Pro-Trucker Magazine, December 2008
Pro-Trucker PRXB Road Test
By Ben Proudley
So now you have it – the diesel pickup truck of your dreams. The torque is unbelievable but the only thing it can’t do, when you’re hauling a full load or towing a trailer, is stop as well as you would like. Enter Pacbrake with their new exhaust brake for pick-ups. If you’ve ever read their ads and wondered whether their exhaust brake will really give you bragging rights for your pick-up, well, you’re in for a pleasant surprise.
I had one installed on my 2005 GMC Sierra 2500HD, with a 6.6 liter Duramax diesel and a five speed Allison automatic transmission and the added stopping power is unreal. This isn’t a standard exhaust brake that only works at high RPM, the new Pacbrake works as well at 1200 RPM as it does at 2500 RPM.
I frequently pull a 14 foot enclosed trailer with three quads inside and another quad in the truck box. The Pacbrake has cut my stopping distance in half and will all but bring my truck to a dead stop on grades as much as 9%. I also pull a thirty-foot toy hauler and this is where I have noticed the greatest benefit. I used to find stopping all the weight of the trailer a little tense at times in the city. Not now, the Pacbrake’s instant repsonse is unreal. Add the transmission brake that the Allison already has and the one-two punch is very impressive.
I now find myself using the trucks brakes much less in town and hardly at all on the highway – even in the stop and go traffic of the Trans Canada through the Lower Mainland. I have taken both these trailers up and down the Coquihalla highway, and have never felt so safe. The ability of the Pacbrake to hold the speed of the truck and thirty-foot trailer coming down any one of the hills between Hope and Merritt was amazing. In fact, I’ve had to accelerate a few times just to maintain a reasonable speed, something I never dreamt of doing before the addition of the Pacbrake.
If you use your diesel truck to haul a camper or in any kind of towing application, a Pacbrake in my opinion is a must. Even if you run a five tonne P & D truck around the city, this brake would be a great benefit. In my opinion a Pacbrake is just that, bragging rights for your pickup. I know – I brag about mine to anyone who will listen.