Exhaust brake - which one?

[19Kgvw]

After my service brakes are restored to 100%... . I'm getting an exhaust brake due to mountain passes and the inherent problems with 1st gen brakes and the weight I pull.



Okay... . I'm looking for feed back on exhaust brakes now... . looking for simplicity of actuation method... . best engine braking for rpms..... and of course, longetivity. Plus's and negatives..... ??? Please help...



1- Pac Brake



2- BD Brake



Personal experiences... . Everyone should like this thread- lots of debate



Thank you... . Rich

 

[McLaughlin]

When with the Pac Brake on mine installed at the turbo elbow and installed 60lb valvel springs. You can install the Pac Brake to work with 30lb valve springs but you will get reduced I'm happy with it. I'm not sure if the valve springs are an issue with your truck or not. With my auto transmission, the Pac Brake works really well if your RPMs are up but below 1700 or so you start loosing a noticeable amount of braking. In my truck my torque converter unlocks at 1200 to 1500 rpm and after that you really don't get any braking. Although that is probably a good thing since from what I understand, maintaning torque converter lockup at low RPMs is hard on the transmission/torque converter. We put the same Pac Brake system in my daughter's 96 and even with the 30lb valve springs she only had to use the factory brakes twice when pulling a loaded 28ft horse trailer over Wolf Creek pass. The downhill side of the pass is 3-4 fairly steep miles of switchbacks so it was a good workout of the system. One big advantage of the turbo mount ebrake is ease of install. It only took about 3 or 4 hours and the plumbing is pretty simple. The brake runs off vacuum. I don't have any experience with the BD so I can't provide any hard comparison.

 

[19Kgvw]

I'm not sure if the valve springs are an issue with your truck or not. With my auto transmission, the Pac Brake works really well if your RPMs are up but below 1700 or so you start loosing a noticeable amount of braking. In my truck my torque converter unlocks at 1200 to 1500 rpm and after that you really don't get any braking. We put the same Pac Brake system in my daughter's 96 and even with the 30lb valve springs she only had to use the factory brakes twice when pulling a loaded 28ft horse trailer over Wolf Creek pass. .

thanks for the input... . I've got the 5 speed... and I'm planning on installing the 60 lb springs.

Is there a rpm range that works best for max engine braking?? It seems the faster (to a point) that the motor spins, the more braking power there is... . I dunno... . ??

 

[McLaughlin]

thanks for the input... . I've got the 5 speed... and I'm planning on installing the 60 lb springs.

Is there a rpm range that works best for max engine braking?? It seems the faster (to a point) that the motor spins, the more braking power there is... . I dunno... . ??

Should work really nice with a 5 speed.



Yes, the faster the truck engine spins the more braking (to a point but I also don't know where that point is). I know in my auto if the RPM is around 2000, the truck starts slowing down pretty quick. I'm always concerned the driver behind me isn't paying attention and will try and run over me.

 

[19Kgvw]

Should work really nice with a 5 speed.



Yes, the faster the truck engine spins the more braking (to a point but I also don't know where that point is). I know in my auto if the RPM is around 2000, the truck starts slowing down pretty quick. I'm always concerned the driver behind me isn't paying attention and will try and run over me.

Cool - I figure that the over revving of the motor would start about 2100 rpm ??



I've got a 4 horse trailer that I haul - weighs in about 12K when I'm full- oh hey, and hauling hauling hay too, oh so much fun.

 

[Texas Ted]

I have a BD that was installed early on. It's located in the exhaust pipe under the truck. This unit works beautifully. Don't know if it's currently available or not. I replaced the underhood switch once and haven't had any other problems. I have 165k on the truck and my gcw tops out at 21k. I USE this truck and it hauls the load every two weeks. Many many miles in the high country. Let me just tell you that I put on the first set of front pads at 120k and the rears are original. No problems and still working fine. Be sure to use a low enough gear on the steep descents. You'll get the feel of it and which gear to use really fast.

 

[chazj]

I also have the BD unit ( it works off vacumn) on my 02 w/ the 6 speed. Pull a 10K trailer & only have to use the service brakes when coming to a complete stop. Otherwise I just downshift as required.



Also works real well in warming up the truck when the temps hover around 0 degrees.

 

[ScottLewis]

I put about 70K miles on my '98 after installing a BD turbo mount brake. Except for dismantling and cleaning the "spool valve" I never did anything beyond running it. I almost always kept it turned on.

BD claims better low RPM braking. I don't know if that's fact but you could probably do a search and get specific numbers. Each claims, naturally, that theirs is best. I can attest that BD is good.



Bottom line is, put one on. You won't regret it either way. I wouldn't tow again without one.



Dan

 

[dpuckett]

I see no reason you couldnt use the brake at 2500rpm or even higher if needed. Is there something I have missed? As long as you have the 60# springs.....



I would look into one that defaults to the OFF position. LIke a vacuum on, spring off type set up. That way, if you lose vacuum, or something else trips up, you wont have to crawl under the hood and break the butterfly loose- it will open back up and you can at least drive.



Daniel

 

[NIsaacs]

They are both simple and work well. The Pac Brake is rated to 146 rhp at 3100 rpm with stock valve springs, this is with the brake set for 35 psi back pressure. With the heavy springs you can set the back pressure to 60 psi at 3100 rpm for 190 rhp. The BD brake is very simular in operation with simular results, however it has an offset butterfly for automatic psi build up and more rhp at lower rpm. I have one of each and like them both. The Pac is air operated and the BD is vacuum.





"NICK"

 

[19Kgvw]

They are both simple and work well. The Pac Brake is rated to 146 rhp at 3100 rpm with stock valve springs, this is with the brake set for 35 psi back pressure. With the heavy springs you can set the back pressure to 60 psi at 3100 rpm for 190 rhp. The BD brake is very simular in operation with simular results, however it has an offset butterfly for automatic psi build up and more rhp at lower rpm. I have one of each and like them both. The Pac is air operated and the BD is vacuum.





"NICK"

These are great feed backs and good ideas for decision making... anymore??