This is my first post and my first diesel truck. OK, I have an 03' duramax dually and I pull a 39 foot 5th wheel toy hauler 15k when fully loaded. I have noticed that the braking is a little on the soft side. This has been difficult to get used to after owning a 98 dually with a 454 and the heavy duty hydraulic braking system. Any ideas about exhaust brakes or big brake kits for the chevy?
Pacbrake offers a pressure regulated exhaust brake that will take all of the stress out of towing. The brake comes with its own air system that allows you to build upon it later (i.e. Air Bags, Air Horns ect.) www.pacbrake.com or customer service 1-800-663-0096
I have had great luck with the Pac and BD brakes on many Dodges. I tend to prefer the BD on the Dodges. Either would work great in your application, and really increase that safety margin when towing heavy.
I notice that on my '03 as well. Make sure you have good trailer brakes, and that you have a good trailer brake controller and that the trailer brakes do most of the stopping. I have the US Gears D-Celerator Exhaust brake and it is great too.
The BD Exhaust Brake works great in the Duramax with the Allison transmission, they are very simply as you will not need a transmission controller for the automatic transmission, you just use Tow Haul mode and your set, makes for an easy install and hassle free operation. Let me know if you have any questions or would like me to quote you a member price. Hope this helps Dave
Just to give you an idea of how effective the US Gears D-Celerator (exhaust brake) is, it held me at 35 mph going down a 6% grade for 9 miles and I only had to touch the brakes once and that was to slow down for a slower truck in front of me. And to make sure you know how effective that is, my trailer weighed almost 27,000 lbs (9,500 lbs trailer with almost 17,500 lbs of 182 stainless steel ladders and galvanized steel hose racks)
kasl33, does the US Gear Brake use a variable butterfly design or does your brake have a hole in the butterfly to control back pressure? I am not sure if they have made the switch yet? BD was the first to engineer an exhaust brake for the early diesel pick up back in the mid 80's and have used a variable back pressure design since those days. The advantage a variable design exhaust brake with a solid butterfly over an exhaust brake with a hole drilled in the butterfly is low RPM hold back. At lower RPMS where you really need the brake to preform the "hole" design falls short. If you look at our largest competitor, PAC Brake, you will see they have realized this and have redesigned their brake around the solid butterfly concept. Their PBXR kit which is their newest model does not use the "hole in the butterfly" design anymore, it is a solid butterfly with variable technology and performs much better than their old design, especially at lower RPM's.
The US Gears D-Celerator ( http://www.usgear.cc/dcelerator.htm ) is installed inline in the exhaust pipe just in front of the muffler. It closes off the exhaust 100%. It has a waste gate in the Super Duty model that I have which prevents excessive back pressure. It is all computer controlled. All I know is it works with super heavy loads like I tow. My gross weight is 36,000 lbs with my silverado and I never have any worries when going down hill.
Thanks for the information, I see they are using a wastegate system, definitly better than the "hole in the butterfly designs".
Dave: I have a question about the exh brake. Does your truck brake shut the exhaust brake off. I noticed a wire hocked to the brake lite switch. ?? Mike
The BD Exhaust Brake is activated through a toggle switch and a throttle position sensor. When the toggle switch is in the on position anytime the throttle is released and is in the idle position the brake will engage.
