I finally got some time off of work down near Lubbock, TX to go home to Denver, CO...

It was a dark and stormy night.... seriously. By the time I got to New Mexico, I was getting a little nervous. Snow had started to come down, but it wasn't unexpected. The tires on this truck are the exact same stockers that came on my '03, and I know how poorly they perform in snowy conditions. The roads stayed clear for about 30 miles, but then they became snow-packed. 60 mph crosswinds were creating absolutely horrid visibility conditions; down to less than a car length at times. I made the decision to pull over at the only rest area along the highway about 20 miles up the road, but I had to get there first. With traction becomming a serious issue, I thought back to these forums. I decided to turn on the exhaust brake and placed the truck into tow/haul to keep that torque converter locked up whenever possible. Manually shifting the gears on the 6 speed automatic, I was imediately impressed with the ammount of control I had over this '08. I've never felt more relaxed driving in these conditions than I had at that moment. With my '03 I would have been sweating like a madman and praying for that rest area to come soon. When I reached the rest area, it was aparently packed full; no room for anyone else, so I had to press on. It didn't bother me at all though. So I pushed on to the next town, about 30 miles out of Raton, and the roads cleared up a bit and visibility improved significantly. The state police had closed 87 by the time I made it to Raton and I was worried that they may have closed down the Raton Pass on I-25. I stopped at the gas station to ask about conditions in the pass, and received a few answers that listed conditions identical to what I had driving on 87. The pass hadn't been closed yet, so in the interest of time I decided to put the truck to the test and took off over the pass. It was slow going, no doubt, but the truck handled it like a pro. Again going up and then back down the other side, the control I had on the truck was very impressive. I know I bashed these 6-speed automatics before because I don't like all of that shifting, but I was greatful for this one and am now a convert. I guess that I see an exhaust brake on my '03 in the near future. It's too bad that I can't replace that 48RE with a 68RE.

 

Good report and glad you had a safe trip. Merry Christmas.

 

Some guys say not to use the exhaust brake on slick roads, but my experience, with my 6.7 and with big trucks, is they are much better than the foot brake. On my 6.7 it seems to shut off when the wheels are sliding, sort of like it has a traction control or something along with it.

 

Dodge says not to use the EB in slick road conditions. I don't have a 6 speed auto, but my truck does have a Jake EB, and at speeds rite around 45mph while in tow mode the tranny will down shift to help slow the rig down. I think this is part of why they say don't use the EB in slick conditions. In the right conditions I guess the rear wheels could have a loss of tractions from the down shifting.

 

The exhaust brake is designed to disengauge at a certain rpm if you lock your rear wheels while using the e-brake you actually stall the engine but the engine recovers when it disengauges, the same thing happens with a engine brake on big trucks. Does the exhaust brake stay on when your slowing down for a stop light? answer is until the engine reaches it rpm limit, than it shuts off, the only time this does not apply is on the old mechanical engines the jake can and will stall the engine.

"the engine brake better than the foot brake", who and the heck are you trying to kid? you use the jake while towing a trailer and you lock the drives on a slippery road and if your not quick to recover you just jack-knifed your truck. Use some common sence, feather your brakes and use 5 axles to slow you down instead of two.
The same principle applies to these new dodges, just keep in mind the transmission gear your in, and diff ratio along with the engine RPM affects how much engine braking horsepower gets to the ground.
Point is when all of the factors are right any you are achieving max e-brake power it will lock the rear wheels, i've had mine actually chirp the rear tires on dry pavement.

 

That one of the reasons I have a 6sp, the roads have been horrible in CO lately and with out down shifting I dont think my truck would stop period. We were doing about 2mph today and when I hit the brake instead of sliding forewards I started sliding sideways so I had to keep going.

 

All i can say is watch out the ebrake is not as likely to lock the tires up in 4 wheel drive, but it only takes once to regret the decision to run it on slick roads. I make multiple monthly trips from the uintah basin utah to casper wy (my daughter is there and i like to spend as much time as possible with her). All of my trucks have had the ebrake (which I shut off on slick roads) and I've pulled quite a few guy's out of the ditch while using theirs on black ice on I-80. Your anti lock works quite well. Hey but what ever makes you "feel safe". Hope we don't see you in the bar ditch or worse.