Proper use of jake brake

I have to ask--- Where is the ''trainer'' when this is going on?
If he is in the bunk trying to sleep I can understand where they are coming from.
BAAAAA brake baaaaa brake.

 

Just pull the yellow and red knobs out when descending down hill to slow down the truck

 

Just do what you feel safe and comfortable with and you won't have a problem

 

What was the speed limit where you did this at?

 

Your throttle has an engine brake shut off switch. I leave my engine brake in the "ON" position every day and use the throttle & clutch shut off switch to disengage it. Leaving the engine brake ON harms nothing. Use it for what it was designed to do, slow your truck down and give your service brakes assistance

 

Approaching 30 years here, use the jake as you are, if highest setting is slowing your road speed too much, drop down to medium or low setting. If highest setting is letting road speed climb, use foundation brakes. Do not use jake in slippery or icy conditions. The reason for that is when you apply jake, it is braking on one or two axles, your drive axles unless your in a specialized heavy haul tractor, which can result in loss of traction. Foundation brakes apply across all axles in a standard five axle US setup. I will feather my trailer brakes with Johnny Bar as an intermediate step between highest jake setting and foundation brake application if I'm drifting down hill but that can cause problems in slippery conditions as well. These computer controlled space shuttles make it almost impossible to over rev an engine. Correct road speed for weight and downgrade is king. Start down slower than what you think is safe. Remembe, you can go down the grade too slow thousands of times, you will only go down too fast once.

 

I would throw out the use of downgrades to somehow make up the lost time at 61 as unnecessarily counter productive from a safety view. It just does not work. Spend 200 miles at 61 and then see a 3 mile run at 70 or whatever you will see there is no time gained.

I also consider those who govern at 61 unnecesarily wasteful on HOS hours lost trying to complete a long trip at such a slow speed. It would actually be a liability for total miles each week putting along so slow.

 

downshifting raises rpms
upshifting lowers rpms

 

I recommend doing it your trainer's way until you are solo then do it your way