Engine Braking ???

There's two parts to this.

First, my boss says that I do not have to obey any engine braking prohibitions. My truck whistles when I use the engine brake. He says it's for the trucks that 'rap' loudly. I have been seeing quite a few 'vehicle noise' signs. Does that then cover me?


Second, is it hard on the engine to do it? Do I have to worry about doing it too much?

 

I rarely obey engine braking ordinances, depends on the circumstance. Knock on wood, no tickets yet. My truck has short stacks, flow through "mufflers" (think 'glass-pack) and the strongest jakes they put on a CAT C-15. It's borderline obnoxious even for a motorhead like me.

The risk of violating is all yours, the cop who enforces them won't care what your boss told you. (You'll notice this is a recurring theme in the trucking business.)

If the truck is quiet, I wouldn't worry too much.

Engine brakes are not hard on the engine, no more force is exerted than applying throttle. I generally gear down whenever possible, it's smoother and I get better fuel mileage.

 

Alot of those signs are OLD and were put up in the 1970's, 1960's or earlier when trucks made a very loud racket when their engine brakes engaged. Sure you can turn off your engine brake, and then go running right off the mountain or hill and die, or you can use your engine brake, the choice is yours I guess.

 

They put those signs up for the bleeding heart liberals who whine about the jake noise. They think its disruptive to their chi or what not.

But seriously, trucks are loud(see my post in ask a trucker about air horns) and we drivers usually don't notice cause were surrounded by noise all day. If I need to slow the truck down and my safest option is the jakes then, jakes it is. I almost never need to use the jakes in those areas any though. Im not going to BRAAAP a suburb at 4 am unnecessarily.

 

Never forget, you are bound by the FMCSA's laws while you are driving, not your bosses. If he told you to run 13 hours, would you? If you get the ticket for jake braking, is he going to pay for it or is it going on you? Is it going against his license or yours?

 

Did he say he'd cover any fines? Get it in writing.

NO ENGINE BRAKES means NO ENGINE BRAKES. Granted, these were intended to eliminate the racket from unmuffled engines back in the day, but what the hell does the typical cop know about trucks or trucking?

You're left to use your own best judgment.

No, and no.

 

unless you over rev to like 2800 rpms, engine braking is not bad for the engine. It will however really save brake wear since the motor does a lot of the slowing down work. That being said, in most cases you wont be ticketed for violating a jake/engine brake sign, although there are no guarantees. I use mine when ever i want becuase its pretty quiet and its the safest way to slow the truck. A properly working Jake never runs out of air like regular brakes. It also never overheats from over use. now it wont ever fully stop your truck, but it is way more reliable and safer for continued use then your service brakes. I use the jake just to save wear and heat on the brakes. That way, when i need them they are nice and cool.

 

Engine brakes aren't loud unless the mufflers are tampered with. Stock mufflers spec'd for the engine are very quiet.

 

That is what I was trying to get at. I will watch the rpm's next time out. Sometimes I dig deep to grab 5th and the rpm's is what I was worried about. I don't engine brake past that, 5th is low enough.

 

2800 is a guess...depends on motor, just dont go in the red zone on your tach. On my truck, i have green, yellow, orange and red. Green gives best mpg. yellow isnt bad for motor but bad for mpg IF using engine to pull load. Orange starts getting bad for motor so i avoid it and the red zone. Green and yellow r fine for jaking.