Parking brake
The cars > Developments and changes
As many people may be aware the standard Land Rover handbrake
mechanism is large and heavy, has the tendency to pick up water &
mud, and Stick.
The handbrake mechanism on Insanity Too, used one of the standard Land Rover units and for some reason I decided it needed to be replaced. At this time there is no logical reason nor any immediate failings of the standard unit.
My hope in doing this was;
The handbrake mechanism on Insanity Too, used one of the standard Land Rover units and for some reason I decided it needed to be replaced. At this time there is no logical reason nor any immediate failings of the standard unit.
My hope in doing this was;
- Reduce the weight
- Reduce the size/space used
- Reduce the risk of seizure or failure
- Potentially reduce he rotating weight on the driveline, I am hoping this may help with acceleration and deceleration (microscopically probably).
Now many websites etc. seam to strongly recommend changing the
standard handbrake for the above reasons and sometimes others, also
there are many reports of "improvements", however people rarely specify
explicitly what those improvements are?
The contents of this page is intended to provide a story and results of changing from the standard Land Rover drum to Disk brake.
The contents of this page is intended to provide a story and results of changing from the standard Land Rover drum to Disk brake.
Firstly a couple of the questions I had before starting this Project
that I was unable to find he answers to;
- Is the Disk brake option any Lighter?
- Yes: The disk brake assembly I purchased was approximately 1 Kilo lighter than the origonal Drum assembly.
- Is the Disk brake option any smaller?
- Yes; But not by much. The disk is about 2" smaller in Diameter, however, by the time you include the protection bracket at the bottom the clearance under the car is almost the same.
The pictures below shows what you get in the Kit;
OK So that is the standard defender kit;
The car I am fitting this into is anything but standard. In order to fit this into Insanity two I need to rotate the entire assembly anticlockwise by about 40+ deg.
- Disk.
- Caliper,
- Brackets
- and Bolts.
Fitting the Disk bracket kit to Insanity Too.
The car I am fitting this into is anything but standard. In order to fit this into Insanity two I need to rotate the entire assembly anticlockwise by about 40+ deg.
There are more pictures to show;
- The back plate bracket in its standard/original position. Note the additional holes, I had the drilled in order to rotate the bracket 35 deg. anticlockwise.
- This is the position of the newly located bracket.
- When fitted to the gearbox in the car the bracket cleared the drivers seat box, however, I had not left sufficient clearance for the caliper.
- The Bracket drilled again to rotate it further anticlockwise.
- A picture shows the seat box panel to the top right.
- You may also notice that I have cut off the "protective" flange that was at the bottom because with the relocated bracket it was pointing approximately 90 deg. to the right. Only time will tell if this has been a good decision.
- The Disk and Prop-shaft in place.
- The completed and modified assembly in place.