1972 Renault 4L FASA Hand brake

[bigoldboy]

Hi there , I just wondered if anyone has improved the front hand brake and how . I have worked on the cables and lever plus cleaned the shoes but it is always a worry at a junction on a slope .
Any serious suggestions would be appreciated .

 

[jcarruthers2]

Hi

Assuming that the brake shoes, wheel cylinders and master cylinder are in good condition, that there are no brake fluid air locks in the system and that the brake shoes have been adjusted correctly. You can either make small or larger adjustments to the front handbrake. Small adjustments can be made by disconnecting the hooked bar and moving a hole along. Larger adjustments can be made further down by removing the pin located in the handbrake cable half moon bracket and moving the pin along a hole. The handbrake travel should be about six clicks. Check that the wheels lock with the handbrake on and free with the handbrake off.

 

[jcarruthers2]

If you have already achieved the optimum with the current set up. Good pedal (for an R4) and about six clicks travel on the handbrake and the handbrake holds when applied (I leave mine in gear on a hill when parked for extra security). If you want to greatly improve on brake performance, you could go down the route of fitting the brake set up from a later 4gtl but this is quite involved.There should be some threads on the forum relating to members who have gone down this route.

 

[bigoldboy]

Thank you so much , I know about all the things you mentioned but I will now go through the whole set up again and double check the setup . Maybe I am expecting to much from a 51 year old car it is just that we live in a mountainous area and all the roads have slopes one way or the other .
Thanks again