the unnecessary usage of j-brakes, why????

I use going mine pulling into the fuel island..im so cool......I mean im saving my brakes

 

I know this is an old post but I seen it and had to say something. You might think its a slight grade, but try being fully loaded at nearly 80000 pounds
and having to go down even a slight grade and around a corner, even if its also a slight corner. What you should be mad at are those "professional drivers"
with the un muffled exhuast. My truck has double stacks but they have the factory exhuast and you really cant here the jakes unless im going down a steep grade. Also if you have a wife and kids or family at all just be glad we use them, becuase they help us be safe muffled or not.

 

We don't have jakes on our pre 2012 trucks... We haul anywhere from 90,000lbs to 130,000lbs.... I am so used to not having them that when I get into one of our newer Coronado's that I don't really use the jakes at all... Heck when I am in our 4 axle dump trucks loaded up to a max of 85,000lbs I don't even have use of jakes... I guess when your used to not having them you learn how to drive accordingly.. I just shift the gears down (18spd) and brake earlier and I have never had braking issues... I always get a chuckle when I see people using the jakes in low speed areas (residential or congested hwy) cause if you need jakes to slow down at slow speeds then you need to learn how to use the gears... I am pretty sure if I can stop a truck with 130,000lbs with no other help other then my shifting and braking then I am pretty sure you can slow down 80,000lbs as well... I am not saying Jakes are not a good tool to use, I am just saying don't be so dependant on them... I get past by other trucks on ramps sometimes because I have to slow down before them because I am not using an engine to help slow me down.. So when I start shifting and braking at 250-300 feet before my stop and the guy with the jakes doesn't start until 100feet before the stop of course I am gonna get passed lol...

 

What happened to "Loud Pipes (With Open Jakes) Save Lives"?

 

I have seen people using unmuffled engine brakes in towns at 3 am. That's just rude and obnoxious. Really improves the publics impression of trucking.

 

They do...don't cha know that's the sound of get the hell away from me I CANT STOP!!!!

I have little respect for the or (original ranter) build a hose next to a highway that was there before the house and complain about Jakes and then have the odasity to say he was there before Jakes.

But what do I know I'm young...but smart. I want to lose my hearing with a straight piped truck while I'm young so I don't have to listen to complaining after I retire.

 

Drivers using loud jakes, think everyone else thinks they're so cool. Most people think they're idiots.

 

I run with my Jakes on 90% of the time. It has nothing to do with being cool. First and foremost my boss, the owner of the company suggests and requires that we do. Jakes are cheaper than brakes, according to him. In fact my boss loves jakes so much, he has them installed on his personal diesel engine pick-up trucks. With all the idiot 4 wheelers that pull out in front of you, from intersections or lane changes, then slow, slam on their brakes, and the yellow traffic signal lights getting intentionally shorter (increase revenue from stop-light cameras), or whatever, I'm going to run and use them so I don't have to worry about not having sufficient brakes when they're really needed. Approaching a town along a highway, I'll start downshifting with the jakes on, about .5 miles, and I'll run the jakes right up to those ludicrous signs.. Compression Engine Brakes Prohibited, Ordinance xxxxx, or whatever the wording is. In the larger cities/metro areas, the jakes are on.

On the highways, they're real effective for just slowing a little when approaching other vehicles moving slower, or maintaining my distance. Just need to ease off the accelerator and I start slowing immediately, without touching the brakes.

I repeatedly see big trucks rolling up to intersections, no brake lights until about the last minute. They're having to use max braking to get stopped from 30+mph or more on highways. Doing that over and over again, you'll find that you're either replacing brakes way more often than should be, or when you really need all the brakes you can muster, they may not be there.

Jake Brakes, are a type of braking tool, I don't really care or should care what is thought. I'm provided with that tool, and it's there to use, and will do so. I feel it makes more sense to use them and not have to heat up, wear down my brakes quicker than I would without using it, and hopefully will have sufficient braking and can stop when that idiot with his family pulls in front of me.

So why not just remove the brakes all together? Just use downshifting and the clutch, oh but then we will have the issue with the clutch wearing out early, or grinding gears.

Simply, you don't like it good for you, just don't force me to do as you like, and I won't try and force you to do as I like. You know there are people right now that think we should not be able to drink more than 16oz of soda, and have gone to the extremes to ensure that happens. They don't like it, so we shouldn't be able to. Sound familiar? Thankfully it's only in that great city of NY. Get the point? This jake-brake issue is the exact same thing. A group of like-minded people don't like them so no one else should have them. B.S.!!!

 

Eaton18 - I kept my jake on most of the time also. What the issue is, is drivers with straight pipes or loud pipes using them. The trucks I drove, you could barely hear the jake. I just don't understand the loud part or using straight pipes and a jake in truck stop parking lots. I don't understand those guy using them when there are residential area or hospitals in the area of steep grades. I just don't get it.

 

Truck stops and residential are one thing were talking highways though. I would never (unless a neighbor complained.) Use a straight piped Jake in a residential area. Key word is RESIDENTIAL if there's a highway running through town or an interstate that highway or interstate was built long before everybody decided to build houses and business next to the road. Eaton18 makes a good point they aid in stopping and they're a safety feature. I know how to stop without them as all drivers should but when it comes down to it I'm going to use them. City ordinance or not they're staying on.

Now a gangster can crank his rap music up real loud and you can hear boom boom boom and nobody complains. Some idiot 16 year old with his little rice grinding piece of junk can put a muffler on his car that sounds like a fart going down the road nobody complains. But a guy kicks his Jake on to slow him down and avoid an accident and its the end of the world as we know it. Call me a Jake brake cowboy call me young and dumb don't care my Jakes stay on no matter how loud they are. Nobody complains about a pack of Harleys either and they're louder than a straight piped Jake. So when the farts come off the road the Harleys get muffled and the music gets turned down I'll muffle my truck. Just like trucks being limited to lanes, truck routes, and all the other crap. Until I'm treated like everyone else which will never happen I'm not muffling my truck.