Exhaust brakes

[OLDBULL8]

I've got two IDI's, a 90 and 92. Pic below towing the 92 from S. Carolina to Ohio thru NC,VA,WV and OH. Some pretty good hill's in WV, no trouble with an automatic tranny, don't remember ever shifting down, course I had the trailer brakes to compensate for more braking. Now my 99 SD that I towed a 5er 15,000 miles to Alaska and back, came back down I-15 to Yuma AZ then to Ohio, hit some pretty good hill's in Montana and Utah. I do have the TC lockup on it and that helped a lot on downhill braking. Lost my trailer brakes, due to gravel breaking the trailer brake wires, thank God for the TC lockup on a 9% down grade, the engine was screaming at 3600 RPM and 75 MPH, only a couple of curves, kind of slid around those on the brown stuff in my pant's. Burned up the pads and rotor's on that one. When I had my GM bus 4107 24K lbs. I was cautioned by other owner's to NOT let up on the braking down hill, that allowed air (Oxygen) to replenish on the brake lining's causing them to get HOT, just down shift and keep a slight braking on. Worked for me.

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This is where I replaced the pads and rotors in the rain.

 

[crashnzuk]

The 6.9 in my dads truck compression brakes a lot better than my Cummins. An exhaust brake is a mod I will certainly do in the future on my truck. Interstate passes are not a real problem, but get on a windy secondary road in the mountains and you will soon find out that relying on your brakes to control speed is SCARY. Death valley had me wondering if I was going to be a namesake.
Travis..

 

[RLDSL]

Death valley had me wondering if I was going to be a namesake.
Travis..

Like that road through there, huh Definitely not for the weak hearted that;s for sure. And they've widened most of the roads through there . You should see what they used to look like 40 years ago. I bet you came in from the north west over the White mountains. That road is good for a change of underwear no matter what you're driving

 

[crashnzuk]

We came from the west on the main road that leads to Stovepipe Wells. It was quite the experience with the camper on and towing the Jeep on a trailer
Travis..

 

[Andylad13]

NETTTS is training me to use engine braking as primary braking, and slight braking as an assist when needed. Its great advise, I'm learning a lot from that class. As mentioned before, they also told me to gear down to the gear you would need to climb the hill. In the mountains (which I havn't been yet) like colorado, gearing down will save your life, and will probably take you 5 hours to go down, and you'll be able to stop the rig with the air brakes when you get down there.

 

[LCAM-01XA]

lol, Travis, I remember that one, we used to go to Death Valley to test development vehicles and every time I'd choose the turbodiesel 6-speed Ram 3500 dually as my means of transportation - co-workers were bugging me for it being slow and not a fun ride (they were jumping on CTS Cadillacs, Nissan Titans, and all sorts of other powerful and/or fast toys), but every time we'd hit a mountain pass or a steep windy road my then-girlfriend (who used to turn my work trips into her personal vacations) would start laughing at them goofs speeding like crazy then laying on their brakes for dear life, while I just idled my way down hardly ever touching the brakes... She didn't miss an opportunity to rub it in either, bet them guys hated the push-connect when she was done with them

 

[LCAM-01XA]

NETTTS is training me to use engine braking as primary braking, and slight braking as an assist when needed. Its great advise, I'm learning a lot from that class. As mentioned before, they also told me to gear down to the gear you would need to climb the hill. In the mountains (which I havn't been yet) like colorado, gearing down will save your life, and will probably take you 5 hours to go down, and you'll be able to stop the rig with the air brakes when you get down there.

Andy, are you a truck driver in the training? If so you're in for some fun, I personally can't wait till I save up enough for a CLD-A and commercial insurance for my tractor so I can hit the road again, this time for good Then again, there are those lovely moments where you're creeping uphill hauling something real heavy, and you miss a gear - kinda makes you wanna pull your hair out, especially if there is snow on the road But you'll learn all about it in due time, and I'm pretty sure you'll learn to actually like it

 

[RLDSL]

NETTTS is training me to use engine braking as primary braking, and slight braking as an assist when needed. Its great advise, I'm learning a lot from that class. As mentioned before, they also told me to gear down to the gear you would need to climb the hill. In the mountains (which I havn't been yet) like colorado, gearing down will save your life, and will probably take you 5 hours to go down, and you'll be able to stop the rig with the air brakes when you get down there.

If your're learning to drive a big truck, just remember one thing. When you get out west, DO NOT try to follow the local guys off a mountain, you will end up dead. we used to do stuff out there with semis that would scare the ******* off of formula 1 drivers, but there are 2 different schools of thought on brake usage on mountains, and the second is not for the uninitiated , and it's so friggen dangerous if not done right I won't even mention it, but just because you see the log trucks and chip trucks flying off the top of a mountain at 60 when the sign says 35, don't think that you can pull it off and live. They know something that you don't.

 

[crashnzuk]

lol, Travis, I remember that one, we used to go to Death Valley to test development vehicles and every time I'd choose the turbodiesel 6-speed Ram 3500 dually as my means of transportation - co-workers were bugging me for it being slow and not a fun ride (they were jumping on CTS Cadillacs, Nissan Titans, and all sorts of other powerful and/or fast toys), but every time we'd hit a mountain pass or a steep windy road my then-girlfriend (who used to turn my work trips into her personal vacations) would start laughing at them goofs speeding like crazy then laying on their brakes for dear life, while I just idled my way down hardly ever touching the brakes... She didn't miss an opportunity to rub it in either, bet them guys hated the push-connect when she was done with them

On the way home, coming down the west side (steep and curvy side) I was using the snub technique. In 3rd gear, get up to about 48mph and then slow to 25-ish and repeat. The thing was getting to 50 too fast so the brakes weren't getting quite enough time to cool between uses. Some chick in a Chevy Tahoe was right up on me so I let her by. She got in front of me and did just under 45mph I thought I was going to run her over She finally got the hint (I think) and sped up a bit. Man that was very un-nerving. I have lots of years of trailering experience, I can't imagine what newbies think when they go there. I can't believe more people don't crash and burn going to that place.
Travis..

 

[LCAM-01XA]

If your're learning to drive a big truck, just remember one thing. When you get out west, DO NOT try to follow the local guys off a mountain, you will end up dead. we used to do stuff out there with semis that would scare the ******* off of formula 1 drivers, but there are 2 different schools of thought on brake usage on mountains, and the second is not for the uninitiated , and it's so friggen dangerous if not done right I won't even mention it, but just because you see the log trucks and chip trucks flying off the top of a mountain at 60 when the sign says 35, don't think that you can pull it off and live. They know something that you don't.

Not to mention some of them guys have that electric-generator-brake-thing that allows them to haul ass without even touching the brakes or sometimes even downshifting - good luck keeping up with one of those. That said, I'm really interested in what them west-coast guys are doing that allows them to fly low without flying out - if you don't mind elaborating on it, please do so, use a PM if you prefer for sake of general public's safety. Don't worry, I do not plan on using that technique any time soon (or likely ever), I do not have enough experience behind the wheel of a big truck but I do know very well how dangerous a big truck can be if it gets out of control - heck even with the F350 I usually drive 5 under the speed limit (and **** everyone off, but that's their problem, I'd rather be alive in the end of the day)

 

[Sycostang67]

Is compression braking any more harmful to a DMF? I love the sound of dropping a gear to lose some speed(sounds similar to a EB) but dont want to be wearing things out prematurely. I only have about 120k on it right now.

I will be hauling an old 1973 25' camp trailer up into the mountains in 2 weeks. I used it last year (with my 85 F-250 gasser)and severly underestimated the weight, and didn't bother downshifting due to the extra noise(striaght piped/stacked 460) and my wifes likelyhood of getting a headache. After a panic stop and letting the brakes cool/stop boiling, I cranked the boost on the brake controller and started using the tranny to slow things down.

 

[RLDSL]

Not to mention some of them guys have that electric-generator-brake-thing that allows them to haul ass without even touching the brakes or sometimes even downshifting - good luck keeping up with one of those. That said, I'm really interested in what them west-coast guys are doing that allows them to fly low without flying out - if you don't mind elaborating on it, please do so, use a PM if you prefer for sake of general public's safety. Don't worry, I do not plan on using that technique any time soon (or likely ever), I do not have enough experience behind the wheel of a big truck but I do know very well how dangerous a big truck can be if it gets out of control - heck even with the F350 I usually drive 5 under the speed limit (and **** everyone off, but that's their problem, I'd rather be alive in the end of the day)

Ah yes, the Klam brakes as they are now calling them I almost bought one of those suckers at one time after watching a set of rocky mt doubles fully loaded go down Lewiston grade in ID full speed without having to touch his brakes until he got to town at the bottom. Now one of those things would be real **** on a pickup if they didn't cost so dang much. they do make smaller ones that would be suitable for the weight class, but the cost on the things is sky high last time I checked., but if someone had the extra cash laying around....

 

[Agnem]

That would be the end result of lubricant failure. Your synchro should not have worn off from engine braking unless you had a lubricant failure. When going down steep grades, thetail section of the box is out of the oil and has to rely on splash lubrication. If you are using a poor quality lubricant, or if the level is low, the thing will run dry and you will get damage. Good quality lubricants can handle the situation as their surface tension tends to draw the lubricant in to places needed, but just using compression braking in itself is not going to damage anything. In fact, if you go out west with a real heavy trailer, you can bet that it will save your life.

Steep angles and poor lubricants make for a bad situation everytime. I once lost a input shaft bearing and scored a gear on a 13 speed tranny on top of a mountain just before the Oregon border because the stupid CA highway patrol had everyone stopped supposedly for snow ( which when we finally got let through, we found there wasn't any But just sitting there with no load at all on the thing at a steep angle combined with a poor quality lubricant was a recipe for disaster.

A good point, but not the case for me. Most of my use of first gear for decel was to come to a near complete stop at a traffic light. Almost always on flat and level ground. I never jammed gears or forced it in either. Very light duty. Just bad luck for me I'm guessing. It's never been fixed. I tried to get it fixed once, and my Ford dealer couldn't get the parts in a reasonable time due to some kind of strike at Borg-Warner, and I think they wanted about $300 each for the two pieces they wanted to replace. This was way back in 1990 something. Sure I'll use the gears on a hill, but to just stop on level ground, not anymore really.