Jakes

[Airbag]

I was wondering is this a good deal or a can of worms? What would it cost if one took their bus to a shop and had jakes installed?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/8V-71-8V-92-Detroit-Diesel-Jake-Brakes-V-Covers_W0QQitemZ120404356469QQcmdZViewItemQQptZBoat_Parts_Accessories_Gear?hash=item120404356469&_trksid=p4506.c0.m245&_trkparms=72%3A1205%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318

[Nick Badame Refrig/ACC]

Hi Rick,

There is no Throttle Buffer Switch.  = $450- $500

Dash Hi/Low Switch. = $15

Valve Gaskets, Electric wiring, Labor.. $500 to $850. ??

Good Luck
Nick-

[Airbag]

Thanks
Uncharted waters for me. I need to educate myself more on the subject.

[BG6]

Thanks
Uncharted waters for me. I need to educate myself more on the subject.

I would check the truck shops in your area.  They may have a set they took off something a while back, and which they will happily GIVE to anyone willing to pay the cost to install, especially with the used-truck market in freefall.

The trucking industry is the exact opposite of the bus industry -- you find a lot of 20-year-old coaches still in service, but the only people running tractors older than a decade are independents, a handful of collectors, and companies who carry their own loads.  Just about everyone else retires them after 5 - 7 years on the road, no matter the mileage.  As basic equipment, such as engines, transmissions, etc, change only very slightly if at all from year to year, there are a lot more used parts available than the market could ever hope to absorb, and a lot of these parts are the same as used in coaches.

[Lin]

Don Fairchild has some rebuilt ones for sale too.

[Don Fairchild]

I have some nos ( new old stock) Jake's available.

Don

[Airbag]

I have some nos ( new old stock) Jake's available.

Don

Hello Don
Heard many good things about you here and other places. I started this thread just to get a feel for cost and work involved. I know it takes a skilled diesel mechanic to do a good install. I want to drive my bus out to the Bay Area to see my son and stepmother but the Grapevine scares the hell out of me in a car much less my MC-5A. Will they fit in my engine compartment? How do you actuate them? Maybe I need the book Jakes for dummies.

[RJ]

I want to drive my bus out to the Bay Area to see my son and stepmother but the Grapevine scares the hell out of me in a car much less my MC-5A.

Rick -

Simple solution for you:  NB on the 'Vine, after you go thru Gorman, crest the summit and pass the rest area, and just before you reach the Ft. Tejon exit, bring your speed down enough to drop into 3rd.  From there to the foot of the grade, simply control the speed around 40 - 45 with moderate stab braking (but not hard enough to spill that glass of water on the dash).  If your brakes are in good shape and adjusted properly, you won't have any problems.  I did that hundreds of times in GMs w/o jakes when I drove professionally, all without incident.

Then take 99 instead of I-5 and stop here in Fresno long enough to share your experience with me over a cold Pepsi. . . 

FWIW & HTH. . .

[JackConrad]

For everything you wanted to know about Jakes Brakes, go to the source.  Jack

http://www.jakebrake.com//support/parts-and-service-literature.php?engine_mfr=3&engine_model=28&jacobs_product=25

[Airbag]

RJ
I would like that Pepsi.

Jack
That's what I needed for my Jake education "thanks". Interesting how the idea took 30 years from concept to market and also how the idea was born on the Cajon pass same mountain range as the Grapevine.

[Jerry32]

don't see the fuel pipes there. It cost me around $1800. to get mone installed by a experienced mechanic. Jerry

[John316]

Rick,

Yup, don't worry about the Grapvine. We have gone down it all of the way (I liked RJ's idea though, next time we will do that.) down without Jakes. We just geared down and stabbed the brakes. That was the one time that we heated up the brakes enough to smell them . We got that figured out, and have since rebuilt the whole undercarriage of the bus, including brakes, bearings, shocks, etc.

Also, you were concerned about whether Jakes would fit in your engine compartment. We had to cut the "step/seat" that was in the back of ours. We simply cut the supports out, they will put the jakes on (we are taking the bus in to get ours on Monday), and then we will weld a frame around it (so the top of the engine will be sticking up into the living compartment, covered of course, but it doesn't matter because that is where the bed will be anyways.) MCI tech support said that they used to just put Jakes on half of the cylinders, but now they have a bump to accomidate a full set.

God bless,

John

God bless,

John

[white-eagle]

since this seems a recent post, let me add my "recent" experience.
We bought New "old" brakes from Don Fairchild in Nov.  Good Deal!  Had them installed locally-not so good a deal - $2500 for the jakes install and an extra air line off the brakes for my Air Force One tow brake system.  They did also check the brakes and did a reasonable job on the overall install.  Bus ran great to Florida(7.2mpg), then Texas.  The jakes quit on the way back to Ohio.  Turns out Don did sell me a new/old system that had the original buffer switch.  it had been ECO'd in 1997, well after the kit i got from Don was issued.  We bought a new replacement buffer switch (i installed it myself Gumpy) and all is well.  We're now in the ozarks and thank goodness it worked.

even had i known that the old buffer switch had been superseded and bought the new one up front, Mr. Fairchild's deal was still an excellent one.

btw, then new buffer switch was $146 from WW Williams, DD dealer.  they said it was the last one in the US.