Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) exhaust brake

[Kent]

I am thinking of putting an exhaust brake on my 2001 2500 Cummins with a 5 speed manual. I have narrowed it down to the dealer offered Jacobs or the Banks brake. The dealer will sell the Jacobs brake for $675, but wants $250 to install it. The banks is $850 and I install it. Price is not the big issue, nor is installing it myself.



If I install either one myself, will it affect any of my warranty on the truck?



Which one is easier to install?



How laong does it take to install?



Which one is better?



Any help, tips, or input on the matter would be greatly appreciated.



Kent

 

[PBayer]

Kent

I have a 2002 2500 and have reading tons about e brakes. I went with jacobs and installed it friday. Fit like a glove and works great. Call mechanicsville dodge 1-800-559-6698 The brake cost me $575+25 shipping. Had it on my door step in 30 hrs from calling in the order. Call Piers Diesel for the shifter switch from pac.

Paul

 

[Dsullenberger]

Kent: I installed the Jacobs on my 2002 last April and have used it almost on every trip I have taken. When going down the back side of Eisenhower Tunnel I never use the truck brakes pulling my 25ft Alpinlite trailer. This is in Colo. and is approx. 7miles of 7% grade. Use it all winter when pulling 4 snowmobiles. The Jacobs exhaust brake is the only factory-approved exhaust brake built for your Dodge Cummins. The only exhaust brake Mopar endorsed for the Dodge Ram. It was jointly engineered by Cummins and Jacobs. I'm happy with mine wouldn't be without it. If you can go to the Cummins dealer and buy it then it has to be good.

 

[jelag]

Kent



I think your going to find there's a lot of BS around about some of the brakes on the market..... I suggest you go to PacBrake.com and see whats up.....



I personally think you should look at one of only 2 brakes on the market..... 1 - is the DC unit... ... since DC and Jacobs are doing this together... ... 2 - is the PacBrake..... they have the blessing of Cummins..... as well as CAT, IH, Detroit... . etc etc... were the first company to design and build an exhaust brake, and were the first to mount one on the Dodge Cummins... ... . yea, Jacobs was in second place on this one.....



I'm biased to one... ..... PacBrake is the only builder to build all of the brake 100% in house... . and they, like Jacobs have full time engineers that know this stuff really well... ... . the other guys are doing it with outside vendors who they have quality issues and don't have full time design crews... .



I can't quote prices here... . got my hands slapped... ... but if after you look at the web page and have any questions give me a PM and I'll give you the answers with pricing... ... .



Have a great day.....



Jim

 

[Mundgyver]

Got mine from the dealer and installed it myself. Love it. The Jacobs one was designed for this engine and uses pin 20 on the ecm. Works very nice in conjunction with the cruise control. Long trips I just turn it on and the cruise and go. Its all automatic in its workings.

 

[Grandpappy]

Kent:



Gitchesun and I ( mostly him) installed a Jacobs E-brake on a '01, H. O. 6 sp today. First time for either of us, mine was dealer installed when I bought my truck. Of all the parts, kits and ect. that I have installed or helped install, this was by far the most complete, well thoughtout and easiest kit ever. The instructions are step by step and easy to follow. If you are installing a BD or Pac switch, you can e-mail or P. M me and I can give you a few time saving tips we figured out today. Have had mine two years now and have no more fears of Colo. mountain passes plus it saves on the service brakes, towing or not.



Howard

 

[Kent]

thanks for all of the input.



How long has anyone spent to install the brake themselves?

 

[Thomas]

The nature of the install on your model year 2001 is such that it doesn't need to be done all at once. The truck will be disabled about an hour while you remove the OEM elbow and replace it with the E-brake by Jacobs elbow. The vacuum and electric controls can be installed at your pleasure. The only time the truck is disabled is as described in the second sentence. You can drive with the physical brake on the truck with the vacuum and/or electric controls not hooked up.

 

[Ram4Sam]

More info....

Kent, look here for more info and confusion...



http://www.bd-power.com/ram/exhaustbrakes.php



and



http://www.bd-power.com/straight_facts.pdf



I've installed one with the turbo off and one with it on the truck, either way it's pretty simple. Thomas's figure of about an hour is pretty close from my experience.



Sam

 

[CJ Lagos]

I put a banks brake on my 2500 HO, it is incredible the difference these things make. I chose the banks for the engineering of the eblow, ability to run a 4" downpipe, and the integrated computer controls. This thing hook in electronically to the throttle, temperature(to help warm up, very useful), cruise control, etc.



Install was straight forward. Took 2-3 hours.



CJ

 

[Okie-Go]

As Grandpappy said. The 01 is my truck. I really like it so far but have yet to pull anything. I can go from 6th gear to 2nd and never touch the service brakes. I thank you guys for the help. Okie

 

[RustyJC]

We negotiated the Jacobs e-brake as part of the deal when we ordered this truck and had it dealer-installed before taking delivery. Since it was a dealer-installed Mopar accessory, it is included in the standard Dodge bumper-to-bumper warranty. Obviously there are no warranty issues with the Jacobs brake,



As far as function, it works just fine, and we've never had any problems with it whatsoever. We tow a 36' 5th wheel that puts the truck at 10,380 GVW (10,500 GVWR) and 21,180 GCW (21,500 GCWR). I wouldn't be without it.



Rusty

 

[Gray Ghost]

I installed a pac on my 99 5 speed. Took several hours. Most

of the time was trying to get to wires wnder the dash. i removed it,when I traded for the 02. Took me about 1 1/2 hr this time.

All depends on how pickey you are about wire routing and

adjusting throtle sw. I bypassed computer control and used a

shifter sw to control on/off on the 02. Didn't wan't the delay.

If you can walk and chew gum at the same time, you can do it.

 

[John Berger]

Pacbrake or Jacobs

There are others that have decent reputations, but Pacbrake seems to be the brake of choice. It has the Jacobs beat price-wise, at least on the sites I have checked.

 

[BVol]

am I correct to assume that there is no switch involved with the Mopar brake on a '01 6spd... ... it works off the ECM?

 

[Thomas]

1. It works off the ECM.



2. There is a switch in series with the wire to the ECM to disable the brake.

 

[Scrappy]

e brake question?

Does the jacobs E brake have the automatic warmup mode? I think this might help me here in AK. Also does this work with the truck in motion?

 

[Mundgyver]

No there is a switch to arm it. Sets down low near the second power outlet and is the only hard item to install due to it position. It lights up orange when the ecm sends out it 12 vdc from pin 20 during no throttle situations.

 

[Mundgyver]

I have the road relay in my truck and will be exploring that idea of a warm up mode using the exhaust brake.

 

[RustyJC]

Since we tow a 5th wheel, I used the Jacobs e-brake to warm up our truck by letting it idle with the e-brake on while packing and hitching up the 5th wheel. Don't want to hit the highway at 21,180 GCW with a bone-cold truck, you know!



At 11,800 miles, I pulled out the IAT sensor to check it for cleanliness. Although it wasn't really crudded up too badly, it was definitely showing a heavy layer of soot - easily taken care of with some carb cleaner. Excessive idling with the e-brake on will certainly contribute to IAT sensor fouling (high back pressure exhaust gas "chuffs" back into the intake during valve overlap).



I'm not saying don't do it - just saying to be prepared to inspect and clean the IAT sensor more frequently if you do.



Rusty