exhuast brake

[ringneck]

i have a 05 3500 drw with 4-10s.i tow artic fox 32-5 with is 36 footer,dry 14200.16500 max,just cooked the rowtors.so i need to stop better or trade 5er for lighter 5er.truck is a auto and stock,so do i put a exhuast brake on? what one will work with 05,and do i need to beef up the trans.

 

[ScottLewis]

I ran a BD exhaust brake on my '98 for about 4 years before buying my '06. The 47RE wasn't designed to operate with an exhaust brake so I needed to also add devices to lockup the transmission and bypass the EGR.
The '06 was the first year that was designed with exhaust brake capability that only needed adding the brake and a small amount of programming. I had the dealer add an exhaust brake before even picking up my '06. It was a Jacobs brand with vacuum pump. I replaced that brake with a PacBrake when the pump failed after about 50K miles. Since the '05 is quite similar, adding one shouldn't be too much of a problem although a controller for the brake and lockup for the transmission would likely be needed.

Between the 2 trucks, I've towed 11K fifth wheels over 200K miles in about 21 years and wouldn't ever consider towing without one again.

 

[jhenderson]

i have a 05 3500 drw with 4-10s.i tow artic fox 32-5 with is 36 footer,dry 14200.16500 max,just cooked the rowtors.so i need to stop better or trade 5er for lighter 5er.truck is a auto and stock,so do i put a exhuast brake on? what one will work with 05,and do i need to beef up the trans.

Your truck is for towing the trailer, not stopping it. You need to do some maintenance on your trailer brakes.

 

[SnoKing]

I would never tow a heavy trailer with a Cummins diesel truck without an exhaust brake. OP's trailer is in the middle ground of being heavy at 16,500. Both the early Ford and GM trucks with grade braking did much better "holding back" on grades than the RAMs with I-6 that seems to just free wheel going down grades even with the torque converter locked.

Call BD or Pacbrake and do whatever it takes to get an exhaust brake installed. For my 2001.5 it was a custom DTT transmission with smart controller and a Banks exhaust brake, big bucks but worth it. It worked very well.

Now with a 14 year old truck, maybe it is time to upgrade to a 2013+ truck, rather than putting more money in a truck that age? Go drive a few!

 

[Cummins12V98]

This upgrade will cost you a few $$$ but you WILL thank me!

US made PowerStop Calipers, EBC US Made rotors and EBC Orange HD Truck pads.

Make sure your trailer brakes are working properly and YES get an exhaust brake!!!

Do the front and rears! I bought all my parts from Summit Racing.

This is a 3rd gen upgrade on my 01 sport. All parts are 03-09 3rd gen on the fronts and same but 2nd Gen on the rears..

 

[LandShark]

My opinion is that you should put your money into repairing/upgrading the trailer brakes.

 

[Ozymandias]

I second the BD or Pacbrake.
Get all you need.

The Trans itself is perfectly fine for use with an EB - if the proper controllers are used to keep the Converter locked and do forced down shifts.

 

[AH64ID]

PacBrake PRXB would get my money... again.

I ran the Jacobs EB and the PRXB on my 05. I sold the 05 before doing a lot of towing with the PRXB but I really like it and it was noticeably stronger at lower rpms.

 

[Ozymandias]

Big down for the Jacob's- it doesn't work at elevated altitudes.

 

[endoscott]

Go to AFNash.com and find thread on upgrading your trailer brakes. Factory wiring is thin gauge and brittle, run thru axle tubes and just generally S... It is very easy to run 16 gauge wire with nice neoprene insulation. I installed a 4x4 electrical box and a 4x bus from brake feeder wiring and ran a separate run to each brake. Original is wired in series and there are multiple splices...so if you lose the first splice you also lose everything downstream. All my splices were corroded on a 10 year old trailer stored under cover. I couldn't believe how much better my trailer brakes worked after that relatively simple improvement. Wire is 2 conductor SJO or something like that. Mc master Carr has every kind of wire you can imagine for such applications.

 

[Cummins12V98]

Upgrade to disk brakes.

 

[endoscott]

Well of course. If you have a couple grand to spend. But rewiring is a $100 upgrade if you do it yourself and a huge improvement even with the drum brakes. I dont understand why disc brakes are still not offered as an option on new trailers. Its crazy. But for the millions of trailers with drums, rewiring and getting rid of crappy corroded splices is pretty easy, very inexpensive, and very effective.

 

[Cummins12V98]

You can make drums better but hey will never be as good as disks.
Grease seal goes bad there goes your brake shoes. With disks not an issue.

 

[ringneck]

thanks for reply,if you could only do truck or trailer.witch one would you pick?

 

[Ozymandias]

Truck - you need them every day, even without trailer.
With the EB your drums stay cold for a long time and work fine when needed.

Most Class 8 are still drums - but all have EB.

 

[sojoe]

Ozy is right on.-well said.
Been running a BD exh brake for 130 k towing 13,00 and 14,500 NO PROBLEMS. If the earlier 484RE were not meant for an exh brake, ya coulda fooled me.
A lock up switch for the TC will help a lot also, especially with 4.10 gears.
Good luck to you what ever direction you go

 

[ringneck]

thanks Ozymandias,so thats what am going to do.that way if i change 5er am still good.now the Eb that will work good.

 

[ringneck]

Ozy is right on.-well said.
Been running a BD exh brake for 130 k towing 13,00 and 14,500 NO PROBLEMS. If the earlier 484RE were not meant for an exh brake, ya coulda fooled me.
A lock up switch for the TC will help a lot also, especially with 4.10 gears.
Good luck to you what ever direction you go

thanks sojoe

 

[bigceltic]

Big down for the Jacob's- it doesn't work at elevated altitudes.

I almost exclusively tow at altitude(10k-11K mountain passes) and have been happy with the factory Jacobs EB - works just fine. My problem has always been with the TC unlocking but I think I have fixed that issue with tuning.

But I think the bottom line is EB is good! I started out without the EB for the first 2 years or so of ownership, and then had it added by the dealer and I can't imagine how I lived without it!

 

[SnoKing]

The nice thing about coming down a pass on an exhaust brake is you have nice cool service brakes for the times something happens on the road ahead of you! With the 4 speed 47RE in our 2001.5 I had to use service brakes once in awhile along with the exhaust brake. With the newer trucks with 6 speed autos one has a more gears to use to find the right one for almost any grade. Moving from the 2001.5 to the 2015 I at first felt the 2001.5 had more hold back power with the Banks EB. However I was 4K heavier with the 2015 and larger trailer. Everything about the mildly bombed 2001.5 was more seat of the pants, exhaust noise, acceleration, exhaust brake, and transmission lock to lock shifts. It was more like a sports car truck. The 2015 is more like a grand lady and can still do it all, however she does it was a lot more CLASS! She does her thing lot smoother, quieter, and with elegance.