Introduction
You may not be aware that although compression release engine brakes have been around for a long time on heavy duty trucks, they have never been available for the light and medium duty diesel trucks that have become so popular in the last 25 years. Every year gross vehicle weights go up and horsepower has more than doubled in diesel trucks...and yet, stopping is still achieved by rubbing something that's turning against something that's not. Now, it's true that in the last few years, exhaust brakes have become common place even as standard equipment on new trucks. There is no doubt exhaust brakes work, but in a very limited capacity. Compression release brakes have been the standard in the heavy trucking industry for years because of their effectiveness. Finally, we are making them available for your pickup.
What We Need & What You Get
When we started this project, we knew that it would not be easy. If it was easy, someone would have done it years ago. We have spent the last two years funding the project out of our pockets and working after hours to build the parts ourselves. We recently decided that we had taken the project as far as we should go on our own. It would be an injustice to the coolest project we've ever seen to keep limping along at the rate we could fund it ourselves. We need your help. Whats in it for you? First of all, being a part of one of the most revolutionary developments for light and medium duty diesel engines since their inception. Your support will bring to market what no one else has ever achieved. As a supporter, you will be automatically be a registered user on our upcoming web forums, so that your input can be utilized as this project unfolds. We had never heard of the concept of crowdfunding until a few weeks ago. Honestly, it sounded kind of weird at first. But the more we looked at it, the more we realized that it was the perfect fit for our project. We didn't set out to start a business. We had an idea that became an all-consuming project and now we would like to share our project and our products with the world. Crowdfunding offers the opportunity to simultaneously find funding and a following.
When we started thinking about how to set up our campaign, we wanted to be sure that everyone could participate on an equal footing. We also wanted to include the excitement of a contest. A contest that would allow someone to be able to have the coolest product they had ever bolted to a truck, even if they didn't have a lot of money to spend. I mean, let's be honest; what better way to spread the word than by the excited winner of the world's first product of it's kind. So, we decided to "sell" stickers with the ThunderBrake logo that you can proudly display to show your support. We thought $25.00 would be an amount that would not be prohibitive for most people. That way, you can become a supporter without a large cash outlay, but that's not where it ends. That's only where it begins. Our "referral" contest lets you win, not because you're the richest supporter, but because you don't mind getting in the trenches and helping us spread the word.
You might have noticed that our goal seems really small. That's because we want to stage our campaigns so that we can have clearly stated agendas for each one. Our plan is for this to be the first of three campaigns, each one with a stated purpose. This one is for promotion. The next for research and development. The third for production. This allows our supporters to stay informed about real-time progress and contribute accordingly, as opposed to blindly trusting us with the entire amount needed to finish the project all at one time.
This is our proposed timeline and agendas for each campaign:
Promotion Campaign Oct. 22th 2014 - Nov. 19th 2014 Build Website including forum hosting Full scale advertising to promote next campaign Hire Project Manager to oversee campaigns and communicate with supporters Valves, valve block and pump for 12 valve demo truck Data acquisition for exhaust brake/engine brake comparison
Research and Development Campaign Dec 15th 2014 - Feb 13th 2015 ( This stage is not to learn how to make it work. We did that a long time ago. Now we have to package the components in logical, marketable, units that are easy to install and maintain. ) Final R&D on valve blocks. Beta run of valve blocks from machine shop R&D on 24 valve cover including 6.7L Beta run of 24 valve covers (12 valve already done) 1st production run of cylinder assemblies for 12 and 24 valve units Assembly, but not final packaging, of electronic control boxes R&D on pump brackets and misc. hardware for 12 valve Hand fabrication of wiring for different year models Beta testing of both the 12 and 24 valve units.
Production Campaign May 1st 2015 - June 30th 2015 Casting of 24 valve covers Printing circuit boards for electronic control boxes 1st production run of valve blocks 1st production run of pump brackets for 12 valve (welded on jig) Purchase pre-fab wiring harnesses
The Impact
Making compression release engine braking available for use on the pickup trucks that we use to pull increasingly heavier loads each year will make the roads a safer place to drive, and keep more people out of the runaway truck ramps. The legitimacy of this product is not debatable, having been proven by tens of thousands of over-the-road trucks for over 50 years. It's time this technology comes down to the common man.
Risks & Challenges
Are there any risks associated with this project? Of course, there are risks associated with everything that you might try to do. We might fail. We haven't so far, even when the world said it was impossible, but we might. That's another reason that we chose crowdfunding and chose to use Indiegogo. You will notice that this and any future campaign that we have anything to do with is a FIXED FUNDING campaign. That means that we have to set a goal that will accomplish what we need to achieve with this campaign. That goal is posted, as is the running total of the money that has been contributed toward the goal. Now here is where you need to pay attention: If we don't reach the goal, WE DON'T GET THE MONEY. It goes right back into your account and it's like it never happened. Most crowdfunding campaigns are FLEXIBLE FUNDING campaigns. That means even if the goal was not reached, they get the money anyway. That's lame and you will never see us doing that.
Question and Answer
1. Will your brake work with an automatic transmission? ANSWER
2. Does your brake operate with master/slave cylinders? ANSWER
3. Do I have to remove any head bolts to install your brake? ANSWER
4. How can we be contacted? ANSWER
5. What is your projected release date? ANSWER
6. What is our business plan? ANSWER
7. What can I do to help? ANSWER
