Thinking about getting one... anyone have one what do you think worth the money... does it give the big rig sound or not. thanks

 

Not worth the money. They're $1200 and change and run on vacuum. Vacuum pump failures are very common on these things.

I ordered a Pac Brake yesterday. Interfaces with the ECM in the same way as the Jake, but uses a variable orifice brake to give you braking down to 1200 rpm. Look for a review on Pirate 4x4. A guy with a manual had one installed and documented the process.

I got my PRXB for under a grand. It is actuated by air pressure, and comes with a compressor and tank. It also has a quick-disconnect air line that you can use to inflate tires/toys/whatever. You can also get air horns and air springs and tie them into the system.

Send me a pm if you need contact info...

 

The Jake Brake was designed for the truck, and the truck was designed for the Jake Brake. You get factory support and factory warranty with the Jacobs brand brake. If that's important to you, then have at it.

I love mine. It helps with warmup, and gives the truck a much better shifting schedule; better than T/H I believe. I wouldn't want to tow without it.

 

the jake does work well,until the pump burns up.i'm on my 3rd pump at 75,000 miles ($90)at cummins.the good thing is it only takes 10 minutes to change.and no it does'nt sound like an engine brake,more like a vacuum cleaner-even with stacks.

 

The Pac Brake interfaces with the ECM exactly in the same way as the Jacobs. The main difference is that the Pac Brake provides the same amount of braking at 1200rpms as the Jake does at 2k rpms, give or take. Also, the Pac Brake will not affect your warranty. You also get the option of using air tools, air horns, and air bags.

Since the vacuum pump is driven by the serpentine belt, there is a possibility that you may be stranded by a vacuum pump seizure. Warranty or not, it's a PITA to be stranded. I guess you could carry a wrench for the tensioner pulley and your stock belt for the odd chance that this may happen.

Not a worry with the Pac Brake since it uses an electric compressor.

 

The Jake is the 2nd best thing Dodge every thought of putting in there trucks, 1st being the 5.9 of course I agree with HOV, it gets the truck warm alot faster on cold mornings and makes a huge difference when towing or just daily driving, wouldn't go anywhere without it.

 

I have a dealer installed Jake, and wouldn't get it again. Get the Pac Brake and smile. Or get the Jake like me and get stranded on the side of the interstate with a siezed vacuum pump, broken serpentine belt, broken fan shroud, and an idler/tensioner pulley that snapped and got slung forward into the radiator...at only 36k miles. Quoted 3 weeks to get truck fixed, and ruined the only vacation for the year as I was just heading out of town. Not to mention, trying to get a wrecker to get you when your towing a trailer is a mess. There are really no benefits to the Jacobs. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask. I'm not trying to be harsh, just honest. I don't want you to make the same mistake I did. Sure exhaust brakes are great, but there are better to be had than the Jacobs unit.

--Eric

 

Ive got a jacobs brake and have not had any trouble with it. When I bought my truck it was on there, so I did not buy it and love how it works, but if i were to buy one i would go with the pac brake. JMO

 

65000 on my Jacobs, mostly towing so that means using the brake. Love it - - no problems. And it holds back right down to an idle.

Incidently, it is NOT a JAKE brake - - two different animals.

 

I put one on my 06 mainly because I didn't want to deal with any finger pointing if there were any warranty issues. A lot of people talk about Vac pump issues, but I would rather take it to the dealer and have it repair that to go back and forth between the dealer and a E brake installer is issues come up. Otherwise it has worked really well. I pull a 16k lbs fifth wheel and it keeps the speed in check. There isn't any big rig sound because it vents through the exhaust.

 

That's cool, those are nice options. I do like that better than the Jacobs setup for sure. On-board air compressor is sweeeeet.

I do have an issue with your claim about braking HP at given RPM. All the brake does is close off the exhaust so the pistons compress air, which slows the wheels by leverage via the crank and transmission. One brake won't do that any better than another, and it would most certainly not be different braking force per given RPM between brands. The braking force is generated by the pistons, not the exhaust brake.

 

Take a look at our turbo mount exhaust brake. We go through the ecm same as the others so you get the brake working with cruise and the new tow/haul mode as well. We use an air compressor which you can t a tank into as well. The biggest thing is that we don't use moving parts in the flow of exhaust to regulate the back pressure. They use that flapper valve as the safety. It is moving parts in the flow of exhaust. They are going to carbon up no matter what they are coated with. We use a solid butterfly valve instead of relying on the whole to prevent the over-pressurizing. We use regulated air pressure to hold the valve closed. If the back pressure exceeds 65psi the valve pushes open relieving the excess pressure. This leads to much better lower end braking, plus you don't have to worry about the safety sticking and eventually not working.

 

That's what I thought at first too. However, that's not true. The Jacob's brand uses a butterfly with "fixed" orifices in the butterfly...i.e. some drilled holes.

It's been awhile since I've read up on it, but I believe the Pac utilizes a variable orifice size, so to speak.

I have a drive pressure gauge (or backpressure) to measure exhaust brake performance; with the Jacobs brake, I can only achieve 60 psi backpressure when the engine is at near redline rpm. As rpm decreases, so does the backpressure, or the available braking power. Thus, as the engine slows down to 2000 rpm, there may be only 35 - 40 psi backpressure. If I understand correctly, the Pac system closes the orifice size as rpm decreases to maintain a much higher backpressure throughout the rpm band.

Anyway, all brands aren't created as equally as it may seem.

--Eric

 

I have heard of the vaccuum pumps on the Jacobs Exhaust brakes going out. Seems the vaccuum pump prices were something like $300, but now are down to $90. I got the Jacobs because it was included with the actually warranty on the vehicle. If any of you have tried to fight with the big company over aftermarket parts and how though don't affect warranty, they know the pain they put you through. Right now have someone in my office trying to fight Ford over the fact his K&N damaged his throttle sensor? And they revoked his entire truck warranty and charged the wrecker to him even though he had roadside assistance. Told him BS but they are still making him go through the motions to fix this... 4 weeks and no resolve so far...

Of course, I say this knowing full well minus something catastrophic my truck will not be to the dealer for warranty... I think the Pacbrake is an excellent product, but I was concerned with the warranty...

 

I had my PacBrake installed by my local dealer. They had no qualms about installing the system (which was purchased here through Larry). It is a dealer installed item and therefore will not be a warranty issue.