Legalize Engine (Jake) Brakes

Sounds about right for a C-15.

 

with plastic radiators used over the last 10 years 2100 rpm is max
High RPM water flow will bust the tanks,Cat,Detroit,Cummins makes no difference
results are the same.
Doesn't mean "you cant" twist them tighter,but the pisspuddle under your truck sitting in the break-down lane is the bottom line.

 

I really think the intended use of the noise ordinances for engine brakes came from the old retarder-type of jakes common on older equipment, especially LOG trucks. However, those with engine brake mufflers I don't think really upset the communities too much. With that being said, I always use the engine brake (muffled) on steep down grades no matter what. Having a "no engine brake" sign posted just as you hit a truck sign for a 6% downgrade for the next 6 miles, with sharp curves is absurd. My job is to safely get the truck and load down those grades, the cry baby no engine brake signs can take a jump in the lake.

 

Just put a straight thru muffler on my tractor, it's loud. But this thing has an exhaust brake combined with a compression brake. An iron flap pinches off the exhaust when the compression brake kicks in, the hiss from the restricted exhaust is louder than the compression brake and it kills the hammering noise. From inside the cab it's sometimes hard to hear if the brake is working or not.

Anything that reduces your stopping distance is helpful but a lot of drivers only use jakes to slow down. Some of them downshift needlessly and make a lot of noise just to get noticed. Some of us do it JUST TO WAKE THE TOWN UP AT NIGHT.

If you didn't have compression brakes at all, would you drive a little slower and follow farther back? Then leave your brake switched on, drive a little slower and fall back some more. You'll be double safe.

 

I really can not remember when or if my switch has ever been turned off ?

never an issue . . . . . .

 

You don't need the engine brake huh??? If I tried this with my truck that pretty kitty under the hood would rev so high it would start throwing rods out of it!!

You should try this in a real truck with a real motor in it, with a rack full of bulls behind you. You can let us know the results and how your doing from the hospital after you've destroyed a truck and trailer and killed a couple 100k $$$ Worth of bulls, cuz you wound up on your lid halfway down....Not to mention the other cars and trucks you took out in the process...

 

I used to haul logs...ran pretty heavy, because the timber buyer owned the trucks and it was cheaper for him to pay the occasional overweight if/when caught and make fewer trips to get his logs hauled rather than pay a driver's wages and the fuel and wear & tear on the trucks making extra trips. The truck I was driving didn't have a jake....not the Mack's are know for their jakes to begin with...but this truck didn't have anything. So, you just geared it down an extra gear or two BEFORE you started down the hill so that you'd run down it a little slower and used the service brakes if you needed to slow down.

It's all about knowing your equipment and what it is capable of. Trucks drove over mountain passes long before the invention of a jake brake...and there are still plenty of trucks on the road without them. First company I went to work for after getting my CDL didn't have jake brakes on their trucks.

If you wreck going down a hill because you were out of control, it was because YOU didn't know how to handle your rig....and it had nothing to do with whether or not the truck had a jake.

 

My jakes are pretty well muffled so I use them whenever I want,,, however:

The REAL (morbid) question is this: Someone's going to have to get into an accident, with fatalities, and hire a REALLY good slimeball lawyer. And request a nice big jury trial. A real circus with popcorn and elephants.

And on the witness stand the local cops/authorities are going to have to defend why they OUTLAWED the use of a device that will help slow the vehicle and could have been used in the prevention of the accident.

That,,, sadly, is the only way this matter will ever be dropped. Because right now the cops don't give a crap about waking people up at 3 am, or public saftey, they just want to be able to write up a $400 ticket to any truck they deem "TOO loud".

 

wish it was a moving violation in some places to add points to your license.some of you have zero common sense or consideration for others.
i live near the intersection of 2 state roads. my house was built long before engine brakes (so it was here first). we are often woke up by morons at 3 a.m. by trucks with straight pipes using the engine brakes. we live on flat ground, and the roads a very straight and you can see for miles.

i can almost tell who is gonna use the engine brake by how fast they run up on the intersection (which they can see for at least a mile away).

and yeah, i have had engine brakes on every tractor i've owned, and yeah, i do use them. i try to use them responsibly. as with just about every law, they are passed because some dumba## just can't help him or her self.

grow up.

 

But.....bu-but....it sounds so KEWL!! I want everybody to hear how awesome my 300 decibel truck exhaust is. If I'm not breaking your windows on my way past, there's something wrong with my exhaust system.