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Handbrake Solutions

How about lookin at the brakes on an old dumper truck if you can find one . I've driven hundreds over the years and the handbrake was the only way to slow or stop most of them which is odd now i think of it coz the foot brakes were worn metal to metal decades earlier and never repaired .
 
Hey, I've not forgotten this one. Have a look at this caliper - it's of a Mazda 6. I reckon it must have a built in cable handbrake. What do we know?

Had a good look at the X Eng handbrake at the weekend. It was massive. Nothing I can't knock up I am sure and then use an air actuator to pull the cable. Or a window motor maybe.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MAZDA-6-R...arts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item4ac09bb64a

Chris
 
Just gave them a ring Chris, it is operated by cable.
 
Nice one Chas. I need to get underneath and look at bracketry this weekend and see what can go where. I shall try the disc on if I get chance. I might need to make a bigger one. That's really why I want a small caliper. The X Eng one is off a digger. It's huge.

Chris
 
H/brakes must be mechanical to pass an MoT.

You could try a combination hydraulic/mechanical caliper. With all the rear disc set-ups available, there must be loads in the scrap yards.

I have modified my own set-up as follows.

The rear brake is a very large drum mounted on a semi floating axle. This means that there is a certain amount of end float on the half shaft. If I convert to a disc set-up, this end float will have a tendency to push the pads further away from the disc causing a long pedal syndrome. Also the auto adjust has a tendency to over adjust and this makes drum removal a pain in the butt. I have removed this auto adjust and converted the system to a manual adjust. So far no problems.

Much of the problems with the h.brake is the set-up needed to get it working properly.

I have toyed with the idea of converting a small hydraulic caliper to cable operation and building a suitable unit for fitting as a transmission brake. It's in the pipeline.

Roger
 
Yes, Roger, that would be the case - if this were a handbrake. But it's not. Check the thread as to what I am doing. Your last point is exactly what we're doing.

The handbrake is on the rear wheels as Mt T intended. This is an offroad holding brake on the propshaft.

Not part of the MOT

Chris
 
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Chris, if it's a brake operated by hand would that not come under the MOT as a handbrake? or were you thinking of operating it other than by hand?
 
Eh? Well it's operated by hand but I could press the switch with my nose but would it then be a nose brake and exempt? Jeez people read the thread. The hand brake that was fitted at the factory in Japan in 1994 and that is required for the MOT is still there and will be functioning perfectly on the day of the test. OK?


This additional transmission brake does not replace, negate, obfuscate, make redundant or impede the original.
Having two methods of holding the vehicle on a slope is not illegal. I'm not even sure that Park on an auto is part of the test
C
 
Chris. I cant remember so I am guessing that yours is an auto. If so i can see why having an on/off type handbrake would be ok. As you have made clear this will not be the only or even a replacement for the "handbrake". That being said what I would be looking for in such a thing is something a little less all or nothing.
For example when doing hill starts (fine in an auto) but in a manual I would have thought a lever and cable would be better as you can let it off and on at the required pace.

Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk 2
 
Yep, auto matey. But what I am doing here is a POC - proof of concept. If we can get this to work then it's immaterial how you operate the caliper. But, in terms of the MOT, as you say, not an issue for my design, but not sure how you go on with a transmission brake more generally - other than as we know it must be mechanical (so how do you account for electric parking brakes nowadays then, huh?) Mine will be cable operated from an actuator. But there's nothing to stop you connecting the end of the handbrake cable to it instead and not have the air.

I don't know, nor want to know, Landrovers but they had some sort of brake like this didn't they? Obviously they complied with the MOT but I don't know the exact details of the test on the parking brake and what it has to do.

Chris
 
I've just spent an hour searching the web to learn more about your problem . At first i thought them American rock crawlers must have found a solution because thier axle travel is insane , but no luck there . So i searched for others with the same problem and it quickly became obvious its not a problem associated with a badge , Toyota , Suzuki , Nissan and any other brand all suffer the same problem if taken offroad . From what i've read so far the problem is simply water mud and grit gets into the handbrake mechanism preventing it from working . When you readjust the handbrake after being offroad you probably clean it without even thinking about it so it works again though you've probably not adjusted it much at all .

X-Eng use digger brakes simply because they are sealed so the crap cant get in .

Perhaps you could use a normal landcruiser caliper on your shaft brake if you could somehow make a housing to keep the whole thing clean ?

Please note i'm a novice with to much time to think i'm just making a suggestion that someone with more knowledge than me might shoot down in flames or encourage .
 
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Good research there Shayne but ,nah! Nowt to do with mud. This happens without getting it dirty. Filling it with mud DOES stop it working and we do have to strip and clean but you lose the hb just going over axle twisters in the dry.
Count to 3 and its gone.

Chris
 
Surely a shaft brake is completely seperate from your wheel brakes so cant be affected by "flex" , eliminate the possibility of dirt entering the shaft brake and the only maintenance should be to change the pads every other decade or so ?
 
Heres another hairbrained solution . make your normal handbrake lever longer at the rear , so it looks a bit like a see-saw . And connect the new piece to a master cylinder so when you pull the handbrake up in the normal way your also pushing a the master cylinder down forcing hydraulic fluid down to the shaft brake caliper so it closes . Just like using the front brake on a motorbike .

Jeez i should start doing crosswords at least then nobody would know when i got it wrong !
 
As far as MOT goes i dont see how they could fail you on an "additional" handbrake of any kind . What sort of test can they do anyway ? park it on a slope and try to push it ?
 
As Ben mentioned to Chris, a common Suzuki brake modification would be to replace the whole rear drum set up with a disc brake set up using rear callipers sourced from a Rover 200, 400 or 600 as they have a mechanical cam on them that allows connection of the normal cable hand brake set up to operate the calliper as well as the hydraulic foot pedal. I can't see why these wouldn't work with just the hand brake cable attached and no hydraulics connected :icon-biggrin:
 
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