| Author |
Message |
Larry D
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, July 15, 2005 - 12:37 am: | |
I have been told that the jake brake switch could be left on all of the time. does this make any differance. thanking you all in advance larry d |
TWODOGS (Twodogs)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, July 15, 2005 - 12:50 am: | |
does when ya' piss a cop off... |
TWODOGS (Twodogs)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, July 15, 2005 - 1:01 am: | |
you WANT to coast most of the time when you let off the footfeed...especialy with these fuel prices...everytime you let off the footfeed jakes comeing on, not very fuel efficent...the jake will get you a ticket in town... |
gusc
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, July 15, 2005 - 10:46 pm: | |
Jake on a truck stops the engine when clutch pushed in, don't know about buses.
Don't ask me how I know--many times!! |
TWODOGS (Twodogs)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, July 15, 2005 - 11:04 pm: | |
how do you know ??? |
Stephen Fessenden (Sffess)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, July 16, 2005 - 12:32 am: | |
The Jake is supposed to cut out when the engine drops below about 800 RPMs. Sounds like the truck had a wiring problem. When I bought my bus, the Jake would kill the engine at idle. Had it checked, expecting something expensive and it turned out that a jumper wire was left connected across the microswitch that turns off the Jake when the RPM drops low enough. The jumper was probably from a maintenance operation or maybe the previous owner liked full manual control. Now I can leave it on all the time. |
gusc
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, July 16, 2005 - 9:25 pm: | |
Stephen,
Sounds like the truck I drove had the same problem, I thought they were all like that!! |
Buswarrior (Buswarrior)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, July 18, 2005 - 10:32 pm: | |
Hello Larry.
It is my personal preference when driving a Jake or retarder equipped vehicle to turn the switch on when I need them, and turn it off when I'm done.
Some drivers leave it turned on all the time.
2dogs has an important point regarding being able to coast.
As well, over time, you may develop a more aggresive driving style approaching stops, in order to get the bus to stop where you want it with the jakes slowing you.
And every day, another municipality passes a noise bylaw, and they love to write tickets to out of state/province plates for running jakes in town.
Some may not realize that jakes make more noise out the back than you can hear from up front.
Even with a muffler, be a good visitor, you wouldn't want to listen to that at home!
Also, if you run when the road is slippery, you don't want them left turned on so they don't contribute to some loss of control by dragging on the driveline hard enough to slide the drive tires.
I try to run a smooth ride for the passengers, so I don't want the jakes/retarder kicking in just because I lift throttle to adjust following distance or crest a rise.
happy coaching!
buswarrior |
Jtng
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, July 19, 2005 - 12:19 am: | |
"I try to run a smooth ride for the passengers"
You just captured my heart, man! That was the attitude every
professional bus driver had. I miss those days. |
TWODOGS (Twodogs)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, July 19, 2005 - 7:46 pm: | |
anybody considering jakes needs to learn how to go down a mountain without one FIRST....it ain't hard..and yes...the jake is not to be used in snow or ice..really education is cheaper and safer than a jake.... |
gusc
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, July 19, 2005 - 10:54 pm: | |
Like anything else, there are proper and courteous ways to use them. Jakes are great for saving brakes from wearing and from overheating when used properly. A truck grossing 80,000 lbs is a lot different situation than a bus of probably half that.
There is no comparison between the truck drivers of today and the ones in "the good ole days". If you want an earful just listen to a CB for a while. Don't know about bus drivers, haven't ridden a passenger bus in years.
In the days when I rode lots of buses they didn't have Jakes, I didn't know they do now. I have never heard one used. |
Syd Pygott (Sydstoy)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, July 20, 2005 - 2:51 pm: | |
I was a driver for Metro Transit in Seattle for thirty years. In the early years we had jake brakes on our 700 series buses that worked when the brake pedal was applied. In the early hours of the morning we would fly through the neighborhoods and hit the brake pedal. It sounded like a machine gun in "nam" and all the lights in the houses would come on and the phones would start ringing. The new buses were ordered with electric retarders on the trans. Them were the good ol' days. Syd |
Henry R. Bergman, Jr. (Henryofcj)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, July 22, 2005 - 7:39 pm: | |
In hilly-mountainous country I left the Jake on all the time. On the flats or in places where noise restricted I left the Jake off. Good luck. |