Going down the grades HEAVY

Not sure about where to find a compiled listing of various roads listed by grades but on your second part the other stages of the Jake I have found come in handy if you are heading down a hill and running the jake on full gets to the point it is slowing you down too much you can drop the jake a notch so it will let you build up a little more speed but still maintain the slow speed... For me I would adjust my speed this way going over Pacheco pass outside of Hollister and a couple of the little bumps on 101 near Prunedale going in/out of Salinas.. I spose it'd also come in handy when the ground is wet and empty so the effect of the jake has less of a chance of sliding the wheels....

 

I used to drive for Brent Redmond out of Hollister, so I ran Pacheco Pass quite a bit. Sad to say, in 15 years of driving, I can't ever recall having a truck with a jake that slowed me down too much. Some that got the job done. For some reason, it seems the companies I have worked for didn't seem to care about jakes, as long as they worked, that was sufficient. Complaints of poorly adjusted jakes were just written off as failure on the part of the driver to make good use of the jake.

I would be curious to hear what other drivers feel about these 'retarders' that, if I'm not mistaken, work off the transmission, rather than engine exhaust restriction. Personally, I find them to be of limited use and, again, it seems there is little difference between full and half jake. Are retarders considered to be, in some way, superior to the jakes that operate off engine compression, or are they a cheaper substitute?

And how many times have you seen this: The other day, in a light-business area of San Francisco; a driver bobtailing with full-jake. Every intersection has either a stop sign or light.

Thanks for the comeback!

 

As far as I know they all work off of engine compression.. When I drove for California transport the Jake on my truck would almost bring ya to a stop if empty and definatly if bobtailing... But the truck was also set up to pull overweight loads since hauled alot of the produce equip down to Yuma and heavy equipment around the salinas Valley... I'm not sure what makes one brand of Jake better than the other as far as how effective they are though...

I have seen WWWAAAAYYYYYY to many that bobtail around with full jakes as well as ones with trailers running round in town with the Jakes on.. My wife says its just cause they are trying to "get some" her and her sister refer to the sound from Jakes as a truckers mating call LOL !!

 

I have driven three engine types, Cummins, Detroit, and Cat..IMHO the Cummins has the best, Cat comes in second, and Detroit a distant 5th..just noise from a Detroit to me.

I heard, never really checked but, Cummins holds the patent on "Jake Brakes", the design is perfectly matched to the compression, as the Cat and Detroit are just copies and can't use the technology of Cummns yet.

Used to haul gas/fuel from Sacramento up to Mammoth Lake going over 89 and dropping into Topaz, what a mountain..makes White Bird almost seem flat, especially with 80k lbs of fluid behind you!

 

I have driven five different types of engines with retarders. The three stage engine brake on a Cummins was by far the best as far as slowing you down on a steep grade with a big load. Coming off of Fancy Gap grossing 79,000 lbs I had to use the accelerator a few times to keep speed up. Anything 6% or greater required a little bit of brake, but not much. The CAT was just so-so, but still pretty good when compared to the Detroit, the Volvo, and the Mack Dynatard. I think the last three are only on for show and to make noise because they don't do very much else IMHO.

 

Did a little research a found the following:

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Retarder Device used to assist brakes in slowing the vehicle. The most common type of retarder on over-the-road trucks manipulates the engine's valves to create engine drag. (This type is commonly referred to as "Jake Brake" because the predominant manufacturer is Jacobs Vehicle Equipment Co.) Other types of retarders include exhaust retarders, transmission-mounted hydraulic retarders and axle-mounted electromagnetic retarders. [/FONT]

The transmission-mounted retarder was the type on my last truck which had an automatic trans (hated it). No idea of how an axle-mounted retarder works. Will look into it and see what I come up with. But, I have to say, at an age where I am often called 'Pops', "When I bring up the sound and image of a truck on full-jake, high in the Sierras. I feel the same as I did when I was still a rookie."

 

http://www.rockymountainroads.com/us-006b_co.html

 

There are some pretty good hills in Pa. I pull a set, no Jake, and the trucks are only equipped with 7 speeds so proper braking is pretty important. I've never been on 40, but I've been up and down the "Haz-mat Hump" many times, all the central Pa two-lane, and 322 on a regular basis. Seven Mountain on 322 is one I'd rather not descend with 40K behind me - have to use third gear at about 15-18 MPH which is a little slow but fourth will wind up to about 30-35 MPH. With no Jake your speed builds quick so you have to be cautious. I use the snub technique and it has always worked for me. The only time I use steady pressure is descending those hills on snow or ice. I keep the RPM's lower and steady because the last thing I want with a single axle and a set is the truck to kick out from under me - would rather not lock the kite either so I prefer steady pressure instead of snubbing on bad roads.

Great topic. Some great advice from seasoned drivers all over the country.

 

I ran that (PA 40) with a full shingle load. Was dark and raining. Wife said I sure wish it was daylight so I could get some good pics. I told her I don't think you would want to see this in day light. I have ran 64 a lot also.

 

You bet it's a great topic! Drivers are, especially OTR, required to re-invent the wheel. Once in the truck, experience is gained by trial and error. There's nobody around to offer pointers or advice. It's great to talk CB's, GPS navigators, and trucks. But, it's on this thread and others like it, that insight to the skills that ensure you are around to enjoy those gadgets are found.