Driving with the handbrake on..

Highly unlikely.

Doubtful, but it might cause issues with the clutch.

How can anyone drive 5 miles with a handbrake on? Surely it'd be like hitting a wall when you let off the throttle ...

Jesus, what a mong.

Depnds how far on the handbrake is. On my DII it can be several clicks up and stop the car moving but you wouldn't really notice driving. Pull the handbrake on another click and yes the engine stalls...

Anyone ever having owned a Series or early Defender will grin at that!

They fill up with mud and oil, resulting in not much breaking effort. Hence, the popularity of the disk conversion kit.

DaveB

Disk conversion kit? Never heard of one. I use my handbrake to hold the Series back when I'm winching small trees out - with low transfer engaged, that's all I need as a rule. Handbrake is solid as, and this is after 43 years use by me

Karen

If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning.' Catherine Aird

The Series kit. There are versions for all types. Works well, is based on the mechanical caliper used on 3.5t+ dumpers and other plant and machinery.

Easy to fit, and realy does the job. Just *NEVER* apply it when the vehicle is still moving!

Has to be said, that the original drum handbrake is very good, when clean and dry. But here in the UK, that's rare!

Note though, that either brake acts on the propshaft, so the transfer box ratio will have no effect on braking effort, but you do need (on a series) the front wheel drive clutch engaged, or the difflock on later

90's, 110's, Disco's etc.

Regards.

DaveB

Yes, I just prefer to use the transfer lever to get into 4wd for this purpose. I'd need to use it anyway to get out of 4wd when I'm done, and that yellow lever requires a bit more effort to drive down to the floor (I can be lazy at times!)

Can't remember when I last got my handbrake drum wet - I used to wade the Series frequently when I lived in the UK in the last millennium :)

If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning.' Catherine Aird

Mine was fine .. ;)

There used to be a kit of parts, known as an "EasyShifter". I had one fitted to my LR in it's S3 days. I remember getting the kit of parts from behind a garage near Preston (I think) back in the late 80's/early

90's.

Relatively easy to fit (you needed to remove the front output housing and "re-arange" and remove some stuff inside.) It worked well, replacing the Red/Yellow controls, with one stick with a 'U' shaped gate.

H2 L4 | | | N | | H4 - H4

(Or a left/right mirror image of that.)

As a result, you could engage and more importantly disengage FWD on the move without needing to go into Low Range. Magic!

The only down side, was that it was not exactly oil-tight, even compared to a normal series box! With a bit of more creative engineering, it could have been perfect. Not that I was unhappy, as it made dragging trailers out of wet fields onto a road, so much easier.

I never met anyone else with one, or heard any more of them.

Anyone here remember that kit?

Regards.

DaveB.

I remember it as an article in a magazine - no mention of a kit then, purely a do-it-yourself modification.

As you suggest, there were some rough edges and I would have hoped that anyone making a kit might have done some tidying up. Seems not!

I thought that I'd made a copy of the article but, of course, can't find it!

Hi.

I eventualy found pictures of such a kit, on the Landrover UK forums.

can click on the link that brings up and view the thread (suprisingly recent too!) but you have to register to see the pics. If I had the engineering facilities back then, I'd have done the internal mods much the same, but grafted on the stick and selectors, similar to that on the top of the main box, on top of the front output housing, keeping it more or less liquid tight.

I have to say though, even as the rough kit, it worked very well, very slick to use, easy to get in and out of High Range 4WD, and still forced you into 4WD in Low Range.

It Would have made an excelent upgrade to have (still would I think on a series) if it was ever tidied up and productionised, possibley involving an exchange front output housing so it's done "right". Just my thoughts as an ex owner of one...

Regards All.

DaveB

My list of things to do one day includes an extension lever for the Hi/Low lever so I don't have to bend forward & down to reach that lever. Will require very little work, just need to look in my box of taps & dies for the required 7/16BSF tap & die to make an extension set, & some rod that I can shape to the appropriate shape.

Hi 4wd is not something I use much, unless I see a slippery bit coming up when I'm at speed, towing a trailer across the fields. If I get it wrong I've always got the capstan to get me out of trouble :)

If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning.' Catherine Aird

..........If I get it wrong I've always got the capstan to get me out of trouble :)

You must have better shear pins than I have, where do you get them from? Mine won't pull the proverbial rice pudding skin with brass pins, and solid steel caused the bollard pins to give, not a nice experience.

Gordon

The capstan was only rated for around 2500 lbf which falls within your rice pudding skin range of measure. The shear pin wasn't even considered up to being used with the starting starting handle!

If you want more pull you'll have to get out several pulleys or fit a different winch.

I make my own on a little Myford lathe. *slightly* larger diameter than the original.

And I keep one steel one handy for when I need to use the starting handle.

When I'm seriously stuck, I have an old crane hook I use to double up the power - or get the big Tirfor out.

If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning.' Catherine Aird

Thought it was 3000lb - not that 500lb makes a lot of difference.

If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning.' Catherine Aird

All useful info from folk, thanks. FYI my brass shear pins came from the chap who apparently bought all the original capstan parts and design data and rights. This was some 10 or more years ago. The pins are a visual copy of the pukka Landrover ones, for which my local dealer wanted =A325 each back then. Mr. Whoever it was sold me a pack of

10 for less than LR's cost for one.

These pins have a noticeable neck in two places, at the where shear points are. I have often wondered if the quality of the brass has an effect, and also if I replace them with solid brass will they still go before the bollard pins. I suspect the necking is too deep but have nothing to compare it with.

Gordon

I once visited the Mayflower (later Fairey Engineering) factory in Tavistock - they gave me a handfull of sheer pins of various diameters

*not for resale* - most were twice the metal of the official ones, plus a steel one for starting handle use. From this, I got the impression that there's a substantial safety margin in the sizing of the sheer pins.

I leave the engine just ticking over when I'm winching seriously - the engine will stall before anything breaks; that way I get away with leaving the steel pins in all the time. Sure, it's taking a risk ... but I've been doing this 40+ years & the bollard gears have never let go - yet!

If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning.' Catherine Aird