nauitque21

i just read an advertizement from US gear that was advertizing their brand of exhaust brakes and they said that it was backword engineering to have the eghaust brake so close to the turbo? http://www.usgear.com/dcelerator.htm
i guess it puts your turbo in a very hostile environment.
thier kit is a little harder to put on since it's farther down the exhaust system, but will save you $$$ in turbo replacement.
what do you guys think
i'm looking at a 4x4 dually and it has the elbow exhaust brake and i was wondering if it would be smarter to wait?
-Bryan

nauitque21

nobody has an opinion? hmmm....
i know you guys out there have these. how are your turbos doing? are they right or wrong?

Hemi Cat

Mine is on the turbo outlet and the previous owner said it had almost 600,000 on it when I got it from him. He didn't mention any turbo repairs.Just trannys and wheel bearings

nauitque21

that's what i wanted to hear. experience! how is the rest of your truck at 600,000. you would almost have to replace everything but the engine. lol

WildBill

Turbo mounted exhaust brakes work awesome - no problems, and NO they do not cause power losses. My dad's 99 PS has 135k miles and has had turbo mount brake since it was just about new & not a problem one. Dodge factory option exhaust brakes were turbo mount - so is US Gear saying cummins would allow backward engineering to be put on their engines? I don't think so. If you don't want a turbo mount brake the remote mount air brakes work nice also, or if you want to upgrade the factory turbo you will need a remote brake.

rharveysr

For what its worth... I ran a turbo mounted brake for 30k miles on my 97. Decided to make some changes so I removed the turbo mounted brake. I couldnt believe the difference in how the truck ran. The brake worked fine and I had no problems with it.
It just seems to me the remote brakes work better to allow the exhaust gases to stop the swirling action before trying to get by the exhaust brake gate.
Since then I have been using a US Gear remote and it works great. When this brake comes on you feel it.

Rick

nauitque21

interesting... thank you

WildBill

Ford Powerstrokes have a warm-up valve bolted to the outlet of the turbo. Banks makes a Power Elbow to replace it and the first section of the downpipe, independent dyno testing shows lots of money for no power gains. There is a lot to be said for placebo effect with many modifications/changes.

gandrews

fwiw I have the US Gear exhaust brake and it works well for me. When I tow I would not like to be without an exhaust brake!

The factors I considered when purchasing my exhaust brake were:

Positives of remote mounted:

Further away from the turbo so it doesn't get as hot and I would assume allows the turbo to cool down sooner
If you go to a larger turbo you don't need to change your exhaust brake

Negatives:

More expensive
electrically activated and further away from the engine compartment - so more apt to be affected by road salt etc.

As far as making your decision on buying this truck or waiting:
Are you planning on putting on a larger turbo?
Does the truck have everything else you want?
Is it in good condition?
Is the price fair?

Good luck,

George

rharveysr

I also like the design of the US Gear of how they wastegate the extra back pressure instead of drilling holes in the butterfly.

Rick

infidel

I like and have no problem with my elbow Pac-Brake but know a lot of folks whose choice in turbos were restricted because they didn't want to spring the bucks for an inline to replace their elbow brake.
If you're doing it for the first time go for an inline in case you want a different turbo down the road.

The exhaust brake that may come with a used rig you're looking to buy shouldn't influence your decision. Most times add on accesseraries don't add much to the selling price of a truck.

WildBill

BD brakes are pressure regulated - no holes in plate, and they are available in remote air operated - no electrics under the truck. That is what is going to be on my truck, since I have aftermarket turbo. If the exhaust brake is turned off, the turbo cooldown will not matter as far as where the brake is mounted.

Rockyhud

I can see where having a turbo-mounted e-brake could affect turbo cool-down in the following example. Let's say you've been on the open road for a while and have decided to stop for fuel or whatever right off the exit and have your e-brake turned on to help you slow down.

Now, as you're exiting the hi-way your e-brake will presumably engage to slow down the truck, thus building back pressure to to do so. The exhaust gases that are now being restricted from flowing out normally are now trapped to some extent in and near the turbo. As the turbo is now hotter than it would be if these gases flowed out "normally", to some extent due to the trapped or slowed down exhaust gases, it's going to take more time for it to reach what you consider an acceptably low temp before shutting off the engine.

Another thing to consider is that having a turbo-mounted e-brake also adds heat absorbing mass to the area right behind the turbo, which in my mind, would also cause the turbo to loose its heat slower that if the exhaust didn't have an e-brake or if the e-brake were mounted further downstream where the mass of the e-brake wouldn't contribute to the retained heat of the turbo itself, or at least not as much as a turbo-mounted unit. Hence the turbo should get cooler quicker.

I think I also read on the US Gear website their thinking pertaining to how a turbo-mounted e-brake abruptly interrupts the swirling airflow coming right off the turbo, thus introducing some exhaust restriction just from that alone. Rick Harvery's comments above seem to attest to that which again in my feeble little mind seems to make logical sense.

Well, those are my two cents worth. These aren't based on experience, just trying to apply logical thinking to the topic. Take it for what it is.

Steve

gandrews

"turbo-mounted e-brake also adds heat absorbing mass to the area right behind the turbo, which in my mind, would also cause the turbo to loose its heat slower that if the exhaust didn't have an e-brake or if the e-brake were mounted further downstream where the mass of the e-brake wouldn't contribute to the retained heat of the turbo itself, or at least not as much as a turbo-mounted unit. Hence the turbo should get cooler quicker."

Steve - Well said

George

WildBill

Turbo mounted exhaust brake will not add any extra mass - it replaces the stock turbo outlet elbow, so you replace the stock elbow with the exhaust brake elbow - how does this add more heat mass? It doesn't. Also, most exhaust brakes turn off automatically at low speeds, and if they don't you definately are supposed to turn it off at idle, otherwise the turbo can't cool down. If you look at your exhaust temps at idle, they will go up just putting your auto trans. in gear, turn the A/C on & it goes higher, turn the exhaust brake on & higher again. If somebody can't figure out to turn off their exhaust brake at idle to let it cool down, they deserve to cook it, then it will match the goo in their cranium