Engine Brake on wet and rainy roads ?

Use jakes on the straights only

 

Its better not use it like everyone said. The new auto shifts in the freightliners. The DT-12 trasnmision will downshift a gear and crank up the engine RPMs to 1,700 or even 2,200. It will give you crazy engine brake vs older manual transmission with engine brake. If definitely don't want to use it on snow or ice.

 

One of my trucks is auto shift but is older, a 99 model. I can and did always put it in manual mode on slick roads, can you not hold the newer ones in the gear of your choice?

 

Depends on weight, road conditions what stage i it set at .
If its slick I shut it off

 

Had my ecm set so when the Cruz is on and Jake is on when road speed goes over 2 mph over the set speed the Jake automatically comes on .
Handy in cali ..bump the Cruz down and never touch the brakes .

 

Yes I know the one I have , can set it in manual mode.. But mine is setup to cut power in manual mode. Can only hit 53mph in 12th gear which is the top gear.. Have to switch to auto to get full power back... Kind of useless to even have a manual mode, I only use it descending mountains in bad weather

 

I would not like that, I didn't drive mine a lot, always had a driver in it. When I first bought it the jake was set to only go down to like 40 miles per hour or some such, which basically rendered it useless on some grades. I had to take it and get the parameters changed on it.

 

I'm from the old school of driving and was taught that the engine brake was only used on downgrades. The story behind using it on rain or icy stood true way back when. However, I see on TV on the show "Ice Road Trucking" they are using the engine brake on ice and overall bad weather so who knows. (I hate using that TV show for a reference because those drivers need help too.) So I would suggest that if you wanted to use it start out slow and makes sure no one is around you. Every truck is different. You would be out of control if you used it in Las Vegas after a long awaited rain fall. If it hasn't rain in a few months the oil builds up and is slicker than ice. I learned that the hard way. I was working the night shift and it started to rain and I was returning to the rack to get another load. I had to stop up ahead and the road had a slight grade on it. I looked in the mirrors and saw OCRA on my rear and then I realized it was my trailer and OCRA backwards is ARCO normally. Luckily it was 3 am and nobody was around. So know the road conditions too.

 

The golden rule of trucking, besides be on time and don't hit anything ever, is if you're not sure if you should do something, don't do it until you are sure.

 

Oh no. Your trainer saying it's ok without taking you to task all about engine braking hurt you. Damaged you. Screwed up royally.

The other trainer just wanted the question out of the way onto something else. Just as bad.

Now. You know the old saying, Don't do what you are told not to. But try to do as the Romans do with the explicit understanding of why they do it. (End Paraphrase.)

If I am downgrade at all in rain.... and she (The trailer) is shoving on my 5th wheel violently wanting to force my tractor drives to slide side to side (Some dancing is ok, but blatant attempts to fold my 18 wheeler like a cheap knife and break it is BAD) You can feel it ramming down on the 5th wheel then the side to side slide of a few inches as your drives slip to either side. Usually on twisty downgrades and slide always to the outside of the curve or much more scary.... oooo... scary... down the other side of the pavement crown which in this case you DO NOT want for a variety of very good reasons.

And you would not know it looking at me. That Stab of fear and the twist of it in the spine up and down. You learn to acknowledge it, then dispose of it. If I cannot see the bottom, KEWL! Flip it around in my head. Only two people on this earth understood my fear of mountain work.

If and when she does that to me playing twisty, I don't dare touch brakes more than I must, I don't dare touch the engine brake more than anything, I don't dare do anything all the way down. But whoops I did type in that word.. "More than I must" I might be dragging trailer on grass stretching it and need that little more slipping that the jakes would put on the drives like that to get away with it without folding and totaling the truck and killing me or worse. (I would hate to get bad hurt and then issued aspirin for pain control...)

Im sorry I cannot sit here and say... NO. or... YES! I still say NO. And NO. And NO. no no no no no are you something crazy or what? Whatsmattawidya, forgutboutit.... etc.

I love the rain, it's a chance to keep them brakes cold. Snow, ice, hailstone etc KEWL!!!! I feel many people run this way away from it. I go to it.

I am not trolling. I am not lunch counter talking. It is strictly me and what I have to do to get over Luray Virginia when the frame starts to twist a little bit and raise a steer tire off the pavement.

Good luck.