Exhaust brake

[DBelshee]

With the help of all of you on the RV forum, I am about to order a new truck! We decided on a new 3500 Quad-cab dually with the HO Cummins and 6 speed trans with 4. 10 gears, and various bells and whistles. The last thing to be decided on is the exhaust brake. I know a lot of you have them, and was wondering what your experiences have been with them. What brakes do you like, and why? The dealer offered a factory installed brake for around $1700, but that sounds a bit high to me, however, I guess Cummins would warrant that one. Is the warranty on the engine an issue when an aftermarket brake is installed? We are almost there! Thursday is the day we order the ol' girl! Any last minute ideas or thoughts? You guys have been a big help, and we certainly appreciate it! Thanks again. Don

 

[Casey Balvert]

The factory doesn't install the exhaust brake, the dealer does. You might try to negotiate the price of the brake into the deal. Say for $1,000 installed. He will still make money at that. The brake will be a Jacobs which I installed myself in my truck. It is a good quality product but this is my first exhaust brake so I don't have much experience with it. Some other TDR members have said they are quite satisfied with the Jacobs. Again, your best bet is to work it into the deal. They WANT to sell you that truck, and if that is what it take to close the deal, they will probably play ball. There will be no warrantee issues with the Jacobs which in part drove my decision to go with the Jacobs. My 2 cents.



Casey

 

[rfcom]

What Casey said.

When I asked my service manager about ebrakes, he specifically said any unit but Jacobs would void the warranty. The other manufacturers may disagree with that, but they're not the ones providing the engine warranty. Congrats on the new truck.

Jim

 

[CFAR]

I love it, I can pull up to a stop light or stop sign and not touch the brake pedal till I'm almost stopped.



I went with the jacobs for warrantee, oops(see sig) guess I should have thought about that one.



If you plan on leaving the truck stock until 100,000 miles than go with the factory brake.



Otherwise... ...

 

[Fireman]

One reason they cost more for the '03s is they have to include a vacuum pump and drive belt with the kit. Another nice addition (also comes in the kit) is the stalk switch that mounts on the shifter. It is definitly a quality unit.



Pac Brake offers one for a few hundred less, that has an aircompressor instead of a vacuum pump.



There has been alot written on this subject on the 3G forums. You could search there for more info.



Fireman

 

[ImagesThatSing]

Originally posted by Fireman

One reason they cost more for the '03s is they have to include a vacuum pump and drive belt with the kit. Another nice addition (also comes in the kit) is the stalk switch that mounts on the shifter. It is definitly a quality unit.



Pac Brake offers one for a few hundred less, that has an aircompressor instead of a vacuum pump.



There has been alot written on this subject on the 3G forums. You could search there for more info.



Fireman

I had an E-Brake installed by Cummins. Does that mean that if I purchase a backup drive belt, that We need to get it from cummins, and if we don't get a backup, that cummins will be the only source for such a belt?



I didn't realize that a new belt was mounted and this is good to know. Thank You

 

[DBelshee]

Originally posted by Casey Balvert

The factory doesn't install the exhaust brake, the dealer does. You might try to negotiate the price of the brake into the deal. Say for $1,000 installed. He will still make money at that. The brake will be a Jacobs which I installed myself in my truck. It is a good quality product but this is my first exhaust brake so I don't have much experience with it. Some other TDR members have said they are quite satisfied with the Jacobs. Again, your best bet is to work it into the deal. They WANT to sell you that truck, and if that is what it take to close the deal, they will probably play ball. There will be no warrantee issues with the Jacobs which in part drove my decision to go with the Jacobs. My 2 cents.



Casey

Casey,



Thanks for the info on the Jake. I ended up ordering my truck today, and they included the jake, installed for around $900. I also noted that your truck has 4. 10 gears in it, but didn't notice what transmission you have. I ordered the 4. 10's also with the 6 speed, and hope I did the right thing. Most of the salesmen tried selling us the 3. 73's, saying the 4. 10's were too low. What is your opinion? We will be pulling a 5th wheel that sounds similar in size and weight as yours. We test drove a 3500 last weekend that had 3. 73 gears in it, and after comparing the tach with the speedo, it ran almost neck to neck with my current 98 with the 3. 55 gears and 5 speed. I didn't notice what size tires the dually had on it. What is your experience on this? Thanks again for all the help, you guys have been tons of help!

 

[Casey Balvert]

Don, glad you were able to negotiate in the exhaust brake. You will not regret it. I have the HO and six speed transmission. Do I regret the 4. 10 axle? Absolutely not. The effect on mileage is negligible if you keep it under 70, the top speed is 105 and it gives you a extra ton of LEGAL towing capacity. You made the right decision in my opinion. I had the 4. 10 with a five speed manual in my 97 and liked that set up too. The RPMs are lower for a given speed than my 97 due to a slightly taller overdrive in the 6 speed and the larger tires on the 03. Congratulations on ordering a new truck. Be sure to let us know when it arrives.



Casey

 

[Carlton Bale]

Originally posted by GSevison

I had an E-Brake installed by Cummins. Does that mean that if I purchase a backup drive belt, that We need to get it from cummins, and if we don't get a backup, that cummins will be the only source for such a belt?



I didn't realize that a new belt was mounted and this is good to know. Thank You

Both the standard belt and the longer vacuum pump belt are available from Chrysler dealers and Cummins distributors. In the installation instructions, I made sure to recommend that the standard belt be saved and stored in the truck, just in case it is needed. The shorter, standard belt can be installed on the engine with the vacuum pump still installed but obviously the vacuum pump and the exhaust brake will not work in this configuration. But it's enough to get you home.



Here are the part numbers for the longer belts to use with the vacuum pump/exhaust brake:



Engine with Air Conditioning:

Cummins p/n 3947077

Mopar p/n 53041270AA



Engine without Air Conditioning (rare):

Cummins p/n 4025090

Mopar p/n 05114188AA



I'm not sure what the Mopar part number is for the standard (no vacuum pump) belt.