Parking brake- cable or hydraulic?

db · Post by db » Wed Jan 07, 09 8:58 am

Just been pricing up brake bits and frankly i'm horrified- $219 +shipping +taxes for a cable that probably won't even fit due to shortened axle with no bracketry attached

Anyone got any tips for rigging up a parking brake?
Cable or fluid / DIY cable kit / anything off another model that may fit?

Ideas/ pics/ bits help please!

Pete · Post by **Pete** » Wed Jan 07, 09 9:00 am

Fluid would technically not conform as it is not an independent way of stopping the car, but it can be done.

Have you tried "Speedy Cables" in Wales - they are very reasonable.

I have to say that I can't think of a better way of spending money on a car than investing in brakes that work......

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » Wed Jan 07, 09 7:14 pm

If you're not goin to MOT it then don't worry about a handbrake , NEVER use mine unless i'm workin on it.

Length of stock cable can be 'lost' under rear to compensate for shorter axle.

db · Post by db » Wed Jan 07, 09 8:35 pm

Pete- i was thinking along the lines of a completely separate system, the bit i don't get is what happens at the wheel end, i'm sure 'fly-off' handbrakes on rally cars use hydraulic?
I'll give Speedy Cables a try, cheers.

Brutus- it will be MOT'd.... one day

ANTON · Post by **ANTON** » Wed Jan 07, 09 8:47 pm

at wheel end the cable pulls a lever on one shoe with a linking bracket to the other shoe and pulling the lever separates both shoes to bind on the drum

Pete · Post by **Pete** » Wed Jan 07, 09 9:02 pm

Yep, but if you install a hydraulic handbrake it would utilise the same slave cylinders as the main system, and therefore would not be independant for MOT purposes.

Mick · Post by **Mick** » Wed Jan 07, 09 9:20 pm

On the Duster i sold last year, i made nearly all the fittings on the handbrake . The car had been tubbed and the springs had been relocated under the chassis rails.
What car is it.
Mick

db · Post by db » Thu Jan 08, 09 8:40 am

It's a '66 B-bod, Belvedere (Satellite/ Coronet...)
Pics & measurements would be ace Mick

Dawesapd- thanks for the pics, i understand the cable parking brake, it's the fluid one i didn't get.

Pete- yeah, i guess they just tee the 2 pipes into the slave. As you say, no good for MOT... unless they mod the backplate and shoes to take a 2nd slave?

Blue · Post by **Blue** » Thu Jan 08, 09 8:50 am

A hydraulic handbrake works by fitting a small cylinder operated by a lever into the rear brake line, very easy to do and it works well. It will not technically pass the MOT because the handbrake mechanism has to be totally mechanical in operation, the idea being in the event of a hydraulic failure, you still have a brake.

Mick · Post by **Mick** » Thu Jan 08, 09 10:27 pm

My cable came in 4 parts, from h.brake to a fitting which the second cable ran through and down both sides of the car, the right hand side was held by a threaded rod with a hook on which located a boomerang shaped piece on the cable, that ran through the front chassis rail near the torsion bar fitting, then both sides off the cable connected the 2 rear cables through small couplers. The rears are held in place by small angles welded on the chassis rails with a spring clip.
My Dart is different, the secondary cable runs down the drivers side only, then joins the 2 rear cables, the drivers side is short and the pass side runs across the rear of the car.
I just copied the fittings from pics and looking at Trev D's car.
You need pics to see how they run and what holds them in place.
Mick

andyrob · Post by **andyrob** » Thu Jan 08, 09 11:48 pm

my experience with hydraulic handbrake's the pressure with easy after afew minutes & will slowly let its self of & your car will start an unmaned journey, you have been warned !!

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » Thu Jan 08, 09 11:51 pm

The problem with all oils is that their properties can and do change for all sorts of reasons. In general, hydraulically operated systems are highly reliable. Just darned messy.

PaulR · Post by **PaulR** » Sat Jan 10, 09 9:32 am

Hydraulic handbrakes are not acceptable for the MOT test on vehicles first used on or after 1st January 1968.

PaulR · Post by **PaulR** » Sat Jan 10, 09 9:32 am

Hydraulic handbrakes are not acceptable for the MOT test on vehicles first used on or after 1st January 1968.

db · Post by db » Sat Jan 10, 09 5:03 pm

Thanks for all the info chaps

My Belve is '66 so from what Paul R says, a hydraulic brake WOULD be legal for me.
Blues 'inline' cylinder sounds a lot like a Linelok, which i already have and if the 'Park' on the trans is reliable it would seem i can get away without a cable....so....

If i use the linelok AND Park everytime, is it:
(a) WELL dodgy like a ticking time-bomb
(b) OK mostly but could fail in a sudden heatwave/ shunt from another car/ high wind
(c) FINE, an excellent almost-free solution