Anybody try to make their own.

If so, lets see some pics and tell where you got your parts from.

Cory

 

I made one for my friends Peterbuilt. It was a 6 inch pipe, so I cut out a circle from some 1/8" plate steel. Drilled a hole through his pipe for a pivot rod and stuck them in there, then bolt the rod and the plate together. Made a small arm on the side of the rod to operate the butterfly. Ran a choke cable into the cab to operate it from inside.

He said it work pretty well, and he hasn't told me otherwise in the last 3 years since i did it. Cost was about $20 for the cable, and some scrap steel.

 

I don't think it would be hard, getting the right back pressure is all that would bother me. I've made a set of wastegates for a friends car once and they worked alright just a little crude. I thought a piece of schedule 40 pipe with maybe some valve guides out of a john deere which are 3/8 stem size. If you know what size bleed hole they have in them would make it alot easier.
If you make some keep us informed.

 

I would like to make one so I could use an electric actuator so I could just flip a switch, but the pull cable idea has crossed my mind. I am having a hard time finding an actuator though.

Something like this one is what I would like to make.

 

I wanted to build my own but decided that I just don't have the time, so I bit the bullet and bought one. If you look on E-bay you can sometimes buy a parted out one that is just a butterfly valve. I saw a Jacobs one that sold for $50 without the actuator, so a cable into the cab would be perfect. I kicked myself in the butt a lot for missing that one out, I got stuck in a stupid meeting at work and didn't bid.

 

You could rig up a shutdown solenoid to activate the brake, or even a power door lock solenoid like the aftermarket ones for shaved door handle kits.

 

I've got on board aircompressor on my truck so that part is taken care of. The bad thing is I had a guy offer me three new ones about 2 years ago that operated on air and were 4 inch for 150 dollars apiece. Like a idiot I didn't think I would ever use them so I didn't buy them.

 

were would you get the shutdown solenoid ?

 

I personally would shy away from electrical actuation. The area under the truck / near turbo are rather extreme for heat and dirt. Solenoids will get sticky and problematic. Even the air / vac actuation looks excessively complicated. Just get a cable and learn to use the most powerful computer in the truck - your head - to control it.

 

A stock shutdown solenoid hangs a few inches off the side of the block on our trucks...I'm pretty sure it can withstand the heat. I know it has lasted 200k on my truck, so even if it lasted 100k as an actuator for an exhaust brake, that's pretty darn good. Plus they have a rubber seal, that prevents dirt & debris from gunking up the shaft & seal. Plus, they are adjustable. So an adjustable mounts, along with the adjustable travel would make perfect sense to me.

A hand-operated cable would work, but I'd be curious to know how well it will seal, and if you could actuate it fast enough to even work like it's supposed to.

You have to take in consideration how fast the operation of the system is. A slow responding acutation and your exhaust brake is a waste of time and useless. It needs to be instant, like the real deal. Something actuated by air would work as well, but most air slide actuators and rotary air actuators can only withstand 140-degrees due to their class of insulation. Other Electrical Sealed Linear Solenoids have a higher temperature range up over 250-degrees, with a class B insulation.

 

By the way, Here's the most common exhaut brakes...all actuated by an adjustable travel, 12Volt DC Powered Linear Solenoid.

US Gear "D-Celerator" Exhaust Brake...


Here's a Jacob's Exhaust Brake...


Here's a PacBrake...

 

Do you think the shutdown solenoid would be strong enough to close, and does it have enough travel? Mine doesn't have one, so I can't check mine, it has a pull cable kill on it and was like that when I bought it.

I do like that idea though. The main reason the cable doesn't appeal, even though I think it would work well, is I have a posi lock 4x4 system which requires a throttle type cable in the cab to engage the 4x4, and the the pull cable kill. I don't want a third cable!

Cory