Noobie askin about exhaust brakes

[Soldier]

Hey yall. I have been reading some of the past posts on exhaust brakes and I have a couple questions. The answer may lie in the past posts somewhere, but DANG there's a bunch of them!



I see folks refering to exhaust springs. Changing over to 60lbs springs from stock 30 lbs springs. Are yall talking about the exhaust valve springs? If so, Is changing the springs over to 60lbs harmfull if you do it with out an e-brake? Like If I was to install them now in preperation for an e-brake? I dont plan on doing that, just asking.



I'm also wondering about the brakes that bolt on behind the turbo. I dont have a Cummins now, but I'm lookin to buy one (96-98 3500 5 speed) and an exhaust brake is one of the first things I want to do. So is there a piece already bolted on there that the e-brake replaces?

On my current truck (a 97 Powerstroke) there is an "exhaust back pressure valve) directly behind the turbo. When the truck is started and it's cold the valve closes to help warm the engine up faster. Some folks convert that to a makeshift e-brake.

Anyway, does the Cummins have one too that get's replaced or do you just pull the down pipe back and wedge it inbetween the pipe and turbo?



My other question is what actuates then. I'm mostly lookin at the Pacbrake. Yes, I realize that it's not the best on the market, but I understand it's cheeper than, say a BD, and from what I've read I believe it will serve me well.





Like I said in the begining of my post, I used the search feature and I did read quite a few posts, but honestly, I dont have the time or pacients to read through them all. I hope yall will forgive me for that.



Thank you for the help

 

[Joe G.]

The later model trucks come with 60 lb springs. I don't know what year the change was. From this I would assume that there is no problem associated with them.



There is a cast iron elbow between the turbo and the down pipe. The exhaust brake replaces the elbow.



Vacuum is used to close and open the brake valve. It is controlled by a solenoid valve.

 

[TPCDrafting]

the 60# springs come pre-installed on all 24 valves. 30# springs are on the 12 valves. I called Cummins to confirm this when I did mine (built in 11-97). The pac brake works just fine, if going with a 5 speed, pay the extra ~$30 and get a gear shift switch, it becomes real handy to use. According to the pac brake instructions, it is possible to use the e-brake w/o changing the springs, but you have to leave the high performance plug out of the valve and it won't be very effective. Might as well do it right and change the exhaust valve springs. There are directions on here on how to change them out as well. The pac works off your vacume system. It comes with good instructions and didn't take long at all to install.

good luck and welcome to the boards.

 

[Midnite]

Actually the 24 valve engines don't have 60# springs--they have a pair of 30 pounders for each valve, which in combination give 60# resistance.



Mike