house Posted November 17, 2015 Report Share Posted November 17, 2015 I am debating adding a pac brake to my truck, I got the brakes a bit warm going down into grass valley this year and I thought that having and exhaust brake might help keep them a bit cooler. I have a DT466(mechanical) and i think an AT545 I am curious to hear your opinions as to weather it is worth the $2000 +/- to add this to my truck I know this transmission is not super at providing braking because it is not a lockup unit but I am willing to downshift if i get some more breaking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theharveys Posted November 17, 2015 Report Share Posted November 17, 2015 The exhaust brake is definitely worth the expense. I have one on my 2007 International with the DT570 and it makes a huge difference in traffic when towing my 18,000lb Carriage. It is so effective, that I do not even use it when bobtailing (except on winding,mountain roads) as it slows the truck down too much. It is not as good as the jake brakes on the HDTs, but IMHO you will love it anyways and wonder how you ever did without it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
travelinbob Posted November 17, 2015 Report Share Posted November 17, 2015 I had Banks Engineering put a Banks EB on my F550 with the 7.3 Powerstroke and couldn't be more happy with it. It stopped working after 7 years and with Banks help we trouble shooted it and all it needed was a $8 part purchased at a Auto Parts store. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RV_ Posted November 17, 2015 Report Share Posted November 17, 2015 Get it. I lost my brakes on the I-5 "Grapevine" Going North of L.A., got the PAC brake in 98 for a '92 1 ton Dodge Cummins Diesel Dually, rarely had to touch the truck service brakes or the trailer brakes going down 6% and less grades, never overheated them again. This was 15 years ago so little things may have changed, but additional braking will always be a plus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
house Posted November 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 18, 2015 hmm just read a bit and it looks like allison does not recommend an exhaust brake for my transmission.... sort of a bummer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeorgiaHybrid Posted November 18, 2015 Report Share Posted November 18, 2015 NIck, what tranny do you have? I know that our FL has a factory DD13 with a Jake brake and an Allison 4000 transmission. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
house Posted November 19, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 19, 2015 I am pretty sure it is AT 545, the issue is that it is a non lock up torque converter from what i understand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeorgiaHybrid Posted November 19, 2015 Report Share Posted November 19, 2015 OK, The 545 does not have a lock up clutch in the torque converter which will not let the engine brake work. bummer... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skp51443 Posted November 19, 2015 Report Share Posted November 19, 2015 You would get a bit of braking out of the truck by adding the exhaust brake but it would generate a huge amount of heat and need an extensive add-on to the cooling system for little gain. If you really want to add more braking to that setup take a look at electronic retarders, they will work with any transmission type and the heat is dissipated by air cooling. What might fit and costs I can't answer but both these sites have a contact address. http://www.electricbrakesystems.com http://www.telmausa.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alie&Jim's Carrilite Posted November 19, 2015 Report Share Posted November 19, 2015 Have you talked with Pac Brake directly? I've seen them installed on all pickups with auto and manual transmissions. On the manuals its an on/off switch that you operate, it is not automatic in that when you let off the accelerator it automatically engages. You switch it. The Pac Brake shouldn't create any additional heat. It's a butterfly valve in the exhaust pipe either directly off the turbo or downline. It slows the engine by increasing the backpressure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeorgiaHybrid Posted November 19, 2015 Report Share Posted November 19, 2015 The problem is that without a lock up torque converter, he has what is known as a "free wheeling" transmission. You really need to couple the intake (engine) side of the converter to the output (driveline) side to get any engine braking. Most torque converters do this with an electric clutch to lock the two together. The only thing his converter has is a viscous coupling between those two points using transmission fluid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skp51443 Posted November 20, 2015 Report Share Posted November 20, 2015 The brake isn't making any real heat since the engine is at idle throttle while it is engaged, it may slow the cooling of the engine and turbo a bit due to the reduced air flow though. Where the heat comes from is the torque converter, that used to be a problem on pickps too before they switched to locking torque converters. Newer MDTs with the 3000 series Allisons have a locking converter but the old 500 series is an open converter that makes a lot of heat from fluid churn with the brake engaged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoDirectionHome Posted November 21, 2015 Report Share Posted November 21, 2015 You might want to look into retarders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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