A buddy of mine has a B-Series Cummins in a Motorhome and wants to put a exhuast brake on it. He has been looking at the Bank's system and the Pacbrake System. Has anyone heard of the pacbrake? I haven't and told him to go with banks. Any pro's, con's on eigther product or is there a better system out there that I have mised? Thanks curt

 

Get the PacBrake. I have one on mine, and several others do as well. It's a great E-brake! Banks stuff is waaay over-priced! I can't think of the other E-brakes out there at the moment... try a search on here, you'll find some threads about them...


Tony

 

Banks is overpriced. <br>They advertise that they have more braking power. Not true. I have a Banks and a buddy has a Jacobs.<br>The trucks are just alike mods and all .<br>Both brakes preform the same.<br>The Banks works fine but not better and not worth more $.<br><br>Just my 2 cents.<br><br> : Eddie : 8)

 

I also have the Pac brake. I love it. It just like the Jacobs in the fact that it hooks to the ECM, which means that the computer knows when you are off the throttle and turns on the exhaust brake. The difference between the two is that the Jacobs is &quot;vacuum on/ spring off&quot; and the Pacs is &quot;vacuum on/ vacuum off&quot;. I also heard that the Jacobs has a smaller outlet which can lead to higher EGTs. Not possitive on that though. And the Jacobs is offered at the Dodge dealer. As for the other brands, Banks is expensive. Doesnt connect to the ECM. Uses a switch on the throttle. The BD brake also has the switch. These two brands compete by saying they give maximum engine back pressure at lower rpms and offer more exhaust flow for power over the other two brands. They acomplished this by not having a hole in the butterfly valve in the exhaust brake which shuts off all flow. Pac and Jacob have a small hole so the engine cant build up enough back pressure to cause any internal damage. There is other exhuast brakes that are installed in the exhaust pipe down from the turbo but have read that they could be a problem due to carbon build up from the lower temps. Didnt do any real research on these though so I cant say. There is alot more to what I have just wrote so do some more research by looking up the manufactures themselves. If there is more than I listed then maybe somone will reply with the others. Hope this helped.

 

How tough is it to install one of these brakes?

 

Mine took a good mechanic about four hours (2003). It was his first installation. 2003 requires installing a vacuum pump along with a new serpentine belt. Installation of the brake itself is similar to previous years.

 

Oh yea, I forgot to mention that if he has a automatic tranny on the motorhome (which I have never seen a manual in a motorhome) then things get a little more complicated. You have to install a device that over rides the signals telling the torque converter to stay locked in during deceleration. And I think it also holds more pressure. Not real sure about all this stuff since I didnt have to. This all depends if there is an application for such a vehicle. Hope this helped.

 

Great info! thanks, his motorhome is a auto and what ever he decides to do it will be done at a trusted shop. I on the other hand, think I will go with the &quot;pacbrake&quot;. I have heard excellent things about them. And of course I will atempt to install this on my own. :

 

I didn't use my Pac brake for a period of time and the "butterfly" shaft got corroded and I had to remove the e-brake and work-spraylube-work-spraylube it to get it freed up. In other words, use your e-brake to keep it freed up and functional. I can come off White Pass near Mt. Rainier loaded with camper and horses, or with flatbed full of hay and I NEVER use the brakes of the truck. Do I love my exhaust brake. "-)

 

Took me three hours to do mine. Dealer wanted $375 to install it. Great investment. We gross over 21k lbs. and steep downhills are a breeze. My wife loves it when she drives the rig.

 

I have a Banks brake and I only paid $800 for it ...I like it, it was a fair price and it works great and it was real easy ti install ...about 2.5-3 hrs I leave it on all the time. there are better brakes out there with weast gates but cost a bit more.
http://www.usgear.com/dcelerator.htm

 

I ran a Banks ebrake on my 2001 CTD and loved it. Living in Colo. it is the norm to drive a few hills. The autos require what they call a Smartlock which intercepts the unlock command from the ECM so the tranny stays locked.

Have a new 06 Laramie dually on order with the Jacobs ebrake.

 

US Gear has one that mounts down line not behind the Turbo. I hear it is pretty good and might be easier to install.

 

I am actually running the 'B5.9' version of the pacbrake on my truck. I didn't want to use a vacuum operated brake because if you lose the vacuum pump you lose EVERYTHING!!! Also I like the fact that it interfaces well with the computer instead of a throttle switch or the like. NEway the pacbrake works beautifully... Took me about 4 or 5 hours to install but it was custom to use the B5.9 on my truck. Will never drive without one!!!