Engine Brake Question

Using the engine brake can save your brakes from overheating. It is also much quicker in heavy traffic than using the brake pedal. To me, it is a safety issue.

 

Using Jake or engine brakes when not needed is a waste of fuel.

 

If you talk to most truck drivers over Ten years experience yu will realize they have the jakes on more often tan not..it doesn't waste fuel as its only functioning when your foot isn't on the fuel..

It isn't about being "cool" thugh soe forget to turn it off whenthey roll into places like truck stops or etc..It is about safety

Air brakes lag..add to that reaction time and its a long second or so before the brake pads hit the drums and start slowing you down..If the jake is on and you are confronted with a situation where you have to slow down or stop fast..that jake is an extra little bit of cushion.

It has saved my life, my truck, and my driving record on many occasions when 4 wheelers cut me off on the highway..

However..it is your personal preference how you use it.

Petey

 

Exactly, that's why I run with mine on, except when the weather dictates otherwise. Oh and I've learned that I do need to temporarily shut it off, when starting out out loaded. It will cause shifting problems, due to dropping the RPMs too fast..

 

Actually it was Clessie Cummin's idea which Cummins engines would not pursue. Through a round about series of events the idea ended up at Jacobs which at the time manufactured drill chucks. Jacobs Engineering created a division after Clessie Cummins (now Jacobs Vehicle Systems) to mfg the device.

 

What a load of BS. You claim 32 years of experience but your thoughts on the use of a jake suggests otherwise. One of my first driving jobs was cut short (i got canned) for using service brakes on flat ground rather than the jake and now that I own my own trucks, if i catch a driver using the service brakes rather than the jake, they get ONE warning, next time they are looking for a job. It has nothing to do with "SOUNDING COOL", it's all about knowing how to drive a a truck properly.

 

Compression brakes didn't even exist until the 60's. How did people "properly" drive trucks before then? Same way they do now....use the foot brake to slow & stop the truck, and reduce their speed and select the proper gear before starting down the hill. There are a lot of trucks on the road today that still don't have compression brakes....and they are no less safe than a truck which is equipped with them.

The purpose of the compression brake is to help keep your service brakes from overheating while going down a hill....even says so on the Jacobs Vehicle Systems website.

It was the long downgrades where service brakes tend to "fade" which led to the invention & development of the compression brake....NOT from normal day-to-day driving on flat ground.

 

You are right..it wasn't invented for it..but you do benefit from using it while on the flats as well

Many drivers with years of experience can and will tell stories of the jake saving their lives..not only on downgrades..but in the flats as well..its your choice where and when you use it..

Me personally..It will be on any time my truck is moving faster than 25 mph and it always has been..unless its just too slick or too wet out..

Petey

 

Too wet or too slick. Hmmm wonder why all those super ice road truckers. On the Dalton and up in Canada always preach about how they must use the engine brake because using the foot pedal could cause a lock up or jackknife.

 

Here's my 2 cents on using the Jakes. City driving and such no. Freeway and Highway yes. Weather is a big factor using them at Highway speeds.