Thread: EPB. Why?

2 second hose out after serious off-road work and it hasn’t played up once.

I don’t drive through mine to take off, preferring to release before moving (offroad I use the drive through functionality where needed).

I apply it first when stopping, ease the brake and then shift into Park... as people taught to drive correctly should...

And never “reefed” on the old style brake as all it does is stretch the cable.

As for Rovers old drum on transfer - I used it, but never trusted it.. seen way too many creep or take off..

I don't mind the EPB at all and treat it the same way as I've always done with manual handbrakes and as several others on here do. Stop the vehicle, move shifter into neutral keeping foot on brake, engage PEB and foot off brake. Allow vehicle to rest on EPB then move shifter into PARK.
Woman at work told me one day her Merc was making a horrid bang when she took it out of PARK and it was hard to move the shifter. I went out with her to have a look and she was one of those who never ever use the handbrake, just jams it into PARK, even on a slope like where she was parked. I showed her how to do it and she was amazed at how easy it was..... but complained it was confusing!!!
Actually many things about driving were confusing to her......
Another instance was with a bloke I know slightly, doesn't even allow the vehicle to stop completely before sticking it into PARK. Another Merc driver actually. Until one fine day he had to have it towed away because it had stuffed up the box and he couldn't get the thing out of PARK.
His loud mouthed comment was that the hand brake was 'irrelevant these days".... tosser.
I'm another who likes the emergency brake function of it as well. If anything happens to the driver it gives the passenger control and hopefully will avoid a serious accident.
AlanH.

Originally Posted by scarry

When the switch on mine decided to misbehave,i was left with no handbrake at all,nothing.Not good.

We had the opposite problem. It stuck on, a few km down the freeway the rear wheel started to shudder and we had to pull over and get the car towed. Not what you want as you're heading interstate.

Yes, the design is poor.

Just as disc brake pads raise a warning when they wear thin so the EPB should raise a warning when the travel becomes excessive within the mechanism that applies force to the park brake shoes prompting for a shoe adjustment. Over travel is why they jam on.

Originally Posted by Ferret

Yes, the design is poor.

Just as disc brake pads raise a warning when they wear thin so the EPB should raise a warning when the travel becomes excessive within the mechanism that applies force to the park brake shoes prompting for a shoe adjustment. Over travel is why they jam on.

Correct servicing and this never happens...

im new to EPB and have to admit i dont trust it 100%

Originally Posted by b0son

We had the opposite problem. It stuck on, a few km down the freeway the rear wheel started to shudder and we had to pull over and get the car towed. Not what you want as you're heading interstate.

I've had the rear left drum apply it self at speeds above 80kays, causing a rather violent shudder. Slow down and it went away.

Having adjusted it myself since I got it, it was about 15mins on the side of the road to adjust it and we were going again. It wasn't jammed on though. If it had jammed, and the manual release didn't work, then it would have been on a tow truck. But in my case, with some understanding of how the vehicle worked, it wasn't a show stopper.

Originally Posted by Tony V

Please correct me if i'm missing something.

A D3 or D4 if it had a drive shaft brake is likely only brake or lock one wheel on the front and one on the rear, but as the D3 and D4 center diff rarely locks up solid, so a drum handbrake may only work/brake on one rear wheel

First low range still works for down hill and HDC rarely over heats when in 1st low.

Actually, through using live values in my IID Tool, my D4 fully loads up the centre diff when shutting the vehicle down, and then unloads it once the engine is started again.