Neil Marshall Posted August 10, 2005 Share Posted August 10, 2005 Not the first to do this, but having been irritated by the constant knocking of my left ankle against the handbrake on my 300 TDi, I swapped the Defender item for a Range Rover handbrake [off an LSE]. The job takes an hour or so to complete and is really very simple. I removed my centre seat, having bought a new take off cubby box at Billing at the weekend, and used the front right seat fixing to securely mount the front bolt hole. The RR base plate has two fixings plus an angled tube to locate the cable end [broadly like the Defender item], so two holes to be cut out of the seat box. I drilled a further hole through the base plate and seat box [towards the front] to locate the grommet through which the switch lead passes. I found the cable length from the eye [that attaches to the handle] to the clamp too short and worried about having to fit a new cable....in fact, the Defender has an adjustment of about 2cm at the clamp end [two nuts] and I used the adjuster on the transmission brake [an external nut] to properly fit the cable. Finally, the rubber gater from the Defender brake fits nicely over the RR item and gives a more rugged appearance. I blanked off the original location with a piece of 5mm Volvo plastic trim cut to match. Having dismantled the Defender handbrake I have to say that it's a fantastically strong bit of kit and more robust than the RR item...however, the RR handbrake is strong enough and frankly looks like it should have been fitted to all cubby box equipped Defenders. Anybody else think this is worth doing, or have I entered the autumn leaved Victor Meldrew end of the Land Rover fraternity? [And of course I'm not really trying to get my number of posts up on this excellent new site]. Neil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JST Posted August 10, 2005 Share Posted August 10, 2005 very smart. cant say i suffer too much from the leg room problem although now i expect i will notice the hand brake more having seen this. one for the tech forum??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokydiesel Posted August 11, 2005 Share Posted August 11, 2005 Not the first to do this, but having been irritated by the Very nice job Neil !! Having seen your pictures, I might just do this myself.... Edwin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
headhunter Posted August 11, 2005 Share Posted August 11, 2005 I've done it, used a Disco handbrake. Set it further back, easy job to do and works well. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4x4ers.com Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 hello guys, I do like the idea of more foot space but first I require a handbrake that works, and this post looked like you was experienced in handbrakes so I please seek advise if possible . My hand brake is one of them rod operated drum hand brakes, it always clogs up with muddy/sandy water when we go off roading and dies pretty soon after, I have changed and cleaned the parts many times but it is still no better, my friends with later cable operated handbrakes and disco's seem to be OK ? I have been checking a few web sites out and found this one x-brake I also noticed that the disco brake was not the same as the 90/defender allthough the 300 tdi defender was the same but just needed a older cable. Does this mean I can use a 300 tdi back plate and handbrake mechanism on my land rover 90 or do I have to shell out £200+ out on a new x-brake ? Any advise would be greatly appreciated as only have a week to sort out this problem as me and a few friends Our Lame Web Site are hoping to go out on the last week end of the month to K.O.R.C Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 Can't see why a older pre 300TDi backplate & cable [with the fork end] wouldn't fit/work, the transfer box is the same so the attachment bolts/holes should be the same as a older vehicle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 I would have thought that any Drum Braked Handbrake would have the same problem, be it from a 90, or a disco 200/300/v8 - they are pretty much all the same. The disc Brake is a really good solution to the problem, be it from x-eng or a home brew affair. Personally I have an x-brake and have never regretted it. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alantd Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 NOTE: if you do a search, you'll see you can get a discount from x-eng from this forum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 NOTE: if you do a search, you'll see you can get a discount from x-eng from this forum Got my X-brake through the forom link in SiR's signature. & I did a fitting write up that's in the tech archive, so fitting it should be dead easy too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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