What about a handbrake upgrade?

[simpo two]

The Griff handbrake is legendary, its fame matched only by its ineffectiveness. As any owner knows, there's no convenient point between 'stillrollsbackwards' and 'needsbothhandstogetthebastardoff'.

Is it feasible to make some more detent stops? Or would it need a new unit? One for ModWise perhaps?

[david010167]

A damn fine suggestion. It would be nice to not worry that the car is going to roll away when you leave it parked somewhere.

David

[seasider]

Any problem with leaving it in gear

[K67 KRB]

Yeah, forgetting it is in gear, when you come back

[seasider]

i think the bible or handbook say's always depress crutch before starting:....

[Steve_T]

Spoke to Leven about this very topic re. the Chim'. As you can appreciate it's all the more important with all those golf clubs in there. Anyway, if enough of us would buy it from them I guess they might put a suitable kit together, but I don't know how many folks this would be to make it viable.

Steve.

[RichB]

A few things, the one on my S was worse so to me the Griff's handbrake 'aint too bad, the problem is made worse by mechanics who inadvetantly think they are doing right by tightening the cable, it needs to be able to click onto 3 notches. Rich...

[simpo two]

seasider said:

Any problem with leaving it in gear

No, it's just using a second tool because the first tool doesn't work properly. Better to have just one that works. (Oo er etc)

[Seasider]

simpo two said:

seasider said: Any problem with leaving it in gear No, it's just using a second tool because the first tool doesn't work properly. Better to have just one that works. (Oo er etc)

I've never trusted handbrake cables anyway although i've never had a first tool failure

[Steve_T]

seasider said:

Any problem with leaving it in gear

Actually a good idea to leave the car in gear with handbrake off if you've been making progress. The brakepads are a localised heat source and can damage the discs.

[joospeed]

the handbrakes work just fine .. what's the problem?

[simpo two]

joospeed said:

the handbrakes work just fine .. what's the problem?

#

OK, so you either made it better, you have a left arm like a stocking full of melons or you live in Holland....

[joospeed]

Not at all .. you just need to find a garage that knows what it's doing! It's a Ford caliper that can stop a 1450kg Sierra from rolling away, holding a 300kg lighter griff is no problem. If it doesn't work there's a fault, most likely your garage has been tightening the cable instead of slackening it off, if the caliper levers don't go back to thier rest stops you're never going to get them self-compensating for pad wear, plus the levers work at an unfavourable angle .. you really need at least 3 and preferably 4 clicks on the handbrake ratchet and noticeable free palym at the bottom of it's travel. If all this is correct then you have a caliper problem, if everything's free and set up correctly they're very very good.

[simpo two]

joospeed said:

Not at all .. you just need to find a garage that knows what it's doing! It's a Ford caliper that can stop a 1450kg Sierra from rolling away, holding a 300kg lighter griff is no problem. If it doesn't work there's a fault, most likely your garage has been tightening the cable instead of slackening it off, if the caliper levers don't go back to thier rest stops you're never going to get them self-compensating for pad wear, plus the levers work at an unfavourable angle .. you really need at least 3 and preferably 4 clicks on the handbrake ratchet and noticeable free palym at the bottom of it's travel. If all this is correct then you have a caliper problem, if everything's free and set up correctly they're very very good.

Not coming through Essex by any chance are you...?

[shpub]

joospeed said:

the handbrakes work just fine .. what's the problem?

There isn't one Joolz..... Mine has been fine. All a question of adjusting it correctly as you have stated on many occassions and also covered in the bible.

[simpo two]

Obviously you guys know more about it than any TVR dealer or independent that I've ever heard of! Put simply, the clicks seem twice as far apart as they are in any other car. It might be the luck of the draw, but there isn't a click in the right place.

[RichB]

RichB said:

...the problem is made worse by mechanics who inadvetantly think they are doing right by tightening the cable Rich...

As I also said, a while back Rich...

[rude girl]

simpo two said:

Obviously you guys know more about it than any TVR dealer or independent that I've ever heard of!

They're right though. The handbrake on my old Chimaera wouldn't have held a Tonka truck (a bit of a handicap when your drive has a gradient more suited to a ski jump, as mine has), but it was fine once Joolz had adjusted it. Maybe the difference is that some garages make an adjustment and hope that'll do the trick. When he did mine, Joolz adjusted, then checked it and readjusted it until it was right.

[simpo two]

And yet when I had the misfortune to drive a Tesco recently the handbrake action was lovely! Does the Tesco have a different mechanism or was it simply properly adjusted?

[jam1et]

I must admit my wife often complains about having to use two hands to yank on it!