Just when I was going to do a search on this forum, someone asks about exhaust brakes.
I am trying to convince my hubby to get the Banks Brake set up, the Smart Lock set up and the Trans Command set up. Cheapest price I've found is DieselShop.com but I am gonna keep looking.
We tow a 9500-9700 lbs fiver and haven't towed this set up in the mountains yet but we are going to No. Georgia and No. Carolina in July and was thinking we might need it.
Since the Price is about $1850 for these parts - we are hoping wecan we do this ourselves without paying someone to do it.
I am trying to convince my hubby to get the Banks Brake set up, the Smart Lock set up and the Trans Command set up. ...Since the Price is about $1850 for these parts - ...Any thoughts or advise is greatly appreciated!
I agree with fulltimer50. Good stuff, but way to much money.
For about $400, you can buy the "electronic" exhaust brake that includes the equivalent of the Smart Brake from either BD Performance or SP-Diesel. That's the way I'd go at first. I haven't heard of anyone that bought one of those and later replaced them with the more-expensive type.
There are two types of exhaust brakes. The expensive kind, like the Banks brake, adds a big butterfly to the exhaust system. Other brands of the expensive type include BD, U.S.Gear, and PacBrake. They work good, but they all cost more than $1,000 base price, not including the extra-cost torque converter lockup that you must have with your automatic tranny.
The inexpensive "electronic" type uses the butterfly that is already in your exhaust system, the so-called "warm-up valve" or the exhaust back pressure valve (EBPV). These cost only about $200 for the basic unit that works fine with stick shifters, or $400 for the basic unit plus torque converter lockup controller needed for automagic trannies.
SP-Diesel sold out to Painless Performance, but the exhaust brake is still on the SP-Diesel website. http://www.spdiesel.com/ Sean is a good salesman, and he swears his exhaust brake is a lot better than the BD BrakeLoc, and for about the same money. I haven't compared the two, but maybe you'd like to?
As far as the Banks TransCommand, lots of folks were disappointed, and wound up replacing it. One popular fix is to replace the tranny valve body with one from a well-known tranny rebuilder. You can get the wonderful BTS valve body for a few hundred bucks. Brians Truck Shop Or you can get one from John Wood for about the same price as the BTS. John Wood Automotive - Home
Neither one of those gurus want to sell you just the valve body. You wont see valve bodies on their websites. But I've heard that if you beg and plead, they will.
Or the Factory Tech valve body from Bob Riley at Factory Tech Valve Body - And Bob swears you'll love the valve body he sells. Scroll down and read what the builder - Gregg Evans - claims the valve body will do for you. Sounds like similar claims made by Banks for the Transcommand?
Any of those valve bodies for your 4R100 tranny should do the sort of stuff the TransCommand claims to do, only better. But I'm no expert, so call and talk to Brian or his wife Patti about what a BTS valve body will do for your tranny.
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My Sierra Blanca is a '99.5 PSD CrewCab hot-rod Towing Machine! BTS tranny; TurboRamAir intake and 4" stainless turbo-back exhaust; DP-Tuner tunes flashed into an Edge Evolution tuner; ISSPRO EV gauges and TTM; AIC; SP-Diesel exhaust brake and torque converter controller. I special-ordered it new and plan to drive it until it quits.
Last edited by SmokeyWren : 06-01-2008 at 09:03 AM.
Reason: fine tune
Which exhaust brake is best, the Banks Brake or PacBrake? I sometimes gross out at 26k and my service brakes just aren't gettin' it anymore.
I haven't used either one but I've looked them. They are both very nice. The Pacbrake uses air pressure and comes with a compressor. The Banks Brake uses vacuum and comes with a vacuum pump. I could think of some other uses for that air but would probably still choose the Banks unit.
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2000 F250 Lariat CC SB 4x4 PSD Auto
We tow a 9500-9700 lbs fiver and haven't towed this set up in the mountains yet but we are going to No. Georgia and No. Carolina in July and was thinking we might need it.
I have to say after I got my BD exhaust brake installed I wouldn't know what to do without one. It's like this is how it should of come from the Ford factory. Not sure how well they work on auto trans but with a manual trans they work very well at maintaining or slowing the speed going down hills. For me it was well worth the $$$ for piece of mind.
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2005 F350 6.0 PSD srw lb sc Zf6 speed
mods: BD exhaust brake- Dura flap mud flaps-Piaa back up lights-Wilson cell amp and antenna-Midwest short throw shifter--C-Betr mirrors-Burning B100
My exhaust brake cost me <$10. It's a mod I got from here, maybe BAZ's page. It uses the EBPV. I think there is an auto tranny version also. Do a search for EBPV mods. I've used it a number of years on several mountain trips while pulling my 5vr with no problems. It's saved a ton of downhill foot braking. Price was right too!
I have a pac brake and know a few other people that have them as well. Easy install, great customer service and simple effective design. They work great.
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2001 F-350 CC ZF-6 DRW 4x4 4.10, 15k lb modified J&I flatbed dump, DP tuner F-5 chip: No Start, Valet, High Idle,Stock, 40 Tow, 80 Tow, 80 Econ, Smoke, Lope Idle, South Bend Con OFE, Midwest short shifter, Ranch Hand legend front, Ford AIS intake with zoo-dad, 4 inch turbo back straightpipe, Pacbrake exhaust brake, 2WD Low mod, ISSPRO pyro, boost, water temp A-Pillar, Optima yellow tops, Custom gooseneck/conventional hitches, 255/85/R16 BFG mud terrains, Galaxy 979 CB, Bearcat 350 scanner, Eagle eye off road and cargo lights 900 watts total, Durabak brush guard on wheels and door panels, Prodigy brake controller, Timbren rear blocks, 4 leaf overload pack, Onboard air with horn, Phenoix underbody boxs, Royal Purple in the running gear, Dieselsite 203* t-stat, ESOF lines, DIY HX mod, CCV to atmosphere, Fumoto Valve, Deletes: HI, IC foil, Door dinger, Muffler,
Thank you EVERYONE for all the information. I will relay ALL of it to the other member of the family who actually is the one who does ALL of the driving and would be installing the system - whichever one we get !
My apprehension about NOT getting something and going without is that last year we did the mountain trip with a 5,000 lb trailer and now have a trailer 10 feet longer and 5,000 lbs heavier.
I just don't want to be the one ending up wrecking the truck and the fiver and possibly hurting other people IF we had a problem.
Yes, it is a lot of money if we go with Banks set up and I am sure we'll go ahead and check out others but I think for our piece of mind - we'll probably get something.
Linear Mode
