George Collings Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 Hair splitting time. The pass rate for the parking brake on a vehicle with split circuit braking is 16%. If its single circuit 25%.. If engine run-away really worries you perhaps the possibility of fitting the explosive bits of an air bag to split the rubber pipe twixt turbo and the inlet manifold could be investigated. If you are really into gadgets it could be voice command triggered. The words " Stop you B*******" might be appropriate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
armstrongpiper Posted March 18, 2015 Author Share Posted March 18, 2015 George - At last, a good practical solution!! It may be, though, a little high tech and liable to inadvertent deployment by pressing the wrong button. How about achieving the same effect by incorporating zips in the connecting pipe, with a piece of string leading into the cab to be pulled in an emergency. Neil B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 Tracker - 2015-03-17 10:03 PM colin - 2015-03-17 9:23 PM My four year old x2/50 only just scraped a pass on handbrake last week. So did mine last year! Confidence inspiring innit!!! That explains why I see so many campers now days using chocks when parked on leveling blocks ;-) ....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 pelmetman - 2015-03-18 8:56 AM That explains why I see so many campers now days using chocks when parked on leveling blocks ;-) ....... The handbrake holds on any gradient - including alpine ones - it just does not slow the van very much and as a secondary back up brake is next to useless - quite apart from needing a hand to use it at a time when maybe two hands and full concentration would be needed elsewhere! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
euroserv Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 These are separate issues and not part of the original topic but since they are being raised I would add the following..... The point about pulling the handbrake on hard should have been preceded by 'when stationary'. The handbrake on a Ducato will easily hold a vehicle if applied when it is not moving. Most would pass an MOT every time if this was all that the test checked but since it also requires the handbrake to retard the vehicle significantly when it is moving; not so much. The design of a hand brake that has shoes inside a drum while the service brake is by discs outside that drum is perfectly alright as long as it is only applied when the vehicle is stationary. As it is applied the shoes are pushed out to meet the drum and once they are in place they are pretty much locked and the whole surface of the shoe is in contact with the drum. If the shoes are pushed out against a rotating drum there will be an initial contact followed by a turning force which will twist the various springs and levers so that only the leading edges of the shoes are actually making good contact. Damage can be caused to these components. This is not a problem limited to Fiat; many manufacturers use inboard drums as handbrakes and I had many Vauxhall cars over the years that did but this does not in any way alter the fact that it is a stupid idea if the same system is to be relied upon in an emergency when your hydraulic system has failed. It's worth noting that systems that use hydraulic rear calipers and cables to operate the calipers as well for a hand brake are also notoriously rubbish and in most cases the cables become so stretched that they are not effective over time and they fail MOT's too. To counter any criticism of these designs, manufacturers refer to the devices as 'parking brakes' and not 'emergency brakes'. Anyone that thinks that they will have any hope of stopping a large vehicle that is running away down a hill any time soon using a hand brake lever is delusional. The MOT test is equally stupid. Hydraulic brake failure is a very bad thing. Good and regular maintenance prevents it. Heavy goods vehicles have air brakes that are engaged until there is air to release them. This is much safer. Some also have hydraulic circuits (Air over hydraulic) and this introduces potential risks but is still safer than cable operated drums! I did not design this. I did not specify the MOT test procedures. I don't really have an answer. Please don't shoot me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 euroserv - 2015-03-18 12:31 PM........................I did not design this. I did not specify the MOT test procedures. I don't really have an answer. Please don't shoot me. :-D :-D :-D :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 Brian Kirby - 2015-03-18 1:21 PM euroserv - 2015-03-18 12:31 PM........................I did not design this. I did not specify the MOT test procedures. I don't really have an answer. Please don't shoot me. :-D :-D :-D :-D "Please don't shoot me." I reckon Nick's quite safe at the moment ;-) ....... BTW Nick what are your views on Aires, Wild camping or A Frames? :D........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muswell Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 Talking of hand-brakes, a friend parked her newly acquired Fiat 500 on an incline without leaving it in gear. Maybe 10 minutes later there was a knock on the door and we were asked if anyone owned a Fiat 500 because it had just rolled away into a wall. She had suffered from the hot discs cooling and shrinking. The garage down the road said it was a well-known problem with handbrakes operating on discs; pull it on hard and leave it in gear...as the handbook and Highway code say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rolandrat Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 A good point, although I've never had a turbo blow on an Auto Ducato it is a Robotic clutch gearbox and I would have thought that maybe a quick flick to the left on the lever to select manual mode might do the trick or the computer might reject the command. I wouldn't recommend a trial run either it might end up being very costly. I have had the experience of a turbo blowing in an ERF tractor unit that had a Rolls Royce Eagle fitted and the explosion was deafening plus the blue smoke blotted out all the daylight. I managed to stop the engine straight away. It was taken to a garage on a suspended axle lift tow. Fortunately apart from the turbo being destroyed once a new one was fitted it ran perfect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peter Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 pelmetman - 2015-03-18 2:03 PM Brian Kirby - 2015-03-18 1:21 PM euroserv - 2015-03-18 12:31 PM........................I did not design this. I did not specify the MOT test procedures. I don't really have an answer. Please don't shoot me. :-D :-D :-D :-D "Please don't shoot me." I reckon Nick's quite safe at the moment ;-) ....... BTW Nick what are your views on Aires, Wild camping or A Frames? :D........ You forgot Dogging, Dave. (lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
euroserv Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 As long as what you do does not embarrass, inconvenience or harm the local environment in any way and you clear up after you; I don't care. That sums up my views about Aires, Wildcamping and Dogging. If you need to drag a car behind you I think you should have bought a caravan in the first place. You did ask......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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