There you are headed down that huge hill, riding the brakes all the way down. Only to find at the bottom you have very little braking power left. The brakes have faded due to heat and fatigue. Not only are you wearing out your service brakes on your tow vehicle but your trailer as well. Surely there must be something to help in this situation. What if I told you there was, and it will help increase the life of your service brakes 3 to 5 times over the lifespan of your vehicle. Interested?

Well the answer is an exhaust brake. If your truck or RV is diesel powered, you can have diesel engine braking like the big rigs, without the noise. If you take your foot of the throttle in a diesel-powered vehicle, it virtually free wheels. Add to that a 6 to 8 percent grade hill and a heavy load, you’re expecting a lot from your regular service and trailer brakes. An exhaust brake can provide supplemental braking that allows you to use your service brakes much less. Less wear, results in direct savings on maintenance costs as well as increased safety by keeping your vehicles service brakes cool, which in turn reduces brake fade.

Basically an exhaust brake will capture the exhaust pressure and hold it in the engines cylinder, which creates resistance against the pistons of the engine. The resistance created by the exhaust brake translates through the engine into the driveline and out to the drive wheels causing your vehicle to decelerate. An exhaust brake utilizes a Butterfly valve that is attached directly to the outlet of the turbo charger or just down stream of the main exhaust outlet. When activated the butterfly valve closes and restricts the exhaust. In essence the engine is converted from energy producing to energy absorbing.

BD-power, Banks and Pac-brake are just a few of the most popular Exhaust brake brands. They all work basically the same way. And each manufacturer has it’s own claims and benefits. But for our project we once again chose the most reliable and efficient product in our opinion. We chose to use an Exhaust brake from BD-Power. Since 1989 BD-power has built their reputation on exhaust brakes. They design, build and test both engine and remote mount exhaust brakes. Their brakes are built of durable cast iron and have stainless steel butterflies and shaft assemblies. This combination of materials ensures many years of reliable and virtually maintenance free service. BD-power is also unique in the fact they manufacture their own line of electronic components to aid in the brakes operation when installed on an automatic transmission equipped vehicle.

After a quick call to BD, their knowledgeable sales staff helped us with our decision on the type of brake to use. Due to the fact we have installed a much larger than stock exhaust system, we decided to go with a remote mount brake. Basically all this means is that instead of the brake being mounted directly to the turbo exhaust housing, our will be mounted just downstream of the turbo in our front exhaust pipe. Either way the brake is still very effective. For the installation of an exhaust brake it is a good idea to enlist the help of your local garage or and experienced installer. The install time will vary from vehicle to vehicle and by type of transmission. They can take anywhere from to 5 hours to install.

We also chose to use BD’s Tow-Loc. Our Tow-loc’s job is to keep our torque converter clutch engaged to a much lower speed than stock, to ensure maximum engine braking. Once again the Auto/Tow loc does require some wiring so enlisting the help of a professional would be recommended. Once installed, activating the Tow-loc is as simple as pushing the Tow – Haul button on the shifter.

To sum it all up, the installation of an exhaust brake will save hundreds of dollars in brake repair bills over the lifetime of your vehicle and give you more comfort and control while trying to reduce speed down steep grades. Exhaust brakes are available for just about every diesel vehicle including RV’s class 4-7. Once your exhaust brake is installed you will definitely feel the difference it makes when slowing your vehicle down. Sure your vehicle can function without one, but why ad to the wear and tear and the cost of brake repairs when there is a functional and reliable solution available.