Parking brake

I noticed in the March Kit Car magazine that the Roaring Forties kit uses a Wilwood caliper of some sort for a parking brake. I recently talked to a tech at Wilwood, and he recomended against using their billet spot caliper in that application. Does anyone have any experience using the Wilwood caliper foe a parking brake, and what have been the results. I would also welcome suggestions for an alternative set up.

They have a mechanical spot that is commonly used as a parking brake.

Mechanical Spot Link...

Michael,

I asked my buddy with the Mark V what he did for a parking brake, he said "what parking brake, this is a race car"

The Mark V has a hand parking brake lever that acts directly on the brake pedal assembly. No cable going to the back and no extra mechanicals at the rear. A lot lighter and a lot less complicated.

It depends what you want. An emergency brake or a parking brake. Modern cars today have a parking brake, the backup in the system is accomplished by the separated hydraulics for front and rear or more typical recently the diagonal split.

The hand lever/mechanical system typically doesn't have enough power to stop very effectively with today's weight/speed/power.

The diagonal split hydraulics is better than the front/rear split because it always leaves you with at least one front brake (more power), although it complicates a brake balance adjustment.

One consideration to the Mark V system would be getting by those states that have a vehicle inspection. The wilwood techs hesitation is odd because the spot caliper is all they offer for an "emergency" brake. Maybe it doesn't meet DOT specs or something?

[ February 21, 2002: Message edited by: Kalun D ]

Looking at the parking brake unit in my kit it looks like it would be fine. It is light weight, small, and fits well. I don't think RF would use the thing if it wasn't applicable - I'm not wholeheartedly endorsing their engineering decisions but it looks good.

And, it would appear to be capable of more than just parking duties, it seems enough to use as a "backup" braking system - not a bad thing to have in case of primary failure as it is cable acuated.

Ron

The Wilwood caliper that is used on the Roaring Forties is designed to only be used as a parking brake and must be connected to a brake cable. I used this same parking brake in my Cobra and it was just fine. It must be adjusted correctly so that it does not drag on the rotor or is too loose. The correct adjustment is a fairly small window which would be my only concern.

Chris,
Interesting reading.
I work in a rally preparation company, and we are putting an Escort Cosworth World Rally Car through the S.V.A.
Normally, all the rally cars are fitted with hydraulic handbrakes, but our local S.V.A. tester tells us that it must be fitted with a cable operated handbrake.
How did you get your system through the S.V.A.?
Incidentally, I can usually offer discounts on any motorsport parts - Contact me on [email protected].
Geoff.

The hydraulic parking brake looks like the most siumple & effective system, but I *think* for a UK MOT, the hanbrake has to be *mechanical*...

I guess it depends how friendly your local MOT tester is!

Hi Guys

I missed the SVA by a couple of months and my MOT station is only concerned with the brake gauge reading. My car has had three
MOT tests to date.

Chris

[ February 21, 2002: Message edited by: Chris Melia ]

As with the SAV in the UK in Australia we have to use a cable operated park brake. Basically the hydraulic park brake is outlawed.

I had used the Willwood hand brake calliper before and found them very good except that there was a tendancy for them to stick on.

This I overcame with the design of a full floating support. The design is similar to that used with the Corvett brakes that are made here in Australia.

Best wishes,

Robert

Robert:
I am not familiar with the corvette brakes. Would you please give me a little more information on the floating mounting design you used.
Thanks, Michael

[ February 21, 2002: Message edited by: Michael ]

Hi all

I used Willwood caliper's but I also used a hydraulic hand brake as shown below. It works just fine and no extra caliper's or cables.
Original GT40 used a system that opperated the rear master cylinder at the pedal to hydraulicly lock the rear brakes for parking.

The 88-on Corvette caliper with integral emergency brake: