shifting.....

about finding the jake switch left on I never shut mine off just cover the clutch to shift nice and smooth I take my driving very serious not a game. I'm not an o/o but I treat the truck as my own and try to avoid unnecessary damage nobody likes a cowboy they make us real professionals look bad but when done right it does sound pretty cool!!!

 

I wouldn't cover the clutch up cause if your resting your foot on the clutch your causing premature wear on the clutch.

 

I never have my Jake switched off, period. When I'm shifting I rest my foot on the clutch to take up the slack and keep the Jake from kicking on.

 

Negative. When resting your foot on the clutch pedal you're not applying pressure, you're simply taking the slack out of the pedal travel. To wear the clutch you have to apply enough pressure to cause the PP to release some clamping pressure. The worst you can do resting your foot is throwout bearing wear but unless the bearing is defective anyway you're not going to bother it at all.

 

Jake shifting is a billybigrigger trick, IMNSHO. I have very seldom ever done it. It's hard on the power/drive train if you screw it up, and you will. The Jakes are cool, yes, but they aren't a toy.

 

I got a 430 Detroit on a 10 speed that won't pull the hills below 1400 rpm so to keep my road speed and rpms high, i'll leave the jake on. what i do is i wind it up until the turbo begins to spool down, then i pull it out of gear, then as soon as the jake comes on i put it in the next gear. but i do not instantly gouge on it, i wait a fraction of a second before i ease the pedal down again. that allows me to shift it smoothly and get gears at about 1400 rpm.

every truck is different and therfore technique differs. if your jake lags real bad when you let off the pedal, jake shifting won't help you. depending on your truck it may not even be practical.

this is something that needs to be done smooth every time or you may destroy the truck. make sure you practice jake shifting only with an empty truck. don't atempt it with a load until you got it down.

 

the purpose of an engine brake is to supplement the brakes when you're going down a steep mountain. it's not to upshift, downshift, slow the truck on a slight grade, slow the truck at 10 MPH when you're turning into a truck stop, or for any other reason. you keep over using it and you're going to wear out the mechanism, and then it's not going to function when you really need it, and you're going to end up on an escape ramp on the side of a mountain somewhere.

you people are making driving a truck waaaaaaaaay overcomplicated.

 

I don't understand how you can wear out a Jake break, It is just allowing the valve to open on the upstroke, correct?
I leave mine on but use the clutch all the time when I shift, my jakes shut off as I just touch the clutch, hardly no depression, I leave my Jakes on the low setting for most of the time, and switch to High when in the mountains.

 

I rarely ran with my jakes on unless I was in terrain that required it. I would use it every once in a great while in terrain that didn't really require it, but I never treated it as a constant necessity.

Just like every once in awhile I would give a blast or two of the air horn going past a golf course or driving range.

 

Thats what i'm saying. I used it in the hills with a load. At least half the loads i pull are over by a few thousand and the other half aren't under by much. Jake shifting allows me to get to the top of a hill in say 6th rather than 4th. I don't use it in any other situation. its definetly not a necessity but it is useful in the right situation.