hydraulic handbrake ?

[monsterob]

looking at the iva manual re parking brake it leans heavily towards the use of a cable operated handbrake .

does this mean a hydraulic handbrake is a no no ? are they road legal ?

[monsterob]

google throws up lots of different arguments .

my intention was a locking lever as per the norm and a seperate hydraulic system to another set of calipers ?

but its a bit of a hazy subject i dont like the electronically operated parking brakes as on the citroens etc.....

[Doughnutter]

Theres nothing illigal about a hydraulic handbrake in a road car. I currently have a 3 door Sierra and a 5 door Sierra, both with Hydraulic handbrakes and MOT's so if you want one you should be OK

What you do have to have though is a mechanical parking brake. Its so if you lose hydraulic pressure, say a leak or something overnight, then the cars not going to roll down a hill.

I retain the normal handbrake mechanism in the Sierras and mount vertical hydo's in them. Having 2 handbrakes may not be as clean looking as you want though for a kit / race / custom car though. There are available, from places like Rally Design and Demon Tweeks hydro handbrakes with optional cable mechanisms. Bank on about an extra £60 on top of the hydro for the kit.

Hope this helps. It may be different for you new tests for custom builds but thats what I know from MOT's and road experience

[monsterob]

thanks for the quick reply i think some more thought into rear hub tweeks to incorporate the original handbrake will be needed and cheaper

too late and tired now though .

cheers

[twinturbo]

A hydr will fail iva/mot if there is no mechanical brake.

TT

[Big Vern]

As TT says the parking brake on any road vehicle is required to be a mechanical device acting on either the front or rear wheels.
The hydraulic hand brake - a favourite of the rally boys - is not legal for road use which is why we used to build them with a flyoff hydraulic hand brake but keep the original vehicle system in tact as well.


HTH BV.

[flyerncle]

Make's a bit of a mockery of it all when manufacturers fit EPB systems that fail in the on position, Audi/VW Seat Skoda.

[Bonzo]

Originally Posted by flyerncle

Make's a bit of a mockery of it all when manufacturers fit EPB systems that fail in the on position, Audi/VW Seat Skoda.

You gotta love the early Citroen breaking systems Paul

Oh the joys of the front parking brake & the pump driven hydraulic service brakes ..... Engine fails & once the reserve pressure has gone, brakes no worky very well

[flyerncle]

Nice to see you back Ronnie,as for citroen brake and hydraulic system's you are talking to the man who served his time in a dealers 71 to 80 so they hold no fear to me.
I used to PDI new D series then the CX and Gs BX etc.
My comment was aimed at VAG products as they fail locked on due to failure of the switch,there is nothing in the owners manual to tell you how to deal with it other than call the stealers (yes stealers !)it is possible to unplug the connections and reverse the polarity to wind them off.

Back to the handbrake saga it does stipulate for mot requirements that the handbrake mechanism is mechanical,so fit another system later if you have to.

Finally (yes honestly) the Citroen system and its derivatives fitted to Rollers and the like have a pressure accumalator fitted as standard under the pressure regulator that should give a reserve of pressure and this is also part of the MOT test.

Just re-read your post Ron,the early ones had a ramp arrangement for load sensing and they were violent.

[Big Vern]

As stated above, both IVA and MOT require a mechanical 'parking' brake, independant of the 'service' brakes