A.R. Cane, can you tell me why the mufflers are modified? Is it for any other purpose than to be loud? If you are telling me that the noise is from a muffler and that it is a legal safety device, fine. But why the noise? Doesn’t it drive the truckers out of their minds?
Also, I’ve been told that where I live
if the highway posted speed limit is 65, it is LEGAL to use the “Jake Brake”, and that no sign can be posted to say that they can’t be used. However, if it is 55 or lower, a sign can be posted. Is this true?
The modifications to the mufflers are illegal. Is this also true, or could it be just a local law?
No, I normally drove w/ both switches in the “on” position and used the foot pedal if I wanted to use the compression brake to slow the truck. That’s the advantage of having the foot switch in the circuit. Didn’t spill my coffee, had a “tippy” mug and a secure holder for it. Some incidents stick in you mind, I was once in S.F., near Candlestick Park, when a little car, I think it was a Mazda Miata, cut close in front of me and hit the brakes on a downgrade. The car disappeared from my view and I was sure that I was going to run over it. It reappeared a second later, but I’ll never know how we avoided colliding.
Couple of answers to that. Hopefully a good driver is going to be in the proper gear for the circumstances. You don’t usually use the clutch unless you starting from a stop and you learn to do things very rapidly, almost as second nature.
Reducing the back pressure on any internal combustion engine will result in an increase in available horsepower. How much? I have no idea. Most truck owners, w/ a non stock muffler, will tell you that is the reason. Could it be just for the appeal of the sound it makes? Well, I’ve got “Cherry Bombs” on my pickup, so I guess I like the sound too, but my big truck was a business and I had to make business decisions about operating it. I didn’t need to do things that would unnecessarily attract the attention of smokey bear and possibly cost me money.
As to the legality, I think that’s a local issue. Commercial trucks are in a different category from passenger vehicles. Having “stock” parts is not nearly as cut and dried. I didn’t modify my exhaust system, so it wasn’t really something I devoted much thought to.
As far as the “65” vs “55” rule, I’ve never heard that one before reading it in your post, but I can confirm that there’s a lot of bovine scatology in the trucking industry.
Thanks for the explaination, A.R. Cane. I actually used the “Cherry Bomb” example to describe these things, because it sounds like it is an amplified sound. Unnecessary noise, but the truckers like it. Just like people who put those things on their cars or trucks. I don’t understand it myself, but to each his own.
The problem I have is the noise pollution. It’s just not necessary. And if they are trying to use “Jake Braking” as a safety feature, it shouldn’t have to come with ear-splitting technology.
Apparently the muffler mods you’ve described are illegal, but it’s not something the local police seem to want to enforce. And the state police aren’t doing anything about it either. So, I guess it’s one of those things that will just continue to piss me off. (Especially since I just got a ticket in a speed trap going 5 mph slower than the guy in front of me. I guess I was easier to catch. Bastages!)
WAG: US 290 has a fair amount of truck traffic, possibly for oilfield and agricultural shipping and as a route between Austin/IH-35 and Houston and Brenham. Most of the towns on 290 already have bypasses, except for Giddings and Elgin (Manor is close enough to Austin to almost count as part of the city.)
IIRC, the speed limits in Giddings drop gradually over a few miles as you go into town, so drivers might switch their engine brakes off as the slow down for town (Besides, the town at least used to be a speed trap.) Elgin has a traffic light on the east edge of town with thirty miles of open highway between it and Giddings, and the road to the west is straight until you get into town and make a bend at the Coupland turnoff. I’d assume that any truckers driving into Elgin might have their engine brakes activated when running cross country, and would otherwise leave them on while making a bend on an open road.
The OP is way more observant than I am; I’ve driven through Elgin along 290 on my way to Austin probably a hundred times and I’ve never noticed those signs. I’m going that way again next weekend, so I’ll keep my eyes open.
I drive through there a lot, too, and never saw the sign until this week. I made five trips through Elgin just this week. The sign I saw is near the Bastrop/Travis line west of Elgin on the eastbound side. My route has me turning right on SH95 toward Bastrop, so I don’t know if it’s on the westbound side east of Elgin. Personally, I hate 290 between Elgin and Giddings. Past Giddings is okay and between Elgin and Austin is okay, but that stretch between Elgin and Giddings is was too dangerous for me. I’ve seen awful stuff out that way. I much prefer SH71, which is nice and wide and divided all the way.
Drive safely and, for Heaven’s sake, turn the engine brake off in Elgin!
