine applying The brakes like taking a grinder to drums ... Another side benefit is you save fuel if you don't need to come to full stop by jaking early .. Only thing you have to remember is that occasionally you need to apply brakes hard to get slacks to adjust correctly.. Often it's the the guy who barely uses the brakes who ends up with brakes out of adjustment
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Hard brake riding on hills, all that smoke let's you know their working. And jake brakes are only for use when racing around the truckstop. This is all the good info you can all learn at the professional drivers only section
-_-Cetane+, peterbilt_2005, JarradS and 3 others Thank this. -
Is it just me, or are the jake brakes on these new trucks totally worthless though? They will barely slow you down on flat ground.
AdamSheepDog Thanks this. -
Depends on the motor. What are you driving?
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I drove both a Prostar with the Maxxjunk motor and a Cascadia with a DD13
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I have an 550 ISX and 3406e Cat that have good engine brakes.
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We also need to keep in mind how much weight are you slowing down with. My C 15 takes almost a mile to get stopped (without foot brakes) but it's trying to stop 140,000 lbs, often with a bit of a downgrade. If you are grossing 80K or maybe only 60K, it should be a lot easier to get your speed down.
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