safe using of jake brake? words of advice?

[kbunnystarr]

i bought the owners instruction manuel for $1 on ebay..........but words FROM the wise are worth their weight in gold.any advice for jake safe using?  of course the man that installe dit explained  to me, i jsut like lots of sources for info.

thanx )

[TomC]

Jake on the 8V-71 will work up to 2500rpm.  The higher the rpm, the higher the braking force.  You should have a 2 way switch so you can use both cylinder heads (high position) or just one cylinder head (low position).  The main use is for long down hills that would require you to drag the brakes.  You know you're going the right speed if the Jakes can just about hold back the speed with a light application of brakes periodically to keep the speed down (the best is to be going the speed that the jakes by themselves will hold you back without brakes).  Do not use them in wet or snow conditions-can cause a skid.  If you do want to, use only low position.
The difference in adjustment- Before I had Don Fairchild do a precision adjustment of the jakes on my bus, I would go down the northbound side of the Grapevine on I-5 at 55 mph with full jakes on and have to tickle the brakes 4 or 5 times to keep speed down.  Now after the adjustment, didn't use the brakes at all, and had to switch from high to low position since high was slowing me down on the hill!  Amazing what properly adjusted Jakes can do!  Good Luck, TomC

[John E. Smith]

On snow or ice, turn the jake OFF -- period.

[belfert]

Is a Series 60 just as likely to need the Jakes adjusted as a two stroke?

My Jakes don't seem to have as much stopping power as they did just three or four thousand miles ago when I got the bus.  It could just be in my head since the Jakes are so much quieter after the broken exhaust pipe was replaced.  I can't hear them at all now that the interior in the rear is mostly done.

[bobofthenorth]

You'll pretty soon figure out what kind of a grade the jakes will hold.  Mine will hold a 5% grade with either my towed or my boat on, 6% if its just the bus.  By "hold" I mean that I don't have to touch the brakes with the Jake on full.  I leave mine on virtually all the time - they help even out the cruise on rolling terrain. 

[DrivingMissLazy]

My bus originally had no muffler. Just the turbo and a straight pipe. When I installed a muffler it seemed that the Jakes had less holding power.
BTW, Jakes adjustment, to the best of my knowledge, is adjusting valve clearance. I adjusted mine down from .059 to .055 and the amount of holding power increased significantly. This was done while the engine was hot to be sure the clearance was not decreased too much.
Richard

Is a Series 60 just as likely to need the Jakes adjusted as a two stroke?

My Jakes don't seem to have as much stopping power as they did just three or four thousand miles ago when I got the bus.  It could just be in my head since the Jakes are so much quieter after the broken exhaust pipe was replaced.  I can't hear them at all now that the interior in the rear is mostly done.