Hi, the handbrake on my 300tdi is rubbish. I think it is mainly due to the odd drip of oil from the transfer box eventually building up and ruining the pads. I even changed the output flange and seals on the transfer box but it didn't take long for the problem to return and I'm fed up with dropping the prop to clean the pads up. I'm now thinking about buying an X-Eng disk brake, it's only the cost which is making me hesitate. Does anybody have any experience of the X-eng brake and should it provide long term fit and forget solution ??
thanks

Bobs110 said:

Hi, the handbrake on my 300tdi is rubbish. I think it is mainly due to the odd drip of oil from the transfer box eventually building up and ruining the pads. I even changed the output flange and seals on the transfer box but it didn't take long for the problem to return and I'm fed up with dropping the prop to clean the pads up. I'm now thinking about buying an X-Eng disk brake, it's only the cost which is making me hesitate. Does anybody have any experience of the X-eng brake and should it provide long term fit and forget solution ??
thanks

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Might sound a bit daft, but if ye've got an oil leak that's gettin' on tae yer shoes... what's to stop it gettin' onto yer disk and knackerin' yer pads?? It sounds to me like ye've got a problem with yer seal or maybe summit that's causin' yer seal to fail

Just another thought... Is there much oil along yer gearbox comin' from the front? It might be that yer front T/B seal has gone and the oil runnin' backwards and into the drum?

Thanks for reply buster. I suppose it did cross my mind that oil could also contaminate the X-Eng pads also, but I thought perhaps cause the pads were postioned slightly differently and unable to "collect" oil so that the problem may not occur as it does in the drum brake. I know it seems a bit deafeatest to not fix the leak, but the word leak is a bit strong, it really is just a drip now and again and it collects in the drum - I've never had to top up the oil in the TF box from one oil change to another. The leak is definately from the TF box rear output and after changing the flange, seal and bearing, etc, I'm not sure what else I can do with my limited knowledge. I noticed I was missing the oil drip catcher fitted below output shaft in the brake assembly which seems to attempt to unsucessfully divert drips down a recess in the backplate, but I fitted the catcher which seemed to slow the reoccurance down but hasn't sloved it. Just having this drip catcher made me wonder if the odd drip was considered normal. Is do a lot of motorway miles whch perhaps helps to spread the oil.

The oil should not be a major factor as long as your not using the drum to slow down. If your just using it as a parking break it should hold with no trouble even with a bit of oil on it as long as the pads are adjusted properly:-

Souns like you need to adjust the shoes - to do this you will need a spanner that fits the square peg on the back of the drum. This fits a tapered square peg on the inside of the drum. When you turn it, ever 1/4 of a turn it should go loose.

Chock up the wheels, relese the hand break, and go underneath.

Screw in the adjuster (always stopping on the loose bit not a stiff bit (i.e. on a flat of the peg) until the drum will not turn, now back it off a few 1/4 turns until it is no longer catching.

Re-apply the handbreak and it should hold a lot better - try the landy in reverse and sometimes it catches a bit in reverse and you will need to free it off a coulple more 1/4 turns. If this is a problem, try getting the ballance between this adjuster (that adjusts one end of the shoes) and the hand break cable adjuster (that adjusts the other end)

If what i have just described seems a bit complicated, then take the drum off and have a quick look at the mechanism working when you turn the adjuster and all will be revealed. - What you are aiming for is when you pull the hand break on is for both shoes to come in contact with the drum alonge there ENTIRE length, not just one tip!

That's useful info. My transmission brake has just recently become _entirely_ useless. I tightened the cable a few months ago and it was working.. just about, but now, you can just drive with it on, and with no reduction in power (I was going 65 mph with it on for a couple of minutes in my 2.5na because I completely forgot about it). I think I'm going to get some new shoes for it anyway. I was tempted by the x-eng brake disk kit, but the price is ridiculous

If you put new shoes on you will have to adjust it anyway....... - As long as the shoes are not rubbing on the drum (they should not be) the shoes on a landrover transmission break should NEVER need to be replaced as they don't do any breaking, they just get applied to a stationary drum, and then get released - if you have been driving around with it on then they will have worn at one end, but you should be able to adjust this out as long as the rivets that hold the shoes to the metal frames are not near the level of the shoes surface. - If they are it will put a grove in the drum (BAD - but not the end of the world as again it does not do any breaking while in motion)

I'd check them first before replacing and give the adjuster a few turns - the reason these shoes are expensive is that nobody ever buys them