BrakeSaver-Caterpillar's Highway Truck Retarder

A hydrodynamic retarder for heavy duty highway trucks has been developed to fill the need for a high capacity silent truck retarder that is independent of truck ground speed.

This retarder is mounted between the engine crankshaft and the flywheel to take advantage of the transmission speed multiplication. Engine oil is the working fluid and the engine cooling system is used to dissipate the heat of retardation.

The retarder designed for the new Caterpillar 3400 Series of heavy duty truck engines is described. Ratings that can be adjusted from 200 to 550 hp with minor hardware changes and unitized construction that can be adapted to many other engine configurations are the unique features of the design.