Steve
Will a hydraulic handbrake make it through an MOT?
Not legal for road use, I'm afraid
A question that has been bugging me, is how some of the new car get there handbrakes throught the MOT, don't know how they work, but more an
more cars now just have a button for the handbrake.
Anyone know how they work.
One the comes to mind is the new VW Passat, it has a switch next to the steering wheel to switch the handbrake on and off.
Dont they use hydraulic handbrakes on rally cars? I think rally cars are road legal so why wont they pass an MOT?
they usually have two handbrakes, or they gently "nudge" the tester past that part...
Steve
quote:
Originally posted by speedyxjs
Dont they use hydraulic handbrakes on rally cars? I think rally cars are road legal so why wont they pass an MOT?
I would guess they have an electric handbrake
http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/viewthread.php?tid=62981
They do pass MoT, they don't pass SVA.
They had them on the Mk1 Cortina & rally Escorts amongst others.
Perfectly legal for road use providing it meets the braking ability crieria.
On their own they don't pass MOT. You can IIRC have a mechanical handbrake as well.... so you could have a normal electrical brake and a golf-umbrella type one on the dash for the mechanical one (for the MOT)....
MMM grey area. IIRC
Had A Hydaulic parking brake on the off road buggy ( Road legal )
Had two testers arguing for 15 minutes. It passed but only after much flicking through the MOT manual.
REgards
Agriv8
quote:
Originally posted by russbost
They do pass MoT, they don't pass SVA.
They had them on the Mk1 Cortina & rally Escorts amongst others.
Perfectly legal for road use providing it meets the braking ability crieria.
In days of the Works Escorts when Roger Albert was a lad a letter to Ford from the Cheif constable of Essex was reported in 'Motoring News'
in which he warned Ford about their illegal use of hydraulic handbrakes on their competition cars.
As I understand it the construction and use regulations required that handbrakes to be mechanically operated. This regulation may well have been a
hang over from earlier days of motoring.
However, unless a hydraulic system has some form of stored energy in it cooling brakes can lead to an ineffective handbrake due to cooling
contraction.
A fudge for scutineering was to use the hydraulic actuation in conjunction with a cable fixed to the ears of rear disc brake pads. And if the cable
was slackish only the hydraulic bit was effective.
Mal
Gonna have to check the manual on this one! Could have sworn they USED to be MoT compliant (I don't test regularly anymore) & it's very
unusual for Vosa to remove something which was standard equipment on some (admittedly SVO) vehicles.
I know the reason they don't like them is that if you get a slightly leaky cylinder the handbrake can go on & work perfectly - come back an
hour later & your car is at the bottom of the hill! 
[Edited on 11/7/07 by russbost]
quote:
Originally posted by phoenix70
One the comes to mind is the new VW Passat, it has a switch next to the steering wheel to switch the handbrake on and off.
The rally boys simply leave the handbrake cable attached to the drums/calipers for MOT purposes, though it's usualy slackened off enough that it contributes virtualy nothing to the braking effort.
From an on-line MOT manual
quote:
Hydraulic parking brakes as a sole means of operation are not acceptable on vehicles first used on or after 1 January 1968. However, they may be used to assist the application or release of a mechanical brake.
"Hydraulic parking brakes as a sole means of operation are not acceptable on vehicles first used on or after 1 January 1968. However, they may be
used to assist the application or release of a mechanical brake. "In which case I was right! They are road legal - just not if built/registered
after 1968!
what year is assumed if you're on a Q plate? 
I was told that you have to have two independant braking systems. pedal and handbrake, if you fitted seperate calipers to the rear then piped them to
the handbrake that was legal,
tony
Q plates assume a year of 1971 believe it or not, except for emissions which is 1975 IIRC
Right here goes this is my pet subject.
Hydraulic handbrakes are not legal for MOt or SVA as they can lose pressure over a period of time and if you leave your car on a hill for a month you
may find it at the bottom.
The VW Passat handbrake cannot be pulled on at speed, only below about 15mph as I have one and have tried it out many times! ALthough 15mph is neck
breaking!
Rally lads tend to do a fiddle by drilling the rear pads and passing through two bike brake cables, they then just fasten them to the back of the
handbrake to make it look as though it should work. Most Mot testers seem to be sympathetic to these guys.
The reason why the electric handbrakes are legal is that they still use conventional cables they just use the linear worm drive to pull the cable. I
was told at the SVA that it was fine as long as it could be pulled on without the ignition but it needed the ignition on to take it off.
Steve
SO how do fly-off handbrakes of Morgan variety work when not hydraulic?
And where can I get one?
quote:
Originally posted by edspurrier
SO how do fly-off handbrakes of Morgan variety work when not hydraulic?
And where can I get one?
quote:
Originally posted by rusty nuts
quote:
Originally posted by edspurrier
SO how do fly-off handbrakes of Morgan variety work when not hydraulic?
And where can I get one?
Fly off handbrakes normally release without having to press the button on the end of the handbrake lever . To set the lever the button has to be pressed. Works on the pawl part of the ratchet system not hydraulics.