Legalize Engine (Jake) Brakes

My biggest problems with the quick lights are the ones that have the red light cameras on them as well. You are approaching the intersection.. watching the crosswalk sign to determine the light change (I always look at them) and you see its either on 'dont walk' or changing to it, so you start slowing for the traffic light change and it still doesnt change then as soon as you hit about the white line, it changes. You have 2 options.. run through it or slam on your brakes.

(and a lot of the time those signs are pretty good on determining the light change. Not always, but mostly. I am not really sure what lights ya'll are talking about though... Sorry)

 

These are usually outside the main cities. It's a big sign before the light with some kind of lights on it that light up before the traffic light switches to yellow. If the sign lights up before you pass it, you won't make it through the intersection before it turns red. They're timed so you can brake normally down to a stop while the light is still green and by the time you get there it's red. That way they can use a shorter yellow without us in the larger trucks having to panic stop or drive paranoid all the time.

 

I always turn it on when I see that sign. You can try and justify it makes me stop sooner so its a safety feature but I especially like revving it up and letting it rip past houses. Don't like the noise don't live next to a road.

 

Come in to Valley City ND. No engine braking law. It is down hill from both sides since the city is located at the bottom of a gorge. You either smoke the brakes, use the engine brake or cost down into the city on I94 at 80 mph.

I have my mufflers still in place, I use my jake and don't care. hardly any noise coming off my exhaust with the jake engaged.

I can see the reason for the law to be in place until they outlaw straight pipes of any sort across the country.

 

There is no excuse for "coasting" down into any valley, at any grade, at any weight at 80mph ... and you don't need the engine brake.

That is a gear grinding school rook maneuver.

80k at 6% your gear should be set before ever reaching the bottom, 20mph if necessary.

 

Speed limit is 75 and the hill here is from flat land down through a river valley back up to flat land.

 

You seem to forget that driving is a privilege, NOT a right. As such, there are certain rules which you must obey if you do not wish to lose that privilege. The owners of the roads you are driving on have the right to place whatever restrictions upon those roads as they deem necessary. If state or federal dollars were used to construct or maintain the road, there are limits as to the restrictions a local municipality can place on the road, but nowhere among those restrictions will you find anything which would prohibit a community from enforcing noise ordinances on that stretch of road. Most of these ordinances are on the books BECAUSE there was a problem with inconsiderate truck drivers running ILLEGAL equipment (unmuffled exhausts) and using the jake brake in town. If you want to get rid of these bans, first you'll have to get rid of the inconsiderate and rude truck drivers who run illegal equipment.

Might try reading FMCSR 325.91

Most states also have laws against operating a vehicle without a muffler, or altering the exhaust system in ANY way to be louder than it was when it came from the manufacturer.

Illinois:

Kentucky:

Missouri:

etc..., etc..., etc...,

 

I never worry about those signs. I use mine if I need to. But then it's pretty muffled, so I doubt it bothers anyone.
A 379 with straight pipes and no jake is louder than mine with the jake on.

 

That is the exact reason why the engine brake restrictions exist, is because of drivers like you. For starters, a engine brake is never needed on any hill in any weather contition if you're in the correct gear. I can drive on Donner's Pass and Cabbage Pass all day long with never needing to use the engine brake or the service brake. I may be the slowest truck on the road, but I guarantee you that I'll have brakes at the bottom, and I'll also guarantee you that you'll never see me on a escape ramp.

 

My c15 cat will rev to the moon going down even the slightest grade without the engine brakes on, But then I am never 80K either unless I am empty. I am pushing 96,000 + if I am loaded. Wehn our 10% exceptions come into play then I am pushing 106,000.

Heck even with the engine brake on, I have to tap the service brakes once and awhile to keep rpms below 2100 rpm.

On a straight road, i don't care to be at a real slow speed when I hit the bottom of a hill or I can't make it up the other side without crawling up in first gear.