Engine Braking?

You can brake with the engine on a diesel, just not nearly as well as a gas engine. That's why most diesels have exhaust brakes.

My GMC 3500 has the Duramax/Allison combination. We keep the truck in tow/haul mode whenever towing. On downhill grades the transmission locks the torque converter and then downshifts to maintain speed. I just tap the brake as needed and the will downshift to maintain speed. I believe the turbo also acts as an exhaust brake while in tow haul, someone correct me if I'm wrong. I can keep speed on long grades without having to worry, have actually had excelerate at times to maintain speed.

I don't tow "heavy" with the V-10 in my 2012 24' Class C but am here to tell you that V-10 is an awesome brake on the often long downhills. It is as much a function of the 5 speed Torque Shift transmission as the engine. I can cruise down a 6+% grade for ten or twelve miles and never touch the brake pedal. All that is required is to shift into the "Tow Haul" mode which locks out the 5 gear/overdrive. This holds the coach at 50-55 at around 3,000 rpm and the best part is we are not burning a drop of fuel!

If you run into more hill than that simply down shift into third (thus eliminating 4th gear), and the rpm will climb but the coach will hold at around 40 to 50 and you are again not burning any fuel. You can get much the same effect on older models (that do not have the tow haul option), by locking out overdrive. You will never harm a V-10 by inducing 3,000 to even 5,000 rpm... they are built to do that.

Don't buy into the nonsense that you have to have a diesel to get effective, efficient engine braking. I always laugh when I pass a rig who has been riding their brakes so hard that I can smell them. It's just s a shame they don't know how to drive.

:C

Gas engines that have throttle plates provide some amount of compression braking providing they lock up the torque converter. Diesel pickups use exhaust brakes to retard speed on downhills,as they do not have throttle plates. Some of the new direct injection gas engines do not have throttle plates.

As more people buy HD pickups with the new generation on high output gas engines we will learn more.

However those that towed heavy with V10 Fords should be able to chime in now.

Chris