the unnecessary usage of j-brakes, why????

I know what you mean. I am a volunteer fire fighter. I will usually drive the truck and run the pump. It drives me nuts to have the jake on. If it is daylight, I turn it off. If it is night, I may not be able to see the switch. It affects the handling. All of the other firemen say it is the best way to drive it. They don't even consider the truck is not warmed up.

 

I suppose some folks might call me slightly prejudiced, being a truck driver and all that. BUT - I live in a relatively small town, right close to a relatively long, steep grade on a state highway coming into town.

I am never disturbed by the sounds of those chains rattlin' even without the mufflers. You see, hearing those jakes come on, means there is a very good chance that the driver is going to be able to get his rig stopped at the intersection at the bottom of the grade. RIGHT AT THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.

 

Found out the hardway?!?! But I thought you said you were there before the invention of the Jacobs Brake?
( which by the wasx invented Clessie Lyle Cummins (1886-1968), and put into production by Jacobs in 1961)

Please just quit whinning, and move.

 

Not to mention how much property values must have increased since C.L. Cummins developed his engine-brake.

Shux Howdy!
With the equity in that property, y'all could buy more property away form the noisy highway --- closer to a dairy or an egg ranch. Then, complain about that.

America!
Whadda Country!

 

Hey Ivanhoe: Sorry about the noise,didn't mean to wake you up! I know what I'd do in your situation......MOVE!!!!!!!!

 

The company I drive for uses volvos and in my experience, fully loaded i hardly notice that that jakes are on (or even working for that matter). But on a light load or unloaded it is much louder. So, since learning that, I only use it on a full load and only on highways.

 

I leave it on because some idiots like to come to the end of there driveway and whip out in front so they can be ahead of the truck. So you try stopping a loaded truck when the local soccer mom whips out in front of you just because she does not want to be behind you.

 

I know what you're saying. I had to drive a super tanker in the city of Las Vegas that weighed 110,000lbs. I learned many years ago if it was possible to be in the middle or left lane I was. I'm talking about surface streets and not the highway. Anytime there was three lanes I was in the middle. But when we had to go by driveways that dumped into the street we either were in the next lane over or slowed down. Either way in a full out panic stop I really don't think that engine brake is going to help that much. Not with our trucks anyway. I guess we were lucky because ABS worked on all of our 9 axles and you could stand on those brakes. Oh and the Smith System worked best of all.

 

As a mechanic what happens also is when the Jake dumps the Compressed air out of the cylinder it then closes the valves and makes the piston try to pull a vacuam in that cylinder also. So you dump the compressed air out then are pulling about 26 inches of vac in that clyinder also that is where you get the retarding not fro just dumping the air out it is when you keep the air out of there you get the braking power.

As for running Monarch pass DID it in 1999 and WTF was I thinking 46500 in the box of sweet corn top iced luckily so I had water dripping on my tires and brakes but still I was sucking seat cushion at the boittom. Truck I was in at the time a 1998 C120 midroof had no Jakes in it since it was not supposed to go west of the Mississippi river at ALL yet I routinely took it to CA OR and WA that was FUN I would rather sandpaper the butthole of 4 alligators in a phonebooth wearing chickens and soaked in beef blood than do that again.

 

WoAH!
That's pretty severe, IEagle!

I'd slide down razor blades into a vat of alcohol to do it again.