is running exhaust brake all the time ok?
In my new F350 with the 6.7 I like to run the exhaust brake even when not towing. I find it helps in stop and go traffic and requires me to use less brakes. But is it OK to run it all the time? I mean...
Forum Discussion
Grit dog wrote:4x4ord wrote:ford truck guy wrote:Grit dog wrote:Jim-Linda wrote:
Have EB on Cat in FL60. Rig is 25 years old. It has BD exhaust brake that is turned off only on downhills in rolling country, EB will engage when not needed. The only drawback I can see is in city type traffic when EB engages, following vehicles are not aware of truck slowing due to no Brake light. No failures, original disk pads.
But it is a nice feature to get tailgators to back off!
Separate note, I've never checked, but the newer OEM integrated exhaust brakes, do they activate the brake lights when they kick in?
Under the right conditions one can scrub some speed pretty quickly without touching the service brakes.
I looked behind the truck when hooked to the fiver during the last night tow and did NOT see any brake lights on the truck... I can see them light up the front of the fiver compartment door.
That is always my concern as well... I kind of like my rear cap in 1, solid piece
Wihen towing heavy down a steep grade the Ford service brakes come on, if needed, to hold the speed back when cruise control is set. Without cruise set the wheel brakes will be applied at the engine red line to slow the engine down some before automatically releasing. So without cruise control set the computer does what an attentive driver should do. Additionally the Ford system uses the time the brakes are applied and the brake application pressure to calculate an approximate brake temperature. If required a warning will be flashed up to inform the driver of potentially hot brakes.
No kidding? On one hand that is a seriously impressive highly integrated system. Is that all models or trim levels? Do they all have active collision avoidance now? Or do they have a similar system just for the towing function as you described it?
The practical side of me is having trouble accepting that this is a good thing, making vehicle systems even more complicated and allowing even more stupid human trucks to not have the expected affect!
Only trucks equipped with adaptive cruise apply the service brakes to prevent gaining much speed on a down hill running on cruise control. The computer automatically applies the brakes which, when necessary, initiates downshifting of the transmission. Relying on this system when towing a heavy trailer is not very reliable …. the response time is too long. Interestingly, trucks equipped with ACC will manually apply the brakes even when running with ACC off …. ie while using regular cruise control the service brakes are still applied. I often press cancel on the CC to allow my truck to coast down hills.
Whether the feature that applies the brakes to prevent over revving of the engine works on all trucks or not I don’t know. It works very well….. it brakes (including the trailer brakes) hard enough to slow the rig down a bit, then the brakes are released and if the load is heavy and the grade is steep enough the engine rpm will once again start to climb. My guess is that this feature encourages some people, towing very heavy, to go down grades a gear faster than they should.
