the school i went to was a PTDI school so they was pretty anal on the brake's
and the pump down, at any rate the instructor was pretty cool so he and i went for a spin on the first day of road drivin,i damm near thru him thru the wind shield he did not appreciate that at all from then on he wore his seat belt with me :lol: but one thing i learned from him was lightly feather the brakes no need to slam em cause if you have to slam em chances are you are following to damm close.He joked with me and said it may be me you are throwin around back there like a rag doll,if so i will come up and be upset.

 

I WISH I could say that I didn't know what PTDI "was" until after I'd chosen a school, but that would be a lie. But, it's TRUE that I didn't know what a difference it MIGHT make in my career. Point is, I made a choice to go elsewhere for "other" reasons. So.... it is what it is.

One reason that I eschewed the quality of the school, is that I didn't NEED the 'best' training. I could drive a truck without ANY instruction if need be. Just put me in it, point me at the road, and then give me a few hours on my own to figure it out before I had to go OUT there! :lol:

But, still..... I feel that my school was pretty good. I've never been one to need "handholding." And I really DID learn alot of things that others on here seem to have missed out on.

Regardless, it is MY firm belief that the Service brakes should be used sparingly when the JAKES will do the job. My co-driver seems to be of an opposite opinion (he went to a different school.) Consequently, my brakes now "squooch" and "squeal" quite a bit more than I'd like to hear! :shock:

Also, I just don't feel "comfortably safe" in the sleeper when he's doing 85-90 mph down that big hill in western Wyoming and I don't hear the Jakes!! It is my FIRM belief that the truck is more "under control" when using the Jakes, regardless of the speed. Service brakes are just NOT gonna do the job with 80k lbs behind you.

The only time I "jerk" to a stop is when I've just unloaded and am empty! It takes me awhile to get used to not being "heavy."

I guess my question (if I have one) is this: Does that squooching and squealing mean that I need a brake job? And, is it because he has abused them? And could this have anything to do with why my parking brakes are failing the tug test? ( I can't trust my shop to catch everything! )

I've TRIED to HINT to him that he uses the service brakes too much, but it doesn't seem to sink in! Of course, this is not the ONLY thing I wish he would do differently! :lol: I don't want to have to put my foot down, cuz as y'all KNOW..... I'm not much for confrontations! :shock: :lol: :wink:

I didn't get to DO his training. But, I know who DID, and I can't believe he didn't show him differently, because HE was one of MY trainers!

I am the senior driver. The truck is assigned to me. If I could "prove" to him that he is using up my brakes, then I could "revisit" his training (I actually WAS one of his trainers..... but no one told me that I was!) and I think I could find a dignified way to tell him that IF I'd had the chance, I'd have trained him differently..... and insist that he drive MY truck the way I want him to.

What do y'all think?

 

I found this item at http://webmain02.fire.ca.gov/Pubs/Is...00/fnf052a.pdf

They don't count strokes.

As you can see in the article there are two basic systems.

kc0iv

 

LOL..Wayne never explained it that well....the way he was explaining them to me..I was wondering how they could count the number of strokes a chamber was running.

And that is why I do not attempt to be a mechanic.

 

What I found odd from the article was their statement - "California law states DAILY BRAKE INSPECTIONS are to be performed by vehicle drivers." It isn't easy to measure the push rod travel when you are by yourself.

I don't know if it is a law but I know when I started driving the company made us go to class on brakes and we were given a card that we we had attended the class. With that card we could adjust our own brakes.

kc0iv