TurboBrake on a stock tune is there any benefit?

Physiksgeek

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Jul 31, 2022
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JoshH - I think I answered my own question.....I may have misunderstood your writings in that it would alter TCL and shifting as part of activating the switch and switch only. Which is different than what I thought I knew which is it is used in conjunction with T/H. Went back and looked and it has to be used in conjunction with T/H to get the most out of it in a few threads or anything out of it in most threads (of the threads I favorite'd). Please correct me if I'm wrong.
 

2004LB7

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Dec 15, 2010
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2004LB7 - first off....appreciate your replies. Secondly, I gotta ask cause sometimes I just can't not nuclearize things......is there a list of OS's that are affected? I'll look for it if it is.
I've never seen a list but I know it was wrong in my LB7 and in my LMM. I have no idea if this issue persists in the LML. it's not hard to figure out buy making changes to the T/H table and nothing happens. but when you change 4lo and your T/H is affected you know it's swapped
 

darkness

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still no DSP switch.....I gotta plan for it if I only put it in a tune. Kinda the genesis of the thread.....is the "juice worth the squeeze" to have turbo brake at all times in a stock tune? If it is, maybe I just tune it in.
Adding the turbo brake in a tune won’t change anything with shift strategy. Trust me, it’s worth the squeeze. I put it on my brothers ‘08, my dads ‘06 and my ‘07. You’re not going to notice it around town if you start it in the 1400-1600 rpm range. On the highway you will feel it but not neck breaking…until your converter is locked and you start downshifting. But even in t/h mode you’re going to want to stay ahead of the trans and manually down shift if you’re coming to a stop. But just coming down hills let the trans do the work for the most part.
 

darkness

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I've never seen a list but I know it was wrong in my LB7 and in my LMM. I have no idea if this issue persists in the LML. it's not hard to figure out buy making changes to the T/H table and nothing happens. but when you change 4lo and your T/H is affected you know it's swapped
You know, I didn’t know about the miss-labeling, which explains why any changes I made in t/h didn’t do anything 😝.
 
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JoshH

Daggum farm truck
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JoshH - It is the LBZ.....hard wiring it is an option on the list. I have post favorited with all the part numbers and steps. Before I bought the FlashScan that was exactly what I was going to do. Not having a tune DPS switch I still may only because I think I would like the ability of just turning it on should the need arise. Now that I have flashscan and still no DSP switch.....I gotta plan for it if I only put it in a tune. Kinda the genesis of the thread.....is the "juice worth the squeeze" to have turbo brake at all times in a stock tune? If it is, maybe I just tune it in.

I have not seen info on how it modifies shifting and TCL. Is it out there? Does it just begin to reference the T/H tables when the switch is on?
I have only put the hard wired switch on 2 trucks, and both seemed to work better than my truck with just the tuning changes. The down shifting off throttle felt more aggressive with the switch on whether it is in tow haul or not. You can get the same affect with tuning, but you have to be more proactive. On the two trucks I installed the switch on, one was a dually pickup and the other a cab and chassis. I remember thinking the cab and chassis seemed a little more aggressive. Maybe there are some changes in the TCM calibration that make it different depending on the truck; I really can't say for sure. It has been several years since I've been in either truck, but that's how I remember it working.
 

Bdsankey

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I'm guessing this is on the 06 LBZ in your signature. You can actually wire in an exhaust brake switch like the factory did on the Duramax equipped 4500/5500 Kodiak/Top Kick trucks. When it is switched on, it activates the vanes to function like an exhaust brake and alters transmission down shifting and converter lock to make it more effective.
Personally I think this is the best option for LBZ as it makes the brake work MUCH better than a DSP5 file due to the way it changes the trans/converter strategy.
 
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Physiksgeek

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Thanks Gentlemen......I ran a stock tune this weekend with turbo brake in it. Without T/H on it was fairly weak without rpm's. 4 pounds boost was the highest I saw it and that was leaving the interstate. 1-2 with the occasional 3 was pretty normal. Brake use was less but required. Downhill I would still gain speed since it did not gear down. Using T/H I saw 7 pounds at peak and could probably be happy with the results.

Dunno..... a lot to think about. May have to wire a switch in and test it, but time prevents that from happening anytime soon.

On a side note....I'll put this here to feel like I'm contributing. Found these panels a while back for converting some of the cubby holes I have. Was gonna use it for the turbo brake, fuel pump and something else I figured I could not live without....lol. This is the one for the 4WD location....since I have a 2WD. He 3D prints various panels for other cubby holes with or without switches. Hope it helps

Blank Filler Panel
 

darkness

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I made a plate for that spot in my ‘04. It was 2wd too. I was doing a lot of hauling at the time and I put a momentary switch in there for the trailer running lights for the thank you flashes on the highway.
 

Ron Nielson

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As I recall it, the turbo brake only worked with the torque converter locked. So using tow haul, while not mandatory, that kept the TC locked almost all the time.
 
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Bdsankey

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Thanks Gentlemen......I ran a stock tune this weekend with turbo brake in it. Without T/H on it was fairly weak without rpm's. 4 pounds boost was the highest I saw it and that was leaving the interstate. 1-2 with the occasional 3 was pretty normal. Brake use was less but required. Downhill I would still gain speed since it did not gear down. Using T/H I saw 7 pounds at peak and could probably be happy with the results.

Dunno..... a lot to think about. May have to wire a switch in and test it, but time prevents that from happening anytime soon.

On a side note....I'll put this here to feel like I'm contributing. Found these panels a while back for converting some of the cubby holes I have. Was gonna use it for the turbo brake, fuel pump and something else I figured I could not live without....lol. This is the one for the 4WD location....since I have a 2WD. He 3D prints various panels for other cubby holes with or without switches. Hope it helps

Blank Filler Panel

It takes all of an hour or less to wire the switch, it's a few pins.
 

Physiksgeek

Member
Jul 31, 2022
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It takes all of an hour or less to wire the switch, it's a few pins.

My bad...."soon" is a relative term. To me it means a couple weeks...to others...could mean something else.

I do not doubt you....did some contracting in a previous life.....my rule of thumb is to double an estimate and add the 30% Jesus factor.....for when I take a step back and say "OH JESUS".....lol.

Kidding aside....and que whining......my beautiful bride and I celebrate our 34th anniversary this weekend. Nothing but lovey dovey stuff this weekend......M.U.S.T. S.T.A.Y. F.O.C.U.S.E.D....lol! So, if I get lucky (timewise of course) I can clean up the garage next weekend and install it then. That's not all bad cause it gives me time to gather the parts......end whining.

On a side note.....first....apologies for not being able to give credit to whomever created this drawing. Second...is the indicator light worth it for those that have done it? I think it would bug me in the early morning.



1662599006420.png
 

JoshH

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As I recall, the guy who figured out that it would work said you have to have an indicator light hooked up or it won't work (and has to be incandescent because an LED won't put enough load on that pin). The light doesn't have to be somewhere you can see it if you think it would annoy you.
 

PureHybrid

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Feb 15, 2012
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Did you log vane position to make sure they were closing all the way? Every turbo brake I do, change the vane position MINIMUM table to 98/99% in the desired area to kind of "force" it to work without relying solely on desired position / boost.
 

Dozerboy

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Jun 23, 2009
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Are you manually down shifting your truck? If you really what to slow down while using the Turbo brake down shift it down 3 gears. The transmission won't down shift to much and hurt itself. 4000 rpms is fine.

I have both a switch and tune. I think the tune is better because you can command the vanes closed to 100% as much as you want. The switch opens the vanes at shifts and seems to have slower reaction time. This is only going off what I have seen in logs. Not much for hills around here, so I have never done any testing.
 
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