Quote:
Originally Posted by motto
In regards to the effectiveness (or not) of the Jeep handbrake. I have a friend who many years ago determined to get his to work 'as it should'. He carried out the adjustments and did in fact get the thing to work quite well. That evening we got in the vehicle to attend a club meeting and had only gone a couple of miles before flames were noticed coming up from under the floor around the levers. His response was quite impressive. We came to an immediate halt and as we exited the vehicle he was already removing his jumper which he then used to beat out the flames. My response was equally impressive, I couldn't stop laughing at the sight.
David
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This made me smile, been there done that, I can't think any one who has owned a jeep hasn't had a similar experience.
Basically its a design fault in that the activating cam levers on the band are not long enough to enable sufficient leverage to be applied by an out of the dash handle. It would be a whole lot better with a conventional hand brake lever through the floor as I think from memory GP’s had.
There are four actions that can be taken to help this poor design
1. Ensure the transfer case output shaft has an effective oil seal, obvious but often over looked resulting in oil collecting in he bottom of the brake drum on standing only to then contaminate the lining.
2. Ensure the drum is true so many originals are dished ridged or distorted by heat and contaminated linings this results in the already meagre braking surface being reduced by as much as 50%. Truing up on the lath is possible if the ware is not too bad, these days it should not be difficult to obtain a replacement.
3. Check the profile of the activating cam levers these can ware down so that the already poor mechanical advantage at this fulcrum point is further reduced. Take the brake apart and build up with the mig then grind to re-profile or alternately get new repro parts
4. Fit a new cable ensuring that the curve down the fire wall is a gradual as you can make it and that the path to the hand brake is a straight and direct a possible to minimise friction, is worthwhile running a little oil down the cable before fitting
Done collectively these actions will improve the overall effectiveness of the transmission brake from B#### woeful to just acceptable, here in the UK a lot of the jeeps that tow trailers have been converted to the M38 expanding shoe brake something I have not had experience with.
The jeep was undoubtedly revolutionary in terms of design and functionality but like all things in life it was not perfect and the hand brake is a case in point.
Pete