Using a Johnson Bar Brake with Jake Brake on hills

BAD BAD IDEA in most cases. If you have a jack knife caused by the trailer, (most jack knifes) the trailer wheels arn't gripping. Applying brake will just cause them to lock up more. remember applying brakes on a wheel that's not gripping WON'T slow down your truck. The proper procedure is let off the brakes until they regain grip, then brake.

Now, if you blow a steer,you have a truck induces jack knife. The truck is turning but the trailer is still strait. This is when just using trailer brake may help, but you still probably sol.


For the OP, The proper down hill proceedure if gear down before you start down hill. Choose a safe speed based on grade, turns, weight etc. The steeper, the heavier, the curvier, the lower gear you should be in and lower speed. As you get to your safe speed, apply all brakes hard enough to reduce your speed by 5 mph within 3 second. Dont touch the brakes again untill you speed back up.

Riding trailer brakes or any brakes, even at only 20 psi will burn them up. Once they burn up, you have no brakes. Your emergency brakes wont even work. I've had trailer brakes fail when my load broke my blue air line and ill tell you, even on a flat i had to pull the red nob to get my truck stopped. i would have over shot on truck brakes alone. You just asking for a fire and/or brake failure using brakes like that on a down hill.

 

You should know your truck well enough to know what gear will allow what speeds. No matter what, once you get on the hill stay in the gear you choose weather it was right or not. If you miss a shift on a downgrade, your brakes alone will fail. Get used to how you truck preforms under different weights. Untill you know, use a lower gear then you think. who cares if idiots fly by you. Turn on your hazards and go a safe speed.

 

You know what I'm talking about. We're on the same page. I used 30 mph for the average 80 k truck. If need be, I will start off in the basement and walk her down the downgrade with the hazards flashing. I feel no shame creeping down a mountain.

 

I love seeing trucks fly by me down the mountain, and then passing them on the side of the road with smoke pouring out from their brakes. I always remember my instructor back in trucking school saying "Go down in the same gear you went up." You can't go wrong that way.

 

I have been driving a truck almost 30 years, and have never heard anybody call the 't handle' a 'johnson bar brake'.


A 'johnson bar' or 'J-bar' is something most of you 'drop and hook' kings will never see.

It's a leverage tool to move heavy objects.



You can move heavy crates, etc, or at least pick up an edge enough to get other stuff under it to move it.

Of course, they may be teaching you some special technique in truck driving school now on how to stop a truck using a Johnson bar, but that technique will be as useless as the fingerless gloves you are probably wearing.

 

I first learned to drive a truck in 1979 and the trailer brake was called the Johnny bar back then.

 

We actually have one of those at my current job. Its never a good day when we need it.

 

i drove in the 60s and they called them a johnson bar back then, or a trolley valve.

 

You said Johnson... huh hu huh huh hu huh.