Thread: 6 cylinder brakes. Worthwhile improvement?

Hello from Brisbane.

For modern traffic conditions the brakes on Series Land Rovers are only just passable (for that matter this applies to any 1970s vehicle). So, if the option is a free choice between 2.5" and 3.0" shoes then go for the latter. This is the arrangement on my S3 88".

However, having said that, with wrecked County, Defenders etc now being quite common the better option is probably to go for a disc brake conversion based on genuine LR discs, pads etc with the appropriate swivel adaptor kits.

Really depends a lot on where you plan to drive.

Cheers,

Originally Posted by S3ute

However, having said that, with wrecked County, Defenders etc now being quite common the better option is probably to go for a disc brake conversion based on genuine LR discs, pads etc with the appropriate swivel adaptor kits.

This is true, and only this morning I was looking at the Zeus disc brake conversion. My concern is the legalities. From what I can see, the 6 cylinder brakes were fitted to the Series III and therefore are an acceptable replacement with no "paperwork". The Zeus kit, however, most certainly requires engineering approval, a process that involves (the last time I enquired) the outlay of at least $1500 and a fair amount of effort - and that was for mud tyres on a Prado that were about 10mm above the NSW legal (+15mm) increase in diameter, so who knows what they'd charge to approve after-market brakes!

So the question becomes whether a County is a sufficiently close relative of a SIII to be viewed as a legitimate "paperwork free" retrofit?

Having said that, it is an option I haven't investigated! Are there any details that you can link to, or companies that supply the necessary swivel adaptor parts?

Edit:
Actually, on reflection I'm not sure it's worth moving to disks. They're self adjusting, and resist fade better, but I'm not sure that they offer more stopping power than well adjusted drums and seem to involve a lot of money and effort. My SIII isn't a fast vehicle, nor do I drive it aggressively, so brake fade would only be an issue on long steep descents and for the small number of them (on road) I'm happy with a low gear. So I think I'll go with the 6 cylinder drums!!

I'd go with the six cylinder brakes - after all, they were fitted to all late lwb Series 3.

Disc brakes are certainly better and one of the members here (Cookey, if I remember rightly) has built his own conversion, currently being tested in actual use before commercialising it.

But while the improvement is undoubted, especially in regard to maintenance, they will not be cheap, because of the amount of development work needed, including getting generic approval, as I believe he is doing.

john

I'd imagine that getting a blanket approval would indeed be an expensive process. Additionally, if it's anything like the ARB GVM upgrades, there may well be a requirement for it to be "professionally fitted" rather than DIY anyway. On the other hand, such approval would remove a vast amount of time, effort and cost for everyone fitting it, and that would be worth paying for - if I knew that individual approval would cost me $1500, then I'd happily pay that same $1500 to NOT have to have it individually approved!