By F.J. (Rovercon) on Saturday, September 22, 2001 - 03:18 pm: Edit

I went to Hollister Hills today for a 4WD Safety Clinic hosted by a local 4x4 Club. They took us into many things, but one thing stuck in mind and I am a bit concerned.

We were asked to go up a small hill (around 20 degrees) and then shut off the engine -- as to simulate a stall. We were told to put the engine in nuetral and then engage the parking brake (as well the foot brake). If I let go of the foot, the truck went downhill all the way to the bottom!!!

I have a '96 Disco with automatic transmission. This exercise was mostly for manual transmission trucks, but I am glad that I saw that in an emergency, my parking brake wouldn't have behaved like I thought it would.

I know that in the Disco's, the parking brake doesn't operate on the wheels but on the rear propeller shaft instead. So this might explain what happened. But I am not sure? Is this a "normal" thing or do I have a problem?

One of the instructors, suggested that I install a "micro lock." I don't know how familiar he was with Land Rovers since most of the people there were driving Jeeps (as was him). I did tell them how the parking brake worked on Rovers and he didn't expand on the micro lock thing.

By Jeff Bieler (Mrbieler) on Saturday, September 22, 2001 - 03:36 pm: Edit

Not sure what happened to you, but the hand brake on both our D1 and my Series IIA will hold the vehicle rock solid on a hill.

Are you sure you had it fully engaged?

By F.J. (Rovercon) on Saturday, September 22, 2001 - 03:40 pm: Edit

i thought i did. it was almost pointing up. maybe i need to take it to the dealer and have them look at the thing.

if i put the truck in parking and the pull the parking brake, it didn't move at all. but i am not sure if this was done because of the transmission was on park.

By Steve on Saturday, September 22, 2001 - 04:19 pm: Edit

Jeff,
Your situation sounds like the parking brake needs adjustment or perhaps new lining. Some medium duty trucks use a system like that found on Discos and they generally fail to hold in reverse prior to total failure. Have it checked.
Steve

By Jeff Bieler (Mrbieler) on Saturday, September 22, 2001 - 04:34 pm: Edit

Yeah, take it to the dealer. The brake should hold very well, especially as this is a full time 4wd truck.

With a functioning brake, you're locking up both the front and rear drivetrain which is better then a traditional parking brake which only holds the rear wheels.

By tc on Saturday, September 22, 2001 - 06:37 pm: Edit

F.J.

You need to adjust your parking brake. You can do it youself. It is not that hard to do. If you are in the Santa Rosa area, look me up, we can do it together.

By Ali on Sunday, September 23, 2001 - 02:04 am: Edit

Micro brake, I think is a device that goes in line with your current brakes. Basically you push down on the brake pedal, pressurize the system, then apply the Micro brake, take your foot off the brake. This will simulate your foot on the pedal and park your rig essentially. I've seen some dragsters use this to lock the front wheels while doing burnouts for tire warmup.

By F.J. (Rovercon) on Sunday, September 23, 2001 - 05:29 am: Edit

Tx, thanks for the offer but I recently had the dealer do the 60K service and replace the rotors and pads (3 weeks ago). I paid them a lot of money for this and I think they should have check the parking brake and made the necessary adjustments.

Thanks for all the replies.

By ButchS on Sunday, September 23, 2001 - 06:24 am: Edit

Additional note. I have used the hand brakes off road with my Disco 1 especially when going extreme down zigzaggy rocky trail. It helps with the footbrake to slow it down and did not anticipate any tire slip. Any comments on this. Drawback is, my hand brake lamp is always ON now. Hey guys got any quick fix before i bring it to the dealer. Thanks

By Rob Davison (Pokerob) on Sunday, September 23, 2001 - 06:27 am: Edit

was your center diff locked??? if it was not then the brake was only working on one shaft.

rd

By mongo on Sunday, September 23, 2001 - 06:29 am: Edit

isn't the hand/parking brake, a transmission brake, and if you apply it when moving it will do really bad things to the transmission?

just a question...

Frank

By F.J. (Rovercon) on Sunday, September 23, 2001 - 07:13 am: Edit

the diff lock was not engaged when i was doing this test. i did noticed that when the diff lock was engage (later on), the low range and 1st gear didn't slow down the truck.

By Bill Bettridge (Billb) on Monday, September 24, 2001 - 04:51 am: Edit

Obviously you've got some other issues going on if L1 didn't slow you down, but as far as the handbrake goes, if the handle was pointing straight up, it is WAY out of adjustment.

The spec for the handbrake is three clicks from off to fully braked - thats all it should go. To adjust just park the truck on a flat level spot and leave the hand brake off - crawl underneath and on the front side (engine side) of the drum you'll see a 9/16" (I think) bolt at about 6:00 - turn it clockwise to adjust the shoes up against the drum - then back it off about a turn or so - then try the hand brake and just keep adjusting until you get that three clicks

All in all this only takes about 10 minutes

By Discosaurus (Discosaurus) on Monday, September 24, 2001 - 05:49 am: Edit

...sounds like the microbrake thing is the same as a drag racing line-lock. A line-lock would actually be a good addition to a manual tranny rover but the plumbing is a headache with ABS. I've seen several Jeeps with line-locks.

mongo, the emergency brake is simply a drum brake on the rear DS and might cause a severe reaction if applied HARD when driving down the road at speed.

It's real easy to adjust. I just adjusted mine for the first time at 60K miles a few months ago and the adjuster bolt turned freely. I expected it to be frozen solid like every other bolt on the damn thing that doesn't get turned 3 times a week.

I've had my emergency brake hold my truck on good traction slopes approaching 45 degrees so it's certainly up to the task, adjusted properly. I use mine A LOT offroad since I run a manual gearbox. I'm thinking about adding a Rubicon Express hand throttle so I don't have to use the e-brake as much...

keith
discosaurus

By Jon Williams (Jonw) on Monday, September 24, 2001 - 06:28 am: Edit

Those hand throttles are pretty convenient. I put one on my truck so I can "high idle" my engine when I'm winching. Wasn't a Rubicon Express brand, though. It was a Jon Williams special

By Danno on Monday, September 24, 2001 - 01:31 pm: Edit

"The spec for the handbrake is three clicks from off to fully braked - thats all it should go. To adjust just park the truck on a flat level spot and leave the hand brake off - crawl underneath and on the front side (engine side) of the drum you'll see a 9/16" (I think) bolt at about 6:00 - turn it clockwise to adjust the shoes up against the drum - then back it off about a turn or so - then try the hand brake and just keep adjusting until you get that three clicks"

or, pull the parking break up 3 clicks and adjust the bolt until you pads seem to touch then back off slightly..

By Danno on Monday, September 24, 2001 - 01:34 pm: Edit

Keith,
if you can find an old thumb shifter from a mountain bike, you can make your own hand throttle. a friend with a D90 did this when he was going through some spare bike parts that he had.

By charles on Monday, September 24, 2001 - 07:53 pm: Edit

TJ,
I applied for that Clinic too, but something came up so I end up staying at home....
Can you tell me something more about that clinic?

By Discosaurus (Discosaurus) on Tuesday, September 25, 2001 - 05:58 am: Edit

That's a good idea !
Thanks Danno...

By Danno on Tuesday, September 25, 2001 - 06:02 am: Edit

uh which one?
hehehe

By peter matusov on Tuesday, September 25, 2001 - 06:52 am: Edit

wouldn't you guys wonder about a club that hosts a 4x4 Safety Clinic and suggests backing down the hill in a land rover using the parking brake?

sure they all cater to more common 4x4s, but would they take any responsibility for a rover rubber side up?

by no means i think i know the shit, but all these 4x4 teaching scams make me uneasy.

peter

By F.J. (Rovercon) on Tuesday, September 25, 2001 - 03:57 pm: Edit

they didn't tell me to back down the hill with the parking brake on. the idea behind the exercise was to show people what to do in case your truck stalls on an incline. again, this exercise was mostly for manual transmission trucks, but i thought i'd give it a try too. the idea is to shift it into nuetral, apply the parking brake, release the foot break, and then shift into gear without letting the truck roll down.

By Moe (Moe) on Tuesday, September 25, 2001 - 04:51 pm: Edit

They sound like amateurs selling themselves as professionals. If you paid them money for guidance and teaching and they sent you up the hill without the center diff locked, I would ask for a refund. Hey, I admit before my Disco, I was not familiar with the AWD system, but I am an amateur. Regardless of what the 'instructor' was driving, if he took your money he should be familiar with your rig.

By ButchS on Wednesday, September 26, 2001 - 02:19 pm: Edit

I guess the handbrake light problem is goin to the dealer.