BD exhaust brake

[motovet]

I think I have made up my mind on which 4" exhaust to install and now am considering a BD brake also. I tried the system out at the rendevous and thought it performed well. Just wrestling with the hefty price and would like some input from others with this set up to justify the purchase. Towing around 10,000# I feel the grade braking does a pretty good job by itself, although there are times when the extra stopping power would be nice. Are there times when the brake combined with the grade brake slow you more than desired ? Or is it a perfect match? Are there situations where the brake is not functional or should not be used? Worth it? I gather from the dyno #'s at the rendevous it is not a restrictive system. Any other thougts on this system would be most appreciated.

[tpitt]

motovet:
I'm also going to install a BD exhaust brake soon. On our trip to the rendezvous there were times when I could have used one. You should have probably bought one there though if my memory serves me right they were offering pretty good prices. They are also good to help warm up your engine when it is cold. They use an air compressor to activate the brake. I am also going to install a tank with a quick disconnect so I can have an onboard air supply. tpitt

[CanadaKev]

motovet,
A BD Exhaust brake was the first thing I put on when I bought the truck in March. Works terrific in conjunction with T/H. T/H keeps the revs up and more revs means greater back pressure. You have a toggle switch in the cab so if you don't need the exhaust brake just leave it off. When you need the extra braking throw it on. Simple as that. You can even adjust the level of back pressure you want, just pop the hood and turn the knob. In my opinion, the electric brakes that they put on trailers these days are garbage.(Whatever happened to electric/hydraulic?) Now I hardly ever touch the foot brake(trailer brakes) except for just the final little 'come to a stop'. Coming down long steep hills I used to have my trailer brakes pretty hot, not anymore 'cause I don't have to use 'em.
Hope this helps, Kev

[jannal]

We pull a 14,000 lb. 5th. and seem to be in the mountains all the time. If you do a lot of mountain driving with 6% to 10% downgrades you will appreciate the BD exhaust brake. We did one pull prior to installing the BD and decided that we had too much weight for the Allison to properly do the job. With the BD you will have far better control going down those mountain roads and a lot less time on the brake peddle. I also use the BD in the city in tow/haul mode; it works well in the stop and go traffic. Cheers
----------------------------------------------------------
1998 Okanagan 35 Ft. 5th. Wheel

[CntrlCalDmax]

I have installed a DB exhaust brake with a Kennedy 4" exhaust. I went a little further than the standard install by mounting the air regulator in the cab along with an exhaust back pressure gauge so that I can adjust the amount of braking for the hill I'm going down and can also monitor the back pressure so that I don't exceed the 55 psi maximum. Different hills and different desired speeds require different amounts of back pressure. Works great except that I wish the supplied regulator would bleed off pressure quicker when reducing the regulated pressure. Sometimes I have to flip the system off and back on to reset to the lower selected presure. I mounted the regulator, gauge, switch and indicator light in the CD case. When not in use it is hidden behind the CD case door. If you would like to see photos of the brake with the 4" exhaust and the interior mounted regulator, go to www.corpair.com/dmax/dmax.htm.

[ 06-01-2002: Message edited by: CntrlCalDmax ]

[ 06-01-2002: Message edited by: CntrlCalDmax ]</p>

[motovet]

So then... I should get one? Any other comments out there? Thanks to all the replies so far!

[ 05-31-2002: Message edited by: motovet ]</p>

[Jake99Z71]

motovet,
I have one more comment for you on the Exhaust Brake, that is you can also use it for faster warm-ups compared to the High Idle. Or you can use it in conjunction with the High Idle. Works great sitting in traffic in the winter.

[dmaxstu]

canadakev

It sure sounds like you're ready for a Jordan Ultima 2020 proportionate brake controller especially if you liked the Kelsey Hayes hydraulic. The Jordan mimmics that controller and has a thin steel cable going to your brake pedal arm which senses how hard you push the pedal and relays it to the trailer brakes. You will not even know you're pulling the trailer so far as braking is concerned.I've used this controller for about 4 years and take it from an X Canadian, there is no better I've used a number of them including te hydraulic. What follows is an exchange on the RV newsgroup recently. It's a couple of posts from an entire thread about the Jordan. www.jordanbrake.com
Subject: Re: Jordan Ultima 2020 Electric Brake Controller
From: Just Me s31924.nospam@netscape.net
Date: 5/26/02 12:45 AM Central Daylight Time
Message-id: &lt;uf0tkm4ldmrba2@corp.supernews.com&gt;

hlbrsma@aol.com (HLBRSMA) wrote in
news:20020525232928.03141.00000672@mb-da.aol.com:

&gt;&gt;I only buy the best hence the Jordan Controller.
&gt;
&gt; I looked at this thread again and I agree with Sandy. Part of it is my
&gt; fault for not expressing myself properly. What irks me is the
&gt; fact that a lot of RV'ers just don't get it. Here is a guy like Jordan
&gt; S. Prokirnchak who develops and manufacturers possibly the best brake
&gt; controller on the market today and has stood behind his product way
&gt; beyond any warrantee period, these big companies would probably love
&gt; to rip off his patents and what do a lot of us do ? We play into their
&gt; hands and badmouthing him without any real hands on trials.I think he
&gt; (Jordan) has proved himself,certainly to me I've used his controller
&gt; going on 4 years . His controller performs flawlessly much better than
&gt; the Kelsey Hayes hydraulic which it mimmicks. His is the only
&gt; controller which applies the trailer brakes directly from the
&gt; towvehicle brake pedal and does not depend on some resultant
&gt; consequence Stu
&gt;

Stu,

From the responses to my original question, I can only agree with
you.

It seems to me that a lot of people are under the impression that the
bigger the company's advertising budget the better the product, and that
"different" is "bad".

Certainly there are other brake controllers available, certainly
there is a preponderance of inertia controllers out there, and certainly
there are a lot of stores and internet shopping sites that sell them,
but does that make them better?

Recently, Trailer Life [March, 2002: Putting On The Brakes] had an
article on brake controllers that described the various types and their
attributes. In this article was a paragraph which described the unique
approach taken by Jordan, which piqued my interest.

The responses received from Jordan owners have been consistently
enthusiastic in their praise for the unit. A further search, through
Google, yielded more postings that said exactly the same thing.

Unless Jordan has, somehow, contrived to keep dissatisfied owners
from posting to this newsgroup [Chris's posts deny this hypothesis], I
can only marvel at the unanimity of opinion.