Quick story. I just got my first diesel 2 weeks ago, so thrilled f250 crew cab swd, love the truck.

So my 9 year old has an all star softball game about an hour away, I load up 3 of the girls, canopy, water and take off.

On the highway there is some heavy traffic, 4 lane 70 mph road. Suddenly some crack head thinks it would be a good idea to walk his dog across 4 lanes of traffic, yes walk his dog.

I never saw him, he was about 4 cars ahead of me, but one second I'm going 70 and the next all I see in front of me are brakes locking up in both southbound lanes.

I jammed the brakes and let me tell you, I could not believe the stopping power of this 7k+ vehicle. No skid, no turning sideways, I have no idea what the specs say, but I can tell you that f250 stopped dead strait faster than any of the cars in front of or behind me.

I wasn't even close to hitting the guy in front of me, the guy behind me had to swerve into the median to miss me and the guy behind him almost hit me in the *** end.

After I cleaned my underwear out I looked at my wife and and we both said a little prayer and then thanked Ford for building this awesome machine.

 

I haven't driven 2017..... But have 2015/16 quit a bit. Agree with great f250 brakes, even prior years.

The hubs n pads are designed to stop a load, not just the truck. So with a light load u can really tell.

But, wait til u stop with load. Then you'll be impressed again.​​​​

 

turn your exhaust brake on full and it will even stop quicker.

 

Let me guess. You line in ATL?

 

I concur, I haven't had to stop like that but I am also impressed with the stopping power of these trucks, 1/2 to 2/3rds travel of the brake pedal is pretty effective.

Our last two Mercedes have had "OMG I didn't know a car could stop that quick" brakes and it definitely makes you feel better about driving except for worrying if people behind you are going to be able to stop!

 

How do you turn it on "full?"

 

One press of the button on the dash does full engine braking, second push goes to auto, third press of the button, returns to off.

Question to the OP, did you notice the heads up display in the windshield, a line of red dots, this is the collision warning system and if it detects imminent collision it pre loads the brakes so that as soon as you touch the brake peddle you get instant 100 % braking.

 

No I don't live in Atlanta, I live in WV which makes the whole thing even more crazy. We were on the turnpike surrounded by woods, there were no houses anywhere so I have no idea where this guy was coming from or going to.

I typically don't drive around with my engine brake on, I was saving that for my first tow, but I may put it on just to feel how it works.

And no, I didn't notice any kind of collision warnings. Honestly when I jammed the brakes I stopped so fast I was never in any real danger of hitting the guy ahead of me, the real danger as it turned out was getting hit from behind.

That would have been my luck too, I've towed with a gasser for 5 years, just waiting and waiting until the finances allowed me to get a diesel, and to wreck it in the first 2 weeks before I even got a camping trip in, that would have sucked

 

Turning on the exhaust brake will not assist you in an emergency stop whatsoever.

It helps slow the vehicle in a controlled manner when coming down grades or coming to a gradual stop. It requires downshifting and higher RPMs to be effective.

 

That would explain why the transmission shifts down on deceleration pretty much the same way that it does in Tow/Haul mode when the exhaust brake is enabled...

 

well I agree . but I recently pulled my 38 cig . with baby red .. not my duelly . and when I washed the rims solid black brake dust .. that's concearning to me .. pads seem soft . literally looked like black water coming off the forces ,, also experienced fair amount of break squeaking from the brake dust ..hmmmm . duelly pulls n breaks mutch better .as expected it should ..

 

Another, of several reason I chose 250 over 150.....14" brakes front and rear.