Auxiliary electric hydraulic pump for emergency backup?

[Sojourner]

I've been considering installing an auxiliary electric hydraulic pump to back up the brake system in case of loss of engine power on my '01, such as those aux. electric hyd. pumps found in medium duty trucks strictly for that purpose. Has anyone done this, seen one done, or have any info about doing this to a Ram CTD?



TIA!

 

[ronco]

Turbo Dawg,



Do you have a manual or automatic? If you have the manual, keep the truck in gear and clutch engaged. That will keep the pump running and you will have some braking assistance. If you have an automatic, you might consider a T/C lock up switch to keep the engine spining while slowing down. I don't know if the auto will work that way, but it is easy to find out. HTH





Ronco

 

[NIsaacs]

I am not sure of your reason for needing brakes it your truck dies, are you going to pull it for a long distance or something? Help me out here, I am . I may be wrong, but isn't the electric pump just for the parking brake system? I haven't been around the medium dutys much, so I probably don't know what I am talking about :{





"NICK"

 

[ronco]

Nick,



I think he is concerned that in the event the truck engine dies while driving down the road, he wants power brakes to stop the truck safely. His brake booster is hydraulically actuated by the power steering pump. Without the pump spinning, no power assist.





Ronco

 

[NIsaacs]

ronco, I am an old fart, so I need more "splaining" than most Since the CTD might not ever die in its lifetime, I cain't see the need. Unless a guy was already in a panic type stop when the motor died, the brakes should work good enough unassisted to safely stop. Plus we have the emergency brake as backup. If these trucks stalled on a weekly basis or even monthly I could see it. Now just because I have asked some questions, I am in no way disrespecting anyone's ideas or ingenuity, I think it is great when someone uses their head like this. If we didn't think outside the box, we would all be still driving gassers





"NICK"

 

[HoleshotHolset]

IMHO, you're opening up 'Pandora's Box'...



Here's some stuff I thought of when I read your post:



By messing with your OEM brake system - you are introducing the added complexity that might make it unreliable and unsafe.



Your hydroboost brakes have a compressed nitrogen cylinder that will give you a pump or two on the brakes if the system looses hydraulic pressure.



The turbo Buick Grand Nationals and Turbo T-Type cars had an electric over hydraulic braking system from the OEM. It was/is HORRIBLE. More people swap them out for vacuum assisted brakes than those who bother to fix them... .



How often does your engine stall?



No flames intended... just thinking outloud (in print) more than anything.



Matt

 

[Sojourner]

I appreciate the input, guys.

Since the CTD might not ever die in its lifetime

I have a VP44 - I expect it to die, and when it dies I want make sure I have adequate braking power if the VP44 dies when towing heavy, especially in the mountains on a descent.



The '01 is a manual, so keeping the clutch engaged is always the primary solution, however I'm looking for more. And no, I certainly don't want to screw up my brake system, so I wondering about what problems might be encountered or if there is some specific reason why this won't work.



I know that the aux. hyd. pump for the brake system on a med. duty 'binder actuates when the stoplight switch energizes it with the key switched off, and that it is not the primary system, it's strictly backup. But that is all I know about it at this time. I was thinking of installing a hydraulic pump that doesn't run unless it is manually switched on (I was thinking of mounting one of those huge red PUSH TO STOP buttons in a handy location :-laf ).



Anyway, I'm going to keep checking it out. If anyone has any swell ideas, please sound off. Thanx again.

 

[NIsaacs]

Turbo Dawg, one thing you might consider, (a little off topic, but related) is how to hold your Truck & Trailer load combo in an up hill stop situation. The truck stalls, miss a gear, spin out, (snow or ice) or brake something. Just the parking brake won't hold a heavy load up hill. I have a small bungie cord that I carry by the brake controller that I can hook up to the handle for manual application. I always figured a toggle switch wired to over ride the controller might be a good idea.



One time a good friend and I were going to Colorado to pick up a pickup and horse trailer load of new potatoes (Colorado has some awesome spuds). He was driving a 1990 Dodge CTD W-250 w/5spd. We were in 2-wheel drive and spun out on Wolf Creek, in the snow and in the dark. Scared us to death, :{ I jumped out and turned in the front hubs and away we went. If he had been alone, he would have had a tough time holding the pickup long enough to get out to turn in the hubs.





"NICK"

 

[y-knot]

TD,

If you have a truck equipped with 4 Wheel ABS, the active front Anti-Lock Brake System (ABS) control employs an electric motor-driven pump to apply brake pressure, when needed. This system will also function with or without the engine running.

 

[Sojourner]

TD,

If you have a truck equipped with 4 Wheel ABS, the active front Anti-Lock Brake System (ABS) control employs an electric motor-driven pump to apply brake pressure, when needed. This system will also function with or without the engine running.

I appreicate the info y-knot!



I will look into this, as I do have the 4 wheel ABS.



Thanx a bunch.

 

[nickleinonen]

there should also be a hydraulic accumulator [±2"x4" golden colored cylinder] on the trucks that acts as a backup for the power brakes. with the engine dead, it will give you one application of brakes that is power assisted