Jake brake etiquette

Those two don't go together. One is cool, the other is for slobs driving plastic trucks.

 

I drive a '94 Pete 379 Transfer. When not hauling asphalt, hauling heavy equipment with it. Sometimes both (tilt trailer on the back instead of transfer). The "service brakes" on this setup leave quite a bit to be desired. Without the combo of jake and brake, I'd have been dead years ago - and probably taken several four wheelers with me. In the mountainous area where I work, I used Mr. Jake a lot on downgrades. But always turn it off when I don't need it. I agree that it's rude to run any other way, particularly through towns.

 

Well, how else are you gonna let the women know when the big bull's in town?

 

Retarders are nice when in populated areas.

 

Elizabeth, IL. Steep ### Hill rolling into downtown. Local cop likes to lay in wait for trucks that speed by 2 mph. If I'm heavy, I'm jaking my loud ### Pete and not heating up my brakes all the way down and no one here would tell me to "go around that town" to my face.
Sign there even says "no excessive engine braking" not "no engine braking". Why? Because it's a steep ### Hill in a residential area on a US Highway.
Awful lot of tough guy talk behind the keyboard telling other drivers what to do.
I'm sorry your Volvos sound like ####.
I don't jake in truckstops or where it isn't beneficial for me to do so.

 

I usually don't use my jake in towns or if it's early a:m or dark. Unless I am on the big road or there are no homes nearby.

When I operated my shop I had one customer with straight pipes that I could hear about 1 1/2 away. He would bobtail to the shop with the thing cackling like a hen laying a softball. I asked politely for him to stop. He laughed about it. I didn't need his business as bad as I preferred to keep the neighbors happy.

 

When I drove a automatic the brake stayed on 24/7, unless I was using a I-shift Volvo. They really figured out how to balance the throttle and brake on those things. With the freightliners it was press...wait..wait press a little more....wait wait..pre--BAM!! I hated the way that way the freightliners service brakes felt. Then I Read about how to adjust the slack adjusters on this site. Now I use the service brakes more. However if I had straight pipes; would I use them at the truck stop? No. Anywhere else? Not unless I needed them. If towns don't like the noise then they can get get the route taken off the list of acceptable cmv routes. The town near mine lives next to a train track and now the trains don't use their horns anymore because the town passed a law.

 

I'll complain about this as well... I used to live in a small town called Krum in Texas that drivers would use their jakes at 200-600am. Level ground, just a slow down from 55-35, but would kick them on either way. If you have an straight exhaust it is just a di@k move... Using your service brakes for a quick pump in a residential area isn't going to break your maintenance budget, yet drivers wonder why communities try to ban them.

 

While I agree with the idea that we should avoid using jakes in residential areas, a LOT of small towns set THEMSELVES up to hear jakes. 70 mph speed limit coming around a curve and BAM! 35 mph with no prior warning. No speed limit reduced ahead, no progressive speed reduction, just a surprise. No way to reduce speed that quickly without Jake assist.

This is right up there with the idiocy of putting a "No Trucks" sign a good quarter mile after making a turn. In both cases I believe that small town really DOES want big trucks on that road or hearing Jakes in the middle of the night. Either that or the town leaders are complete idiots or looking for new revenue.