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X-Eng Brake for Discovery


streaky

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Billing's looming fast and I'm coming over to the UK to do some shopping.

Top of the list is a X-Brake for the Disco. Series I. R380 V8.

Has anyone fitted one to theirs? Anything to report? Do I need to purchase anything else to fit one or does the kit contain everything?

If all feedback is good then I'll be asking Simon to reserve me one and I'll collect from the stand.(assuming X-Eng have a stand at Billing this year?)

Thx all.

S.

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I was hoping for a non-biased report actually.

There's no doubting Si's enthusiasm and product knowledge and I'm sure he would also be happy to hear what his customers have to say about their purchases.

So....who's fitted one then or am I the first?

Thx.

S.

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I have one on my Disco, but it's a 200 TDI with an LT77/LT230 combination. I suspect though that it won't be too far different.

Biggest Issue on the disco is space - the floor comes down about where you need to work. and may need a little adjustment. Also the heatshield may need a little clearencing.

In use it is excellent, fitting is easy, and provided you have a cable with the forked end already, everything is included in the bits simon supplies. If not, then he can supply a new handbrake cable too. Fitting is easy - removing the old handbrake probably takes longer.

Only thing to be careful of is to make sure you adjust it so the caliper pads cannot rub on the disc. It is quite a fine adjustment, as too far away and there isn't enough travel on the lever to pull it fully on, and too little and the pads rub. If the pads do rub, there is a tendancy for the pads to come loose from the caliper. This dosn't affect operation but it rattles, and wears the pads prematurely. They are pretty easy to stick back in with a bit of silicone though.

This is what it looks like fitted...

fitted.jpg

hth

Mark

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Hi all, what is this thing and what are it's advantages over the std unit.

Any comments please,

Cheers

Dave

Easy to fit

Works well - much better than the standard unit

No cleaning drum out

Easy to adjust

All round much better than the original

BTW I have no connection with X Eng other than I brought one 2-3 years ago and never looked back or regretted !

Steve

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Dave, have a look here for more details...

Essentially, I use my disco off road in muddy situations. The standard drum brake tends to fill up with mud and rubbish which not only wears the pads down, but also prevents the mechaism working properly. Rather than having to clean out the handbrake after every trip, I fitted the disc version as it dosn't collect the rubbish in the first place - one it is fitted and initial adjustment is done, you can pretty much forget about it.

I believe it offers better braking than the standard unit too, but my main motivation was to get a handbrake that worked in muddy situations and stayed working, rather than not working and then needing constant attention...

hth

Mark

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I have one on my defender and I must say its brilliant compared with the original you dont need to worry parking it on a hill after its got wet or muddy. Im glad someone mentioned about the rattle......i have a very annoying rattle at the moment which untill now i havent had a clue where from. Ive stripped the front axle and numerous other jobs so will be very happy if it turns out to be loose pads! well happy and annoyed ^_^

Dave.

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Oh you wnat negative feedback for the X Brake then. :)

Righy Ho then heres mine.

I bought one, seemed well packaged at least

on opening I was dissappointed to find it was absolutely complete

Oh and with exellent instructions as to how to fit it.

The quality initally seemed superb,

and I doubted it would fit properly without being "Fettled",

...it didn't .....it fitted perfectly :(,

Next I expected it to not work as well as others said,

it didn't...... it worked better than others have said. :(

However,

After nearly 2 years of abuse use I attended the SLRC DRD at Dec at Slab 2007.

The brake pads in the 90 were all brand spanking new,

I drove around most of the day, and parked up here and there.

Handbrake worked all day in dreadfull gloop

At the end of the event I drove home and worked out that I had worn out an entire set of brand new mintex pads. :(

After pressure washing the 90 I noticed the X Brake now had 4 'clicks' before it worked rather than the '3' for the last 2 years,

as a result I had to take 2 spanners and adjust the cable but adjusting the adjuster nut a WHOLE TURN :(

Shows what a complete F lash up it is :unsure:

:rofl:

Best thing you can buy if you'd like a working handbrake as opposed to the standard "Display only do not use" Factory fitted one :)

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Oh you wnat negative feedback for the X Brake then. :)

Righy Ho then heres mine.

I bought one, seemed well packaged at least

on opening I was dissappointed to find it was absolutely complete

Oh and with exellent instructions as to how to fit it.

The quality initally seemed superb,

and I doubted it would fit properly without being "Fettled",

...it didn't .....it fitted perfectly :(,

Next I expected it to not work as well as others said,

it didn't...... it worked better than others have said. :(

However,

After nearly 2 years of abuse use I attended the SLRC DRD at Dec at Slab 2007.

The brake pads in the 90 were all brand spanking new,

I drove around most of the day, and parked up here and there.

Handbrake worked all day in dreadfull gloop

At the end of the event I drove home and worked out that I had worn out an entire set of brand new mintex pads. :(

After pressure washing the 90 I noticed the X Brake now had 4 'clicks' before it worked rather than the '3' for the last 2 years,

as a result I had to take 2 spanners and adjust the cable but adjusting the adjuster nut a WHOLE TURN :(

Shows what a complete F lash up it is :unsure:

:rofl:

Best thing you can buy if you'd like a working handbrake as opposed to the standard "Display only do not use" Factory fitted one :)

Nige

You have such a good way with words ! :lol:

Steve ;)

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  • 5 months later...

The transfer box was removed today...so I thought that this would be the best time for the workshop to fit the Brake that I purchased earlier in the year.

I got a call from them this afternoon saying that they need to cut part of the floor panel to get the brake to fit. WTF!

Has anyone had to do this?

I've not been to see the problem yet for myself but my guy knows a fair bit about Rovers, Engineering etc so I'm inclined to believe him.

Thx.

S.

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Yeah, I had to 'adjust' the seam where the floor joins at the end of the transmission tunnel in order to fit my x-brake. You can't see it very well, but it is just a bit of clearence to get the caliper to fit:

fitted2.jpg

hth

Mark

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Our mechanics took a while to fit one to a 200Tdi Defender. They seemed a bit bemused by the instructions. What we need is, maybe, instructions in Zulu. Though there's no guarantee they can read that either ;)

The owner is really pleased to have a handbrake that works after all these years.

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Thanks Mark.....I've posted a link of your comments to my workshop and then followed up with a phone call.

The response from Gordon was.... "45 minutes to fit....my arse"...he's Scotish!

Apparently the fit between one of the caliper fixing bolts and part of the panel work is rubbing.....a 2lb 'adjuster' will be needed to resolve the issue.

Thanks again.

S.

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Originally I re-drilled the back plate to allow clearance on the top bolt as I did not have the time or facilities to alter the floor without removing the transfer box.

However when I had to replace the main gearbox and transferbox,I (well actually Mike) used a 4Lb adjuster to get the bolt to clear on mine :ph34r: .

No problems since.

Pete.

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When i fitted mine, it cleared, however, i get an annoying clonk sometimes when i start the truck, one day i'll take it off and find that persuader..... ie, hammer!!!

Works well though..... although to be honest, i'm not keen on the fact that the intrusctions say.....'not designed to be winched against'........ so, basically whenever you use your own truck to recover someone else, you need to be sat in the truck, with your foot on the footbrake, not stood in front of the truck operating the winch..... fine if there are two of you, but not ideal if you're on your own....

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Actually, yeah, after having fitting and removing mine a few times (for several reasons - none of which to do with the x-brake I might add) I can fit it in about 20 minutes.... obviously, removing the old stuff would take extra time had I not already done it!

:ph34r:

Mark

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Can anybody honestly say they have fitted an x brake in 45 mins?

It doesn't count if you have a 4 post lift and all the tools to hand.

It took me longer than that to work out exactly how to fit a '200' handbrake, to my '300'...... had to drill a fresh hole through the tunnel.... and source a 200 cable the right length..... you wouldn't believe how much they vary........

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This X-Brake has caused me more grief.

I purchased the brake earlier this year but never got around to fitting it. When I was at Billing I went to the X-Eng stand and purchased the reccomended 200Tdi cable to complete the instalation. I made it crystal clear that my vehicle is a 300 series LHD V8 Discovery with R380 box etc.

Perhaps there is are different versions of a 200 Tdi cable because the one I purchased from X-Eng will not fit without first having it modified and making extra brackets etc.

I'm not 100% certain of the problem yet because I haven't seen the car, but Gordon called me yesterday to say that they needed to make extra brackets etc to support the cable and make it fit through the floor.

So on top of the purchase price for the X-Brake I have had to pay my work shop an extra 125 quid to take out the center console, make a bracket, faff around with 2lb hammers on the floor seam that was interferring with the mountings etc.

It doesn't say anything about this in the instructions for the 'export' version.

I'd donate my left nut to science if anyone can fit one of these things to a Discovery from scratch in 45 minutes.

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