The Jake brake

Written by somebody who's best friend is named Jake! Know how to use it, and it will work for you in all situations.

 

Wherever it says "compression brakes" are prohibited on a white sign with black lettering, that's illegal, though probably pertains to unmuffled ones, as some say this also ("unmuffled compression brakes").

They might have these signs by airports and train tracks too, because everything makes sense that way in trucking. While you're getting a ticket for compression brakes, someone will drive by in a car without a muffler followed by an even louder motorcycle, which is perfectly fine.

I've even seen a group of trucking warehouses, where someone later built apartments next door and insisted that the city put a "no trucks" sign at the entrance to the trucking lot. Okey dokey...

 

I was just having this conversation with a police officer in my unit yesterday. They don't carry decibel meters, so it's their own discretion of whether they want to write a ticket for violation of a noise ordinance, and they can fight it out in court later.

 

Alright, in that case it sounds like muffled compression brakes are okay (no louder than the truck anyway).

 

As a new driver, I always had the jake turned off when I was upshifting. If it is on, your rpms will drop twice as fast as normal and will throw off your shifting. It was hard enough to hit the gears all the time without that variable interfering with my timing. I pulled a smooth bore milk tanker so I always wanted nice smooth shifts to avoid getting a surge started. I drove in the upper midwest.

I started floating gears after about 10,000 miles and still kept the jake brake off when I was upshifting, as it would still throw my timing off if I left it on.

The best use of the jake for me was when I would exit the interstate. I would use the jake for the last mile of the exit while I downshifted. I would use it when on downhills to control my speed. The Pete jakes worked well and I always tried to use them as they were a smooth way to slow the rig down.

 

Mine stays on....it make no more noise than me pulling ...just gotta understand and repect it.

Not for every motor, that should be made clear.

My Mack turns off at 900, and the Volvo I was driving turns of at 1000.

Max in the Mack is between 2100 and 1400 by seat of the pants.

When the Volvo was working full strength, it was 1900-1300.

Every motor is different.

The last paragraph is my practice as well

 

I prefer the Brakesaver retarder. I'm more of a subtle, creep in an' out stealth type.

 

When I drove the R model Mack, I ( and many others) would leave the engine brake ( Dynatard) on, as with the 5 speed, the road speed would drop off faster than the next gear, and a "quick shift" was in order. The Cat "Brakesaver" was the best slower downer there was. So good, in fact, it would get you into trouble on slippery surfaces. I heard, if you kill the motor on a Cummins with a Jake on, you can really mess up the engine, which is why the shutoff devices should be working.

 

There is a huge difference between fighting a ticket and actually winning. Just about every court in this land will give that officers opinion great weight. I have always subscribed to the policy that if you see those signs you reach over and flip that switch off.