Droopy's trucking fact of the day.

Many trucks come equipped with an engine brake commomly known as a jake brake. It's intended use is for going down hills. Here's how it works. The brake usually has 2 or 3 stages: low and high or low, medium and high. When a trucker is approaching long and/or steep hill he/she selects the appropriate stage and once he/she starts on the hill he/she lets off the accelerator which engages the engine brake. The brake works by increasing back pressure in the engine allowing the engine to slow the truck while using the brakes less. This is important because in an area with a lot of hills or one long hill the brakes can get heated up if the driver uses them too much. When the brakes get hot, the drums expand making the pads have to travel further and further to make contact. It is possible for the drums to expand so far out that the pads can no longer make contact with them and then you have a run away truck. So a jake brake makes life a whole lot easier and safer for the trucker when traveling through mountains with a heavy load.

Also in places where there is a high chance of avalanches, such as King County, WA.

Because of the noise that they can make. Most of the time you don't need a jake brake going through a town because you are going at a slower speed.

Where the gear ratios of the transmission are used to slow the truck down.

Fort a jake brake to be effective the driver must select a gear that will have the engine turning at relatively high RPM.

But many you wouldn't notice unless you were riding along side the truck. When a truck has a straight pipe exhaust (no muffler) that's when they usually make a lot of noise.

I think I read somewhere that they only work on engines with very high compression ratios, ie turbo diesels.

But I don't know why anybody would want one on a car.

I knew what they were for but had no idea how they worked. Makes lots of sense. I always get a little creeped out when I see those areas off to the side of the road for trucks who can't stop. That must be scary.

Works by opening the cylinder valve at usual point of ignition and letting all that blessed fuel out unburned, subsequent lack of firing creates stutter in engine rotation which translates to axles.

Pretty simple really.

preferred receptacles, disposal etiquette and the like? ;)

I will say one thing, though. I can understand having to do that. I've had to do it before. What I can't understand is drivers that don't dispose of them properly. That's just gross. I've seen a big jug of piss sitting right in the middle of a truck stop parking lot before. That's pretty bad when you are too lazy to get up and walk to the truck stop to take care of nature, and then to leave it there like that is most inconsiderate.

Why don't many OTR drivers speed up just a little bit when they're passing another trucker? If you're behind the truck on the left, it can take a long time, especially on an upgrade. (where I've seen it take ten minutes to finally get around.

Kind of annoying, but in the big picture, not a huge deal.

In Ohio, some truckers are just so paranoid about the state patrol that they won't go over a certain speed even when it would be better to do so. It's dangerous to ride along side a truck for an extended period of time. When I pass I give it a little gas to get around the other driver quickly.

Driving 66 to pass someone at 65 backs up the flow for miles in some places.

Most of the big companies have all their trucks coming out of the factories set at the same speed but some of the smaller outfits change the speed after it comes out so some are set at 66 or 67 to give one example.

It was one of mine too. It's better to just set the cruise at 65 and follow the draft. Saves fuel too.

When greeting your favorite lot lizzard, don't forget to wear protection. Krogers is open 24 hours with blue ointment cream to fight crabs:evilgrin: