Mark Posted December 22, 2005 Share Posted December 22, 2005 (edited) Hello All, Just thought I would share some info on fitting a Disc Handbrake to a 200 TDI 3 Door Disco... Firsly, I got the kit form Simon and X-Eng (simonr) who warned me that this version had yet to be fitted to a disco and that I was the guinea pig for it! So, to make it easy for my self I chose to do it in the dark sometime around tea time! The old handbrake was completely non-functional. I don't know why precisesly, but I have had the drum handbrake apart on on various other vehicle enough time to know that I didn't want the hassle any more, hence the disc kit for my new motor. The old stuff came off fairly easily. I completely reomved the bracketry from the old actuating lever from the side of the box too. There were a couple of modifications I made to the caliper before I fitted it, since I was basically fitting this 90 degrees round from the normal mounting point. Si says he will carry out these modifications for anyone ordering a kit specifically for their disco. The new X-brake design has a backplate that can be fitted in several positions, once I found the one that cleared the floor, and the holes, lined up we were away. The rest of the fitting was pretty straight forward up to the point where I had to fit the cable retention bracket. The new bracket has been designed to be fitted in several orientations, but Simon had already said that this may need some modification, as there is not an awful lot of space under there. I also modified the heat shield for the exhaust a little. The pictures below give a couple of views of how it ended up: Overall, I am really happy with the kit. The vehicle now holds on my ramps and I am confident to leave it there now. I havn't tried it on the road yet, as I still have a few more holes in sills to patch up before I can get an MoT... Thought it might interest one or two people on here. Cheers Mark Edited December 22, 2005 by Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Posted December 27, 2005 Share Posted December 27, 2005 looks good. i'd heard of them but yet to see one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco_Mikey Posted January 1, 2006 Share Posted January 1, 2006 I thought that having the shoes/drum would have had a bigger surface area, and would have been better? And how long is it gonna take for that disc to get all corroded and rusty!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bush65 Posted January 1, 2006 Share Posted January 1, 2006 I thought that having the shoes/drum would have had a bigger surface area, and would have been better? And how long is it gonna take for that disc to get all corroded and rusty!? Increased surface area does not equate to better braking! It is about torque, which is force times radius. The friction force between the brake linings and the drum/disc and the radius of the drum (or mean radius of the disc brake pads). Brake lining area does not affect the friction force, but contamination (mud, oil etc) of the linings does. Brake lining area does affect the wear rate. In clean conditions, this is a factor of the pressure (between the brake linings and drum/disc), the sliding velocity between the lining and the drum/disc brake lining and the lining material (manufactures quote PV (pressure times velocity) for brake and clutch linings). Increasing area, reduces the pressure and reduces the wear rate. Changing the material for one with a higher PV rating will also reduce the wear rate. Will the X-brake wear rate be too high compared to a stock handbrake? I can't see that this is an issue, given that the sliding velocity is zero while stationary. For emergency brake use (much less frequent), it depends what the PV rating for the pad material - the manufacturer of the caliper should have considered this and has no doubt chosen something suitable. Regarding corrosion and rusting. The light rubbing between the pads and disc will probably remove any rust, as it does with disc service brakes. I note that you never balanced any of your comments by raising issues with the stock handbrake, nor the considerable R&D and experiences form those who have used this product. For the record, I have fitted an X-Brake to my rangie, which has an LT230 with Maxi-drive hydraulic PTO. Rangies have less clearance than defenders, but in my case the X-brake just cleared the transmission tunnel because I have a 2-1/2" body lift. For a rangie without a body lift and PTO, the X-Brake should fit with the caliper mounted like shown in the pics above. Mark, I see you attached the cable to the middle hole on the actuating lever - did you have an issue with using the end hole? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted January 1, 2006 Author Share Posted January 1, 2006 Mark, I see you attached the cable to the middle hole on the actuating lever - did you have an issue with using the end hole? I attached the cable to the centre hole just to keep the cable-pull as straight as possible. it seemed to help to get it to line up with the small gap between the heatshield and the floor. I can't see why the disc would rust any more than the wheel brakes. In practice it dosn't seem to matter. Both Paul Wightman and Simon Rafferty (simonr/Big Si) have run similarly based disc brakes for several years without problems with the disc rusting. Cheers Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffg Posted January 8, 2006 Share Posted January 8, 2006 Hi You could coat it in coppaslip to stop it rusting TAXI Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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