NT wrote:
On Oct 8, 9:28 am, "Dave Plowman (News)" wrote:
In article
,
harry wrote:



It's quite common on vehicles over here for there to be no handbrake;
instead they have a ratcheting foot-pedal to operate the parking brake
mechanism, with a handle (typically on the dash just above the pedal)
that then has to be pulled to disengage again. My elderly Ford has
one, so the design's been around for over 40 years.
I'm not sure how unique to the US that setup is, or - more importantly
- what the logic is for it vs. a normal handbrake between the front
seats*, but I've never risked trying to operate it whilst moving. I
suspect it'd all get ugly pretty easily :-)
* except that the Ford has a bench seat, so there's no "between";
perhaps it's just left over from days when such seats in vehicles were
common, but handbrakes became common on vehicles elsewhere in the
world?
cheers
Jules
In the UK, handbrakes have always had to be indepenednt which would
preclude such things.
Foot pedal operated parking brakes are legal in the UK. Some M-B use them.
And 'independant' is a large variable. Most share parts with the footbrake
- drums or discs and pads and shoes - and many older a great deal more.
The Austin 7 for example had the handbrake operate on the actual footbrake
mechanism.

IIRC, the requirements for a handbrake efficiency have changed since most
cars now have dual circuit brakes, so it is now only a parking brake
rather than that plus an emergency one.

Yes, they've dropped to the point of being useless to stop a car.
Someone somewhere must have naively believed the idea that dual
circuits brakes dont fail if one circuit leaks. I can assure you they
do.


Even back in the 70's they were not that great..

I drove my (heavily modified) Triumph spitfire back from Oxford to
Cambridge after the pipe connecting the (Ford Granada) brake servo
fractured..

Engine braking alone and massive yanks on the handbrake rendered it
feasible..but it was nightmare..I dared not drive fast, and people with
better brakes would overtake, cut in to the massive 5 car length gap I
had to leave, and slam on their anchors..

I am sure it was illegal, but I had not the money to get it trailered
home in those days.


NT