The Diesel Stop banner

Stopping Woes

4K views 23 replies 12 participants last post by  JSarge 
#1 · (Edited)
New to towing with a diesel and had some fun trying to stop my 21' toy hauler coming off some hills in Ca. I just put brakes all the way around and boy did I heat them up, coming off this windy hill I guess I should of had the trailer brakes turned up more and was not familiar with how the transmission free wheels and so I ended up using so much truck brakes they faded and then the truck stalled, whoa boy, good thing I wasn't going fast but still hard to stop with no power and the brakes hot. So what I am learning is when you drop down a gear or 2 you need to blip the gas to get the tranny to lock up. So now need to think about how to fix this problem, so should I put an exhaust brake or learn to drive or??????????????? oh and money is an object.
Thanks
Jim
 
#2 ·
I know the feeling. I have 33' behind me weighing in at about 9500 lbs. I don't care about anybody behind me, I approach a downhill grade at about 30 MPH. Then I use the trailer brakes as much as I can.

I will let the speedo hit about 40 and then manually apply the trailer brakes to bring it back down to about 35. After about 3 or 4 times I will step on the brake pedal for a couple of times. This has worked on the twain Harte grade, Donner grade, and Tehachapi pass.

Been towing this trailer since '98 and I am sure the traffic behind me would rather see us all reach the bottom safely, than see the road closed with all my property spread across it.

Going down hills with a trailer takes some learning, and slower is always better.


Answered on my iPhone.
 
#3 ·
not familiar with how the transmission free wheels
I never did get the reason for that. One of the mechanics I worked with years back brought over a like-new '92 or '93 F-250 with the auto trans he had just bought. We went for a ride and he showed me, while complaining, how it free-wheeled when you let off the throttle at highway speeds. When he gave it a slight amount of throttle you could actually feel the truck slow a little as the converter locked back up. We both thought that was about the stupidest thing we'd ever ran in to. You buy a heavy duty pickup designed to pull a trailer and they design a trans that freewheels so you have no engine braking going downhill. Maybe Mark Kovalsky, our resident auto trans guy, can shed some light on the why part?
 
#4 ·
Stopping wows

I am in the mountains (Rockies in western Canada) right now on vacation towing a 13000 lb 5ver with F-350 dually (2012) diesel and having been using the exhaust brake for most of the braking I do on downhill. Have hit some really serious downhill grades and hardly use the trailer brakes at all. Exhaust brakes works awesome but you must be in tow mode to use it. Otherwise just downshift to 4th or 3rd and it holds really well. Just my 2 cents worth.
 
#8 ·
I have looked into that but I don't think it is recommended for the IDI engine. Something about the lifters not having enough pressure to prevent valve float.
 
#6 ·
Otherwise just downshift to 4th or 3rd and it holds really well
You have the later transmission, total different animal than the E4OD. I'm not an auto trans guy, that's why I was hoping Mark would see this and post, but I think there's aftermarket companies that offer a control that prevents the E4OD from free wheeling on downgrades.
 
#11 ·
BD brake for close to $2,000 is hard to beat, one thing I do, go down the hill in the same gear you would use to go up the same hill. LMJD--the exhaust brake has an auto converter lock. Get down to 25mph and it shuts off. Sweet.
 
#12 ·
Shut off at 25mph

Why would want to have it shut off at 25mph? I was going down this steep hill probably less than that brakes heated up and the engine shut off.
 
#13 ·
Why would want to have it shut off at 25mph? I was going down this steep hill probably less than that brakes heated up and the engine shut off.
What hill were you on?
 
#14 ·
My man,
check into these exhaust brakes. I put one on my F550 and love it.

My truck is a stick and I have upgraded my entire brake system, but the exhaust brake is nice.

My trailer are all heavy units.

I never have a problem stopping. Even when a motorized skate board cuts me off............. lol

How is your experience with towing ?
 
#15 ·
I seldom drive "hills" of serious grade pulling. If I did engine brake, other options would be something to get.

For the few times I have been in mountains. I start out SLOW. With E4OD I kicked out of OD and kept speed slow. (under 45mph) Hardly used brakes a dozen times.
Its a poor mans temp fix (only good if you seldom go into mountains)
 
#16 · (Edited)
Hello, I'm new to the forum and new to the Ford. I am trying to figure out if I do have an exhaust brake on mine or not and how to get it to engage. Reading through the manual it talks about going to the diesel supplement guide but maybe I am just not finding it.

I have a 2012 F350 6.7L and I guess Ford is only offering the auto according to the dealer so I went that route. I traded in my 03 Dodge 3/4 ton Cummins stick shift for the Ford.

I haven't had a chance to put my hitch in yet (pull a 32' fiver). When I crawled under the truck I noticed something in the exhaust line but not sure if it is an exhaust brake or not (cylinder to the side of the exhaust with a cable that appeared to go to a damper in the exhaust but not sure). What little bit of hills I have been on and no trailer, I went into tow mode but it seemed like there was nothing holding me back. Is there a trick? I do not have the button on the dash but the dealer says (ya I know) that its a trick and there isn't a button for the exhaust brake. He was saying stay on the brake for 3 seconds and it will engage but I haven't been able to get it to do that.

Any help would be appr. Since I just got this thing a couple days ago and want to make sure I am understanding how it works. Thanks.

Edit: also I was on dirt roads so I didn't have a lot of speed up so maybe that is causing it not to engage????? I know I wasn't at or over 25mph.
 
#23 · (Edited)
Hello, I'm new to the forum and new to the Ford. I am trying to figure out if I do have an exhaust brake on mine or not and how to get it to engage. Reading through the manual it talks about going to the diesel supplement guide but maybe I am just not finding it.
Per Ford.com sales pitch:
Ford.com said:
The available Power Stroke® 6.7L Turbo Diesel with 6-speed TorqShift® transmission utilizes seamless engine exhaust braking to improve driving confidence and minimize brake wear. While you're driving downhill in Tow/Haul Mode and tapping the brake, the combustion process is restricted to help maintain the desired vehicle speed. This big-rig-inspired feature increases towing confidence without wearing down the transmission or heating up the brakes. So when you need extra control coming down that 8% grade towing 20,000 lbs., this feature on the Power Stroke Diesel gives you that extra driving confidence.
Per Ford diesel supplement:

2012 Diesel Supplement said:
INTEGRATED ENGINE BRAKING
This feature increases engine braking at higher engine speeds to provide better grade descent control with less brake and transmission wear and tear. This feature is integrated with the tow/haul mode feature. When tow/haul mode is switched on, the integrated engine braking feature will also be active. For more information on tow/haul, see Automatic transmission operation in the Owner Guide.
The aftermarket exhaust brake on my much-older PowerStroke worked similar. It didn't do much good below about 2,000 RPM or when not towing. But with a heavy trailer pushing you down the mountain while you're running around 2750 RPM, the exhaust brake did a fantastic job.
 
#17 ·
exhaust brake

From what I understand you have to be in tow haul mode going downhill and it will take a few seconds for it to kick in. If it does not kick in right away then just apply the brakes briefly at which point it will. Don't know why they call it an exhaust brake as what it does is gear the transmission down and use the engine and tranny to slow you down. I am not sure if there is a minimum speed for the brake or not. This is how mine works anyway and it does a good job of holding your speed. Good luck.
 
#18 ·
New to towing with a diesel and had some fun trying to stop my 21' toy hauler coming off some hills in Ca. I just put brakes all the way around and boy did I heat them up,....... I ended up using so much truck brakes they faded .......Jim
Not sure how much "experience" your new brakes had before this adventure but about the worst thing you can do with friction material is not have it go through a burnish / temperature period to fully cure the material, establish stable friction and temperature resistance. If you are going to install new friction and you have some heavy workloads coming at it I would a least put the friction on 1 month or 1000 miles before towing through mountains.

That is going to be somewhat dependent on the material, but cost of the friction may be the best guide, pads that are going to be in the $80 range are going to have gone though an expensive post bake procedure like the OE pads have to go through, cheaper pads will not.
 
#19 ·
Break In

My brakes hardly had any miles when I took my trip, regardless with my inexperience of driving a diesel with a free wheeling tranny I would of heated up the brakes anyway. I may have to save my money for some sort of exhaust brake and tranny lock
 
#20 ·
You may have missed earlier when I asked what hill you were on.
 
#21 ·
Don't know

We went camping in Wilseyville up past Sutter Creeknot sure of the hwy, I think 16 off 49 not sure exactly I was following a friend, But I go on similar roads off of hwy 50 Ice house road and another going to Stoneyford. Just roads you need to go slow on.
 
#22 ·
That's for sure. We run up to Columbia alot out of Oakdale. If you ever go up 108 out of Sonora, that hill is no joke going up OR down.


Answered on my iPhone.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top