Brakes Are for Stopping, Not Maintaining Speed

[Gil_J]

It's important to remember your brakes will serve you well if you don't use them for maintaining speed in the mountains.

Your Jake or Transmission Retarder and proper selection of your transmission gear should be used for maintaining your speed.

https://youtu.be/39di5gfXUU8

[Fratto]

Wow, that would leave a mark .... in my seat!

[Joe Camper]

If u know how to drive, and it's really not that complicated or difficult, u can haul 80,000 lb coast to coast safely on a regular basis without a Jake or retarder at all, relying solely on the brakes alone.

Not all big rigs have Jake brakes. There is no law that says u have to have them to go over a mountain. When u r in this category brakes r absolutely for maintaining speed and they have all the capability in the world of doing it safely.

The idiot behind the wheel in that video IMHO falls into that 10% category. Bet the rig HAD a jake. All the wrong boxes got checked as he crested the top. Dont blame the equipment it's the loose nut behind the wheel.

I think your brakes alone can serve u well in the mountains u have to refrain from being just plain ignorant or stupid or both.

On a slight side note, if I had a chassis that lit up the brake lights every time I engaged the Jake it wouldn't be hooked up for long. It really makes u look like a schnook as u r descending to veteran and well seasoned professional drivers. Just sayin

[shahzadlateef]

Joe, my H3-45 does exactly that - brake lights come on every time Jake brake engages. It also lights the brake light in the dash. I will eventually look into disabling that (after I figure out how). I can imagine that I looked like I was constantly braking (using service brakes) going down any grade.

Regards, Shahzad
2003 H3-45 Marathon

[Joe Camper]

There will be a relay marked as such in the fuse box in the engine bay above the engine.

[ELucast]

here's a comment to an old thread. I stopped driving a truck in 93 after 20 years. I never drove a truck that had a jake brake. As a rule of thumb you started down the hill in the gear you went up the hill in and then maybe droppped another gear if you couldn't contain your spped without using your brakes more than 20% of the time.

[truk4u]

Shahzad,

Your Jake relay is not in the engine compartment, it’s in the driver side rear electrical compartment. Photo needs rotated.

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[Gil_J]

Shahzad,

Tom is correct on location. It's R61 for your model year.
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