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How well does the integrated exhaust brake work as compared to a conventional unit?

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Guys, I'm running a standard PacBrake with 60lb exhaust springs and it does a good job of holding me back and was wondering for those of you that had a similar setup on your past truck, do you feel that this new integrated unit is as good as the conventional style ones?
 
I had a Banks EB and contoller on my 97 2500. It worked very well but the integrated EB on the 08 is night and day better especially in tow haul. The EB was on the 97 for several yrs and I had no problems plus I never turned it off.
 
I am personally running both now - a Pacbrake in a truck with the 60LB springs, and the 'standard' exhaust brake supplied with the stock 6. 7.



The 6. 7 factory equipped brake works great - it's a little slow to come on once the switch is activated, but not a major issue. It has decent power when under a heavy load.



My Pacbrake (model C44045) on the other hand is stronger power-wise in bringing the road speed down on my other company truck, and activates probably 1/2 second faster even through the ECM.



The 6. 7's equipped brake seems a bit soft in certain conditions, however they both are good solid units.
 
One thing I noticed when I drove my new truck home and around for a bit (till I dropped it off at my upfitters), was that with the exhaust brake on and you decended a very bumpy hill, everytime the truck would bounce and the throdle peddle would bounce and the EB would turn off for a second or two.

The frost heaves here in NH are nasty and you literaly jump out of your seat if you hit one too fast.
 
Thanks for the replies. Dan, I'm glad they are comparable. I love my current setup so much I wouldn't want to do without it. Fatcat, that sucks about the bumps, I can't think back to the last time I saw a smooth road around here. I'll have to take one for a test drive I guess and see how it all works out.
 
I don't use it by the switch I just turn it on when I get in and anytime you let off it engauges. It will pull a load down faster than the pacbrake on my 05 6spd by no compairson. I would say the built in one wins hands down.
 
I've got several 5. 9's with PacBrakes and one 6. 7 ... . All the 5. 9's are sticks and will hold a 15K lb trailer down a 6% grade with no problem... . We've had the 6. 7 with the new AUTO over GVW and it does a great job down a 6% grade... we've never had it close to the combined weight of the 5. 9 and trailer.....

What we really like is to switch the transmission into Tow/Haul and turn on the brake... . the computers handle down shifting and engine speed management very well... I'd rate it a very good product but only time will tell if the variable vaned turbo will go the distance we need it to... .

Hope this helps. .
 
Thank you guys for the added input. Its hard to really know how well it performs until its put to the test like what you guys have been doing, and its hard to show up to the dealer for a test drive with a 12,000 trailer and expecting a warm welcome. Although I'd love to see the looks on their faces if I tried that. :-laf
 
I didn't think to mention about the bumps shutting off the stock 6. 7 brake, but it does happen very easily when you're empty - a little weight (2000 LBS or more) on the rear axle will clear that up though most of the time.



Perhaps a drawback to the 6. 7 factory brake is that it will show real weakness if the turbo starts to go... meaning that just before my turbo had to be replaced, the 6. 7's exhaust brake was shutting itself down around 1700 RPM. New turbo cleared the problem up, but it left me thinking that soot builtup in the 6. 7 turbo can have a real effect on the exhaust brake that is more or less built into the turbo, as I understand it. Another reason I'm now a real Pacbrake fan.



I've tested the 6. 7 EB down 6-7% drags for a solid 4 miles loaded to 23,000 LB combined MANY times - if you pick the right gear it will keep you held at speed.



The Pacbrake will do it too as jelag says - plus it's not so succeptable to internal soot issues like the problem I had.
 
I wonder how long this variable geometry turbos are going to last before the sliding mechanism stops sliding properly. Dan do you know what took out your turbo so early on?

Could a person just put in a PacBrake on the 6. 7 or would it wreak havoc with the emissions system if the PacBrake comes on during regen mode?
 
Coalsmoke, when I mentioned the low-RPM exhaust brake shutdown to the dealer who replaced the turbo, he said it was directly related to the turbo (and it was).



I've easily doubled the mileage & EB use now on the replacement Holset turbo, and it's shown no signs at all of any problems. But regardless, the Pacbrake is a lot less prone to problems because it's a totally seperate unit (outside the turbo).



So to answer your question, I don't know for sure what nailed my first turbo - at the time I was just happy it was a warranty replacement.



That's a good qestion about running a Pacbrake on a 6. 7 - I really don't know how (or if) that would work - jelag would know a lot more about that than I would. Without looking, I doubt there's even room around the 6. 7's turbo for the mounting of the Pacbrake.
 
We build (PacBrake) in line exhaust brakes for some engines that don't allow for direct mount like the Ford and Dodge brake... these fit in line on the exhaust system and function very well... . they work based on the diameter of the exhaust pipe and the back pressure the exhaust valve springs can handle... some work manually and others interface with the ECM... .

So there would be no problem on installing this on the 6. 7L from what I can see...

One nice thing about the inline brake is they flow a fair amount of air, but require welding of the adapters to the exhaust pipe for a good installation...

BTW - our 5500 (6. 7L) is a road truck for us... . so we don't expect the soot issue... . Last I looked it was at 10K miles and I assume it will be at close to 50K by the end of this year... . to our knowledge this truck has never been through a regen of the DPF... and we assume because we drive the tar out of it on the highway...

The driver has complained that it has a governor in the computer though as it won't do a hare over 75 MPH... . in lower gears it will rev fine but get it in high gear and hit that magic 75 MPH and it shuts down... . in some states he travels 75 is an acceptable speed for the size and weight of the vehicle... .

We are getting a beta test kit from PacBrake for a air bag system for the rear... we are installing a leveling valve from a class 8 truck, (air bag suspension) so we won't have to change the air bag pressure as we change the loads... . I have a sample bag... its much larger than the bags used on the 3500 dually's and I'm guessing it will handle the needed lift no problem...
 
Dan, glad everything is working out now with the new unit. Maybe the first one had a manufacturing flaw. I like gauges on my trucks even though I'm not that into upping the power on our trucks (they do pretty darn good right out of the box). I'm a bit nervous though that I might do gauge installs and then have some sort of glitch in the ecm, turbo, etc and have the dealer try to pin it on me.

Jelag, thanks for the info. It's nice to know that the Pacbrake option still exists for these trucks. The rear bag setup with a leveler makes good sense. I think if you get it working right it will be a nice addition to the truck. That's the first I've heard of a 75MPH limiter. I thought typically they were 100mph if anything.
 
I need to update my signature, picked up my new 08 last night. It has the G56 in it. The new built in exhaust brake is double the braking performance that my conventional style Pac Brake with 60lb springs on my 95 was. I'm loving this set-up.
 
I pulled a heavy Weekend Warrior down the north side of Baker Grade and never touched my wheel brakes. I just cycled the the EB when needed. That same 5ver had major brake issues when I pulled into the Flying J in Las Vegas, with 500 miles to go, and had to disconnect the trailer brakes on all three axles. The EB performed better than expected in that condition and was instrumental in a safe pull as well as could be expected W/O trailer brakes.



Steve...
 
The U. S. Gear exhaust brake on my 2000 truck was noticably more powerful than the factory brake on my 2008 truck. Both are six-speed manuals.



Also, the U. S. Gear unit was controlled by a push-button transmitter that you could mount almost anywhere in the cab. I had mine on the gear shift knob, and it was very handy. The button on the dash of the 2008 truck isn't nearly as convenient.



There are too many times when I want to coast in gear, but don't really want to bleed off speed, so I want the exhaust brake off. With the new system, I have to reach down to turn it off, with my old system all I had to do was push the button on the shifter, which didn't require a reach nor taking my eyes off the road.



The new brake works satisfactorily, but it isn't as good as my old U. S. Gear Decelerator, not in power nor in convenience.



Loren
 
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