Is it possible to change the brumby handbrake linkage to brake the rear wheels?

Moylan · Post by **Moylan** » Thu Mar 25, 2010 7:26 pm

Is it possible to change the brumby handbrake linkage to brake the rear wheels? Easily?

Not that it is super important or anything, Just that it definitely has its uses on gravel roads and such. Im not verry savvy about mechanics or anything, so i hope it isnt a silly question.

Mr Top Hat · Post by **Mr Top Hat** » Thu Mar 25, 2010 7:34 pm

Moylan wrote:Is it possible to change the brumby handbrake linkage to brake the rear wheels? Easily?

Not that it is super important or anything, Just that it definitely has its uses on gravel roads and such. Im not verry savvy about mechanics or anything, so i hope it isnt a silly question.

it would be very difficult to do i reckon coz as far as i know there hasn't been a l series,brumby , Leone,etc... with a rear hand brake Assembly.

Rob

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Thu Mar 25, 2010 7:39 pm

Anything can be done - depending on your patience and how deep your pockets are!

I've not known of anyone to do it with the drum brake rear end. But if you had a disc rear end from an L series turbo (hard to find), apparently you can use a rear handbraked caliper from a skyline on this setup. Probabily a bit of work still involved with this, but I'd imagine it would work better than the drums.

For dirt driving I whack it in 4wd, very stable, great for sliding - better for drifting if you've got an EJ to provide the necessary power to power around the corner in a slide

Cheers

Bennie

spike · Post by **spike** » Thu Mar 25, 2010 7:39 pm

ummm hmmm,,,
i think its possible with the disk brake set up
and with the vortex rear disks its quite easily

Moylan · Post by **Moylan** » Thu Mar 25, 2010 7:45 pm

Ohhh ok haha thanks for the replies, yeh i was kinda hoping for it to be not only easy but cheap too

El Freddo, I was thinking also about doing a quick turn on the spot when there isnt a whole lot of room to turn around. Btw, what kind of power gain is there in the EJ conversion?

Dane · Post by **Dane** » Fri Mar 26, 2010 4:24 am

Double the power for almost 40% less fuel. Get a cross breed kit to do the hand brake. There are banner ads appearing for those.

Bumpty · Post by **Bumpty** » Fri Mar 26, 2010 5:35 pm

Moylan wrote:El Freddo, I was thinking also about doing a quick turn on the spot when there isnt a whole lot of room to turn around.

Haha, legit reason

Learn how to use your foot brakes if you are wanting to slide.
Its all about positioning of the vehicle and gentle pressure on the brakes..

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Fri Mar 26, 2010 11:50 pm

Moylan wrote:what kind of power gain is there in the EJ conversion?

In short, an amount that makes you look like this every time you drive it:

Sleeper style

Dane wrote:Double the power for almost 40% less fuel. Get a cross breed kit to do the hand brake. There are banner ads appearing for those.

That's about right too. It is the best bang for your buck you can possibly spend on your subi! I'm glad I've done it and won't be looking back. I honestly don't know how I put up with the EA for so long. That conversion is one of those things you have to experience to know what I'm talking about. I think I also got a lot out of it because I did the conversion in the shed myself

Bumpty wrote:Learn how to use your foot brakes if you are wanting to slide.
Its all about positioning of the vehicle and gentle pressure on the brakes..

That's how to initiate a slide - one way anyway. I use the scandinavian (spelling?) flick. Works a treat, no brakes needed, but some power is once your in the slide otherwise its not as much fun. I haven't tried one since putting the lift in. Not game enough after seeing Owen flip his lifted lib (very rutted road that caused his rear end to skip out rather than slide out...).

Cheers

Bennie

32ford · Post by **32ford** » Sat Mar 27, 2010 4:10 am

well if you had a rear disc conversion already then you could bolt up nissan s12 rear calipers, bend the bit were the handbrake cable goes in just a bit to clear the rear end ,and hook up the cables. the hardest part is finding the rear disc hubs.

khanacross · Post by **khanacross** » Sat Mar 27, 2010 10:04 am

hi all,correct me if im wrong ,but i was under the impression you couldnt handbrake the rear of a "my" or "l" because of the gearbox ,if you lock the rear all four lock because of no centre diff ,,,,is this true ?? thats my experience in khanacross cars ...now im curious

brumbyrunner · Post by **brumbyrunner** » Sat Mar 27, 2010 10:25 am

You are correct to a point.
A part-time 4WD, in 4WD, with both back wheels locked up under braking would have an effect on the front wheels.
But so what?
Unless you're planning on using the handbrake under power, I can't see an issue.
Most popular part-time 4WDs use a rear handbrake.

maxxair · Post by **maxxair** » Sat Mar 27, 2010 1:57 pm

This is something I've been pondering for ages, ever since I learned all the old subes have a front wheel handbrake (WTF) My ute has the 4EAT Auto in it, and they have a 'fuse' that you insert in the engine bay to go from 4wd to Fwd. So... I'm going to hook this to my handbrake 'light switch' and make a hydralic rear brake through the cab, into a master cyl behind the handle, to the rear brakes. I'm yet to test this, but should be good. Rears locked, fronts pulling, Yeww!! one of the only reasons I'm bothering with the Auto. Will probly need rear disks for this though$$$

khanacross · Post by **khanacross** » Sat Mar 27, 2010 3:22 pm

bit hard to steer if the front locks up with the back

part of the reason we use the hand brake is to set the car up for a corner helps avoid understeer ,,not a problem at all on later subarus and others because of active diff ,,but differant story on brumbys and L series ,,,when we do see these cars at the track they have usually changed gearbox ... khanacross

rtcb65 · Post by **rtcb65** » Sat Mar 27, 2010 8:19 pm

The easiest way i can think of to put the hand brake to the back wheels is , buy and fit a crossbred kit. It gives 4 wheel disk brakes and puts the hand brake to the back wheels. Nice and easy.

Gannon · Post by **Gannon** » Sat Mar 27, 2010 9:16 pm

I wouldnt bother maxxair. The moment you lift your foot off the accelerator pedal, the TCU goes back to a 85:15 Front/Rear torque split.

maxxair · Post by **maxxair** » Sat Mar 27, 2010 9:50 pm

lol, whos lifting off???

thats good to know though. I thought it sounded a bit easy. cheers

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Sat Mar 27, 2010 11:56 pm

khanacross wrote:hi all,correct me if im wrong ,but i was under the impression you couldnt handbrake the rear of a "my" or "l" because of the gearbox ,if you lock the rear all four lock because of no centre diff ,,,,is this true ?? thats my experience in khanacross cars ...now im curious

Yeah, by locking the front also. Drive in 4wd in the wet and you'll find you'll pull up in no time because the front discs are working on the rear wheels through the 4wd drive train. It saved me the one day in melbourne I decided to have a go at 4wd bitumen driving in the wet

As for the dirt, the hand brake won't do you much at all in 4wd, or 2wd for that matter. At low speed such as taking a drive way you can easily slide the rear out due to the front trying to travel slower than the rear - you maintain your steering and loose traction on the rear... But once in RWD only you will loose traction on the front end but the rear will hold strong unless you can over power it.

Personally I don't see the handbrake as the way to induce a slide - never have and probabily never will!

Either way, if you feel that the rear hand brake is what you want, you'll find a way to get it to happen. I love my front wheel hand brake because it clamps the discs and will not move regardless of the slope I park it on. I can't say the same for my rear wheel (drum) hand braked torana! Kez's VT com seems to do ok with its rear wheel drum hand brake/rear disc setup...

Cheers

Bennie

Moylan · Post by **Moylan** » Mon Mar 29, 2010 7:28 pm

El_Freddo wrote:In short, an amount that makes you look like this every time you drive it: Sleeper style
Bennie

Sounds Good

, and with the better economy that was mentioned.... far out, it sounds too good to be true. Well I'll be getting myself one of them then.

And thanks everyone for your help and suggestions, the crossbreed kit sounds like the best option.

78sti · Post by **78sti** » Fri Apr 23, 2010 11:04 am

The cheapest option is to install hydraulic handbrake in the rear brake line, not legal but very easy and very effective.

This was the setup up in my ute for a while and I used a land rover clutch master cylinder linked to the handbrake leaver, and the rear brake line needs to be cut and run through the master cylinder.