Exhaust brake question

[Jim Smith]

Is there any issue with having an exhaust brake installed on my 2004 automatic ? Warranty etc. .

 

[ScottLewis]

It MAY void the warranty if the dealer determines that it caused failure of the drivetrain. It does place some strain on the transmission and won't do you any good at all unless you have a way to keep the T/C locked up. I put one on my '98 before the warranty was up and would do so again even if the warranty was at risk. I like it that much. Luckily, it wasn't an issue on the '06 with the Jake brake I had the dealer install before I even picked up the truck.



Dan

 

[jelag]

Dan has the right answer here... . You can install an exhaust brake on your engine but will get less than reasonable results unless you do something to the transmission to hold the pump pressure when you slow down... By holding up the pump pressure, really the pressure inside the torque converter, you locking the TC so that it can pass the power through the drive train for the engine to absorb..... Other wise the TC will slip and there will be little retarding... ... Most of the kits on the market for doing this are plug and play, and attach to the transmission computer... they monitor whats going on and will hold the pressure during slow down... These kits are usually 475 to 525 in price... plus the exhaust brake... .



The real question here... is will you use it enough to make it worth your money. . we tow with a 3500 dually a service trailer that weighs 20K lbs. . the truck has 235K miles and had its first brake job after 160K miles of towing... .

 

[Jim Smith]

its just this trip out west that i'm concerned about. most other towing is just Michigan to Florida and around Michigan.