hydraulic handbrake

[nm1]

does any1 have them fitted to there cars

i like to drift my sport but my handbrake is crap and all the jap boys have them any advice would be greatly accepted

[fuzzy]

are they still illegal on road cars? im sure they used to be.

[nm1]

excuse my ignorance but why are they illegal?

[fuzzy]

ive no idea, im sure i read that they are . i could be wrong.

[nm1]

you could be right i have never seen one on a road car before

[fuzzy]

a quick look on google says a mechanical handbrake is required for an mot pass.

[Elecblondie]

Most road rally cars run with a hydraulic handbrake. You can plumb it in line on the solid brake line to the rear thanks to the front rear split on the e30 . As long as you have a mechanical handbrake it's legal.

[benjy]

Hydraulic handbrakes are illegal for road use. In case they lose pressure apparently. Hence the mechanical systems
Elecblondie is spot on, as long as you have the mechanical one for "on road" use you fine.
HTH

[Benho]

Hydraulic handbrakes are illegal for road use. In case they lose pressure apparently. Hence the mechanical systems
Elecblondie is spot on, as long as you have the mechanical one for "on road" use you fine.
HTH

i wonder how many MOT centres will actually check the handbrake tho. how often do they fail cars on hydraulic handbrakes is what ill like to know

[GuyM]

i have one in my track (road legal) car next to the normal handbrake.
you can have it if you like........ if you are any good a rerouting brake pipes....as i want my abs removed so if you are handy with the spanners in the brake dept and can route my pipes direct from the servo you can have the hydralic handbrake (and the abs system if you want it) for free.
i am in watford, herts

[Elecblondie]

Hydraulic handbrakes are illegal for road use. In case they lose pressure apparently. Hence the mechanical systems
Elecblondie is spot on, as long as you have the mechanical one for "on road" use you fine.
HTH

i wonder how many MOT centres will actually check the handbrake tho. how often do they fail cars on hydraulic handbrakes is what ill like to know

People in my motor club used to get pulled up on it, they added the hydraulic handbrake by welding in a bracket and connecting a generic master cylinder to the standard lever. They'd then slacken off the cable so it was ineffective. I think people tend to try it on a little less these days, I've not heard of anyone recently putting a car in for test without a mechanically operated handbrake.

[luxy]

I also run a hydraulic handbrake on my E30 318is. I have retained the mechanical activation to the 'drum' element of the brake and just cut into the rear brake line fitting the feed side to the handbrake hydraulic cylinder the output from which goes to complete the curcuit, this retains a fairly stock look other than brake cylinder sitting at the end of the handbrake lever and avoids extra levers. I've had no trouble getting it through MOT's and it works well!
Luxy