[Dog Woman]

wingnut 60: Thank you for your comments. I will check out the SOITC site for this same discussion. My hubby experimented with braking power of our present TV before adding the exhaust brake system. This might be a valuable test for other MS owners out there:
He drove w-the MS over to local road with no turns in it. He unplugged the trailer brakes. He started out maintaining 25 mph and tested stopping/braking power of our F350. He then added another 5 mph and tested again. He found the cutoff point for being able to stop the MS without trailer brakes was 40 mph -- anything over that the back end of truck started to fishtail to the left.

Hubby has always been a Ford man. He is a cautious driver, maintaining highway truck speed of 60 mph, always allowing merging traffic the right of way, and staying in slower truck lanes. He loves his 96 1 ton, but Ford finally figured it out: with the 2008's tow haul transmission, ring & pinon 488 gear ratio, bigger brake system, higher GCWRs (both F450 & F550 to 33,000 lbs), more hp, wider grille to allow more air flow, and towing mirrors, he is sold on the 2008 F550s ~~that is what we are presently looking to buy (either used or new). We have talked about buying a F450 versus F550. His reasoning is the F550 is a heavier truck and can better control our MS in all possible conditions. Traveling these days means hoping for the best driving conditions, but always preparing for the worst drivers and weather.