Im not to sure what it is....but I think its something that causes the engine to automaticly downshift while braking? I tow a 25 foot enclosed trailer, so any braking is helpful....can anyone elaborate on the "Jake Brakes" and are they worth it/should I get one? Thanks!

 

I believe you are referring to the exhaust brake, which uses a butterfly valve to restrict the exhaust and slow the truck down.

Here is Kwik's version of how to do it with your EBPV LINKY

Jake brakes are usually on the big rigs and make that loud rapppahhhhhh sound, they use the valves of the engine some how to do that, and are capable of producing more braking HP than RW HP

 

What he said... Also you can buy after market exhaust brakes from one of our great sponsors... like here BD Power - Product: Exhaust Brakes

or you can do what Jason suggested and turn you Exhaust Bake Pressure Valve (EBPV) into one heres a link on how to do that...
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/2...brake-mod.html

Good Luck and great explanation Jason

 

The Jake term comes from Jacobs exhaust brake. They make models for almost every big truck engine. Simply hold the exhaust valves closed in timed intervals to increase pressure on the piston. This creates retarding horsepower by trying to stop the piston from pushing the exhaust gases out of the bore. When the valve is reopened, the gases have been pressurized and create a pop sound as they escape. The exhaust brake on the turbo is a completely different setup. It closes a butterfly valve to create backpressure on all pistons at once. I have them on my 00 and 01 psd's. They do help significantly, if you figure out optimum rpm's to use and downshift at. These brakes are worthless on automatics unless you downshift manually. Hope this helps.

 

Wow another local. Kevin what's your companies name. I'm down in Warrenton, VA.

 

Oh contrare mon frare...I have the decel tune on my DP and it utilizes the EBPV as an exhaust break, and believe me, it certainly does work and is nowhere near useless. Even unloaded, it works well to slow the truck down. It locks the TC and closes the valve and sounds good down to about 25MPH.

 

Interested in this tune. What does it sound like Jason. Ugh must stop asking questions in someone else's thread

 

No sweat Will. It sounds a lot like a jake break that is a little more muffled. You can hear the EBP valve close and there is a distinct sound that is like a grumbling noise. It works well and sounds good.

 

The exhaust brake is actually VERY functional for automatics - I have the homemade version in my 95. I can tow a horse trailer down 4th of July pass and almost NEVER use the brakes.

I'll find the link and post it, shortly - LINK. That link is for the manual tranny. But, not far down the page he has a link for the automatic schematic.

As far as the sound it makes - that depends on what you have within your exhaust already (ie. muffler, cat, straight pipe, pipe size, etc.). Since the most of the "muffling" in our diesels is done within the turbo, you won't get that big BLAP-BLAP-BLAP you hear on the big rigs (sucks, huh?). I wish we did, too. But, you will notice a "smaller" version of it. Now that I have it installed, I couldn't imagine not having it.

 

...link posted.

 

Great explanation Kevin, To add to what you said about the automatics the right torque convertor controller can make engine retarding a breeze with the automatics!

 

To my knowledge they don't offer a jake brake on the 7.3, but they do offer an exhaust brake. A jake brake holds a valve open on some cylynders to turn the engine into an air compressor when slowing down. On the big trucks you can select how many cylinders are used. My brother has an exhaust brake on his truck and it works quite well, but they are not cheap.

 

I made mine for about $20.



But I agree....if you purchase them "plug and play" they are definitely expensive.

 

Did we scare this guy off...?

 

Jason I couldn't say it better. All of my co trucks are automatics. The big cab over is one also and it has an exhaust brake. It let go a couple of weeks ago and man what a difference in stopping power.