dodge brakes
coming down a 25% grade dirt road the brakes started to smoke and fade.truck in low gear o/d locked out speed kept to 10 mph .we had to stop and let them cool at 1/2 way point ,dirt road 4 miles long...
Forum Discussion
jefe 4x4 wrote:
Older diesels I've had had a lot more engine braking ability. Of course, they had 22:1 and 23:1 compression.
The compression ratio doesn't really do anything for braking. What goes in (& compresses), comes back out (& decompresses). I suppose there could be a bit more energy used up as heat loss with higher compression. The larger difference was probably more restrictive intake and exhaust systems of the older, lower powered diesels.
Either way, I enjoyed hearing your 2nd & 1st gear stories. It takes quite a bit to bring a manual Cummins to its knees!
