RoyJ wrote:



1st, as others have pointed out, a gas engine as a lot more engine braking than a diesel, due to the throttle plate. If I have ot guess, I'd say your engine has atleast double the retarding power as a diesel.

oldtrucks wrote:

I've had trucks with and without, my latest without, and I prefer with. I added a PacBrake to my 03 Duramax and could comfortably roll down most grades without service brakes. I could roll off the East side of Donner Summit without brakes. I sold that truck and the 06 Duramax I have now doesn't have a brake yet. Going over Donner is completely different, even with the Allison I still feel like I'm on the brakes too much to keep the engine speed down

Paul Clancy wrote:

If I felt the need this seems like a better option on your truck (or mine)
http://bankspower.com/news/show/24-banks-speedbrak

DSteiner51 wrote:



I keep seeing this over and over and over again on the internet. Can someone please point me to the engineering data to back this up? My experience with both gas and diesel farm tractors of the same make and model in both versions and also Ford manual tranny trucks say otherwise. When I designed equipment all the engineering data also said differently. Please! Anyone, post a link to ACTUAL engineering data. The one ton I now drive on occasion will go to idol while going down the road at 60mph when I take my foot off the accelerator pedal but that isn't because of the engine.

SoCalDesertRider wrote:



If you had bothered to read/quote my WHOLE post instead of just part of it, you would have known that I DO understand diesels and locking torque converters...

Henry Wang wrote:

Just got back from a weekend of camping in British Columbia Southern interior in the Osoyoos area. For those of you in the know, getting in and out of Princeton is the one of the proofing grounds for your truck's pulling power and more importantly the stopping ability.

With consistent 7 and 9% grade hills, your truck has it's work cut out for sure. A couple of weeks ago I installed exhaust brake and a digital gauge pack to monitor my engine from BD Power. This trip was the acid test.

On a 7% grade going down hill, I had my truck in drive position (D) with overdrive (OD) on coasting at 90 km/hour and I was actually slowing down without touching the brakes. In fact, I had to touch the gas once in a while just so I didn't slow down too much.

On a 9% grade going down hill, I was in D with OD off coasting at 70 km/hour and holding very steady. It didn't slow down further or speed up.

On the way up, my absolute highest temp for EGT was 905 degrees F (alarm set at 1050) and transmission was around 176 degrees F (alarm set at 230). Turbo boost was maxed just over 20 PSI (alarm set at 33). Very nice to know that I am not over working my engine.

The best part was the feeling that I can coast for a long ways down hill without touching my brakes, saving them for actual emergency stop or the hard corner at the bottom of the hill.

I highly recommend this upgrade for anyone who can afford it. I will likely make my money back by the reduced brake and rotor servicing cost and the safety improvement can't be quantified.