Q:  How do engine brakes work.?

Answer:  Engine brakes work by compressing air.  This makes driving downhill safer and extends the life of the service brakes on the truck and trailer. 
Service brakes can absorb this energy at a fantastic rate when they are cold. This can be thousands of horsepower, as in a panic stop. But after the brakes get hot, they can only absorb as much power as they can dissipate, which can be as little as only a few hundred horsepower. If the driver descends too fast, the service brakes get even hotter and distort, losing effectiveness. As braking power ‘fades’, truck speed picks up, and the brakes get hotter faster. It becomes a vicious cycle, and you have a runaway.
Engine brakes have become the most popular auxiliary retarder to counter this problem. They work by altering the motion of the engine’s exhaust valves, so that valves open at the top of the compression stroke. This releases the air to the atmosphere, so that it cannot push down on the piston on the following downstroke, which has the net effect of absorbing energy.

Development of Engine Brake Mechanisms
Early engine brakes would use a hydraulic master and slave piston system to move the exhaust valve. They sensed the motion of something convenient, often the fuel injector, to open the exhaust valve a small amount at the proper time.
In 1970, Mack Trucks, Inc., invented the Dynatard engine brake, which was the first factory integrated engine brake. It used innovative hydraulic lash adjusters that “turned on and off”. As solid lash adjusters, the engine ran normally. On downhill segments, a solenoid opened a check valve which would fill the hydraulic lash adjusters with oil. This would cause them to
take up the lash on a special camshaft with two base circles, causing the exhaust valve to open slightly at the proper time to create the retardation effect.
In 1993, Volvo introduced the D12 engine with the VEB (Volvo Engine Brake). The stroke of genius here is a second bump on the cam that causes the exhaust valves to open briefly a second time in engine brake mode, during the intake stroke. With back pressure in the exhaust manifold, air briefly flows backwards into the cylinder, ‘supercharging’ it with more mass, making it more powerful.
The first VEB would absorb 350 HP at 2300 rpm and a strong 235 HP at 1500 rpm. The Volvo VEB has always been very strong at mid-range speeds, where today’s trucks cruise. Over the years this would improve. The 2010 D13 I-VEB will absorb all of 500 hp at 2200 rpm and 350 hp at 1500 rpm.
Where does this all lead? Today’s D13 can come down Fancy Gap VA, a seven mile, 4% downgrade (that has three emergency ramps for runaways), at only 1400 rpm at 65 mph, without even touching the service brakes, leaving them fully available for an emergency stop if necessary.
For parts for your Volvo D13 Truck Engine Parts check out www.Class8TruckParts.com

The Fifth Wheel on a commercial truck is one of the most critical parts for the safety of the vehicle, and also one of the most misunderstood parts.

The most important thing to keep in mind while you inspect your fifth wheel is to be safe.  While moving a truck, disconnecting and trailer, remember to watch landing gear, air hoses, electrical cables, and most importantly the people around you.

First step in the inspection process is to steam-clean the fifth wheel, clean the top plate, brackets, slide plate, and mounting.  Using a flashlight or trouble light inspect the fifth wheel.  look for wear on the jaws and plate. 

Test the jaws

1. Latch the fifth wheel to a trailer as usual.
2. Set the Trailer Brakes
3. With a second person helping have them stand where they can see the fifth wheel as you move the truck back and forth slightly
4. Have your helper look if the plate moves relative to the trailer.  If the plate does move the jaws may be worn. 

If the jaws are worn, you may be able to adjust your fifth wheel.  It also may need rebuilt.  We suggest contacting your local dealer to have them adjust, or rebuild your fifth wheel.

For a parts list of Fontaine Fifth Wheel parts or Holland Fifth Wheel parts , check our company www.Class8TruckParts.com

Go wash the truck.  Sounds like a simple task, not much thought needs to go into that right?  Wrong, using improper chemicals on your truck can destroy the coatings on your vehicle, including the lights.  Our friends at Truck-Lite have come up with a nice list of which chemicals to use for cleaning your truck's lights.  Keep this list in mind next time you've got your bucket and rags ready to clean.  You don't want to destroy those brand new LED's by not taking care of them properly.

The use of solvents that are not compatible with polycarbonate will result in the softening, crazing, and/or cracking of the plastic part. This is especially true of polycarbonate lamps and mounting bases which may be under stress in their normal applications.

The following solvents/cleaners ARE COMPATIBLE with polycarbonate:

Mild soap and water Mineral Spirits Hexane VM and P Naphtha Varsol No. 2 #1 and #3 denatured alcohol Freon TF and TE-35 Ethanol 10% Sol Ban Ami® Dirtex® 2% Sol. Reg. Joy Heptane White Kerosene Methyl, isopropyl and isobutyl alcohols Lacryl® PCL-2035 polycarbonate cleaner Petroleum Ether/65 degrees C boiling point

The following solvents/cleaners MUST NOT BE USED with polycarbonate:

Triclor (Trichlorethylene) Acetone Triclene® Methyl Ethyl Keytone (MEK) MIBK Toluol Benzol (Benzene) Gasoline Carbon Tetrachloride Chlorinated Hydrocarbons Texine-8006, 8129, 8758 Liquid Cleaner - 8211 Agitene®> AJAX® All liquid detergents Pink Lux® (phosphate free) Diversol® Lemon Joy® (phosphate free) Kleenol Plastics Lestoil® Stanisol Naphtha® Oils

Recently Class8TruckParts.com has added Rain-X as a new vendor.  We're proud to offer a full line up for Rain-X Wiper Blades for sale online.  We offer the Latitude Wiper Blades, Weatherbeater Wiper Blades, and Rain-X Winter Wiper Blades.  Customer feedback on these wiper blades have been positive.  Most Recently a Rain-X Latitiude Customer wrote:

Best Wipers on the planet!
Vision is a primary concern for me when driving, and to get the best wipers on the market for such a price is great!

and

I love the rain now!
These wiper blades are great! They don't leave any streaks at all and make no noise whatsoever, just smooth and silent - definitely a great improvement over my old wipers. I hardly even notice it's raining! The shipping was prompt and they were delivered on the expected date. The price was lower than in any of the stores in my area. I am very satified with both seller and product. Thanks!

Check out these new Rain-X Wiper Blades from Class8TruckParts.com, we have a large selection of Rain-X Wiper Blades, with great prices, and quick shipping.

With Panelite going out of business recently, we are cleaning house and looking to sell off our remaining Panelite chrome and truck accessories.  Till the end of April we are offering our remaining Panelite inventory at 15% off.  Just enter coupon code PANELITE at checkout to receive the discount. 
We still have a large selection of Volvo Truck Chrome and Accessories at our Volvo chrome site www.VTChrome.com. />
Click here to view our Panelite Chrome Clearance.

Volvo Truck Seat Covers Now Available!

Many of you have been requesting seat covers for your Volvo Trucks for some time.  Well wait now more!   Volvo Truck's VIP parts brand has a new Seat Cover for popular seat brands of Class 8 Trucks.  If you truck is new, it can keep you seat looking like new.  If your seat is old and looking a little rough, you can make it look like new again. 

• Custom fitted for most popular brands and styles of Over the Road and Work Truck Seats

• Stop UV rays to protect seat finish

• Heavy-Duty Polycotton drill weave, Throw in washer/dryer when dirty, Overlapped double-stitched seam

• Fabric "breathes" - no "sticky" back

• Easy on/Easy off, no tools needed. Seat backs include a handy built-in pocket.

Volvo Truck Seat Cover Plain $84.12

Volvo Truck Seat Cover Volvo Logo $84.12

 We are sorry to hear today that Panelite has closed as of February 10th.  Panelite had a great selection of chrome accessories for all makes and models of heavy-duty trucks and was known as one of the great names in truck accessories.  Panelite's Volvo Truck selection was a great product line for VTChrome.com and always sold well. 

Class8TruckParts.com and VTChrome.com have taken our complete listings of Panelite accessories off our site tonight.  We will however do a complete inventory of Panelite inventory remaining in inventory and sell our remaining inventory.   VTChrome.com will still continue to offer our large selection of Dieter's Truck Chrome Accessories, and American Chrome products for your Volvo Truck Chrome and Accessory needs.

It's official we are now starting the snow season in most parts of the country.  Wheeling Truck Center has recently added a variety of snow plow lights from Truck-Lite and Grote to our site.  It may be a good idea to keep a spare set in your truck with you when you're out working.  The last thing you need on a cold day in bad weather is poor visibility because your lights don't work.  Also check out Grote's LED snow plow lamps for great visibility and long-life.  Click here to checkout our complete selection of snow plow lights

We are proud to announce that one of our companies Lobster Truck Leasing & Rental, Inc.  has been named a 2009 NationaLease Rising Star Award Winner.  We appreciate our many customers that have helped us grow throughout the years.

Check out the press release http://www.truckinginfo.com/news/news-detail.asp?news_id=68551&news_category_id=10

Lobster Truck Leasing & Rental, Inc. offers the following services at our locations in Wheeling WV and Steubenville Ohio.

• Truck Rental
• Full-Service Leasing
• Contract Maintenance

For more information about Lobster Truck Leasing & Rental, call Chad at 304-232-1440. or email chremp@lobstertruck.com     

Anyone operating a commercial vehicle has dealt with it, electrical wiring corrosion.  Chemicals used to treat roads (magnesium and calcium chloride) hang around on vehicles and do not easily wash off.  These chemicals tend to find their way into electrical connections and down wires causing corrosion problems. 
While this is a big problem to fix, it's even worse when you aren't sure which wire has the problem.  Dan Sullivan has come up with the answer to finding wiring faults FAST! Dan has invented the TESlite, a special set of leads that work with a digital voltmeter. Simply change the leads out with the TESlite tool and now with the push of a button, you can load a circuit to identify the wiring faults fast.  This tool doesn't damage wiring and has SteadyPin tips.  

The TESlite Voltmeter Leads can be purchase from ClassTruckParts.com


Watch the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7_yV7jtQWE