Exhaust brakes

Second Chance wrote:
My 2013 GMC 2500HD came stock with it (as do all of the new DuraMax vehicles as far as I know). Just for the record, though, it's actually a variable vane turbocharger and not an "exhaust brake" as implemented on may class 7 and 8 tractors.

Dodge has had that since 07.5.

My 2013 GMC 2500HD came stock with it (as do all of the new DuraMax vehicles as far as I know). Just for the record, though, it's actually a variable vane turbocharger and not an "exhaust brake" as implemented on may class 7 and 8 tractors.

rhagfo wrote:
Hammer21661, sorry you had a bad experience, a call to Pacbrake might have solved your problems.
I have a 5 speed manual and shifter mounted switch, I leave it on most of the time just need to turn off about a block from home to get the EGT back down to 300 degrees.

I did call them they said that was how it was supposed to work and I think I even have a thread about it on here.

Grit dog wrote:
Oh and it sounds awesome with the straight pipe!

Haha! I hate the unmuffled sound and added a resonator to my muffler to cut the high pitch wine out.

Love the brake, but hated the sound with only a muffler.

Oh and it sounds awesome with the straight pipe!

Necessary? No.
A very nice luxury while towing or hauling heavy in the mountains? YES
Put a BD brake on my Ram last year before the trip to AK. After 1700+mi of hauling the AF with a 7klb trailer in tow, the front wheels on the truck barely had any brake dust on them. By comparison the wheels would have been brake pad colored without the EB.
At $1200 it was not cheap but it sure is nice to pull the switch headin down a long grade and just fit back and coast to the bottom. No downshifting and no service brakes needed at all to maintain speed until the grade gets about 8%. It'll hold back 18k gross Rollin on 6-7% grades all day.

Ragho, We have 2 of those buses and I have driven the other one too and it is the same. But then we seldom do over 50mph and as some would say on flat ground and a lot of county and city streets. I do not know the strategy on how it works with the DT-466 and Allison. Just my observation. JMHO as always. Have a good day. Loved driving thru the high desert in June.

john&bet wrote:

rhagfo wrote:

ah64id wrote:

john&bet wrote:

seattlefirervr wrote:
This shouldn't be a debate, if your diesel truck does not have an OEM exhaust brake, then seriously consider installing one. You will save on your personal stress and brakes all the way around.

My truck is not new enough to have one so I will save my money. Changing pads on my brakes is no big deal every 90-100K. JMHO.

There are aftermarket transmission controllers to put one on your 04.5 auto.

John&Bet are from a flat state, may not really need one. I typicality travel over the Oregon coast range to the coast. Didn't have one for two years. We then installed a Pacbrake turbo mounted, air activated, love it almost NEVER use service brakes on a down hill. This is with 19,000# GCVW, just a sweet rumbling of the EB holding us back.
Brake has worked great for over a year, the plus it comes with a 12V 150 psi, on board compressor, makes airing tires easy.

Be careful there. We spent 50 days on the road this past May thru July to Montana,Idaho,Washinton,Oregon(Portland,Bend,Burns,Ontario), back to Mossoula via US-95 etc. I am now at 171K+ miles and have only put on one set of brake pads. I have more miles out west than around here in so called flat land. Yes an EB might be good, but I can drive careful and buy a few sets of pads for the price of an EB. I drive a '13 Navastar school bus with a Packbrak EB and can not tell if it works or not. JMHO. Have a nice day.

It is not about replacing pad and shoes from time to time, it is about getting to the bottom of a long grade with cold brakes! I drove at 19,000# CVW for a year before getting the Pacbrake, never had an issue just needed to use the brakes to slow the rig more than I liked. If you can't tell if the Pacbrake in the School Bus is working or not, it likely is not!!

rhagfo wrote:

ah64id wrote:

john&bet wrote:

seattlefirervr wrote:
This shouldn't be a debate, if your diesel truck does not have an OEM exhaust brake, then seriously consider installing one. You will save on your personal stress and brakes all the way around.

My truck is not new enough to have one so I will save my money. Changing pads on my brakes is no big deal every 90-100K. JMHO.

There are aftermarket transmission controllers to put one on your 04.5 auto.

John&Bet are from a flat state, may not really need one. I typicality travel over the Oregon coast range to the coast. Didn't have one for two years. We then installed a Pacbrake turbo mounted, air activated, love it almost NEVER use service brakes on a down hill. This is with 19,000# GCVW, just a sweet rumbling of the EB holding us back.
Brake has worked great for over a year, the plus it comes with a 12V 150 psi, on board compressor, makes airing tires easy.

Be careful there. We spent 50 days on the road this past May thru July to Montana,Idaho,Washinton,Oregon(Portland,Bend,Burns,Ontario), back to Mossoula via US-95 etc. I am now at 171K+ miles and have only put on one set of brake pads. I have more miles out west than around here in so called flat land. Yes an EB might be good, but I can drive careful and buy a few sets of pads for the price of an EB. I drive a '13 Navastar school bus with a Packbrak EB and can not tell if it works or not. JMHO. Have a nice day.

I drove my 7.3 pulling 11.5K fifth wheel for 13 years without an EB. Towed the smokies usually twice a year.

I don't understand smoking brakes on a 6% grade. On a lot of them I had to add a smidge of throttle to maintain speed.

Additionally none of the trailer trucks I drove had an EB.

I am not knocking EB's, I am one person that got along fine without one.