Handbrake problem, we want your opinion!

[Eef_and_Dries]

Hi all,

We would like to get your opinion about a mechanical issue.

We drove our car (Toyota Landcruiser, Colorado, 2000) from Belgium to South Africa.

In South Africa (Cape town) we bring our car to a garage to get a full service and a full check up to see if anything is wrong.

They do the service and they tell us that nothing major is wrong, the only other thing they did is tightening the handbrake as the handle was lose.

Driving back up to Nambia, 800 km further (Fish River canyon) we hear a noise in the back, we stop, take the wheel off and the handbrake is broken! The cable is broke, the handbrake discs(?) are gone. We don’t have a handbrake anymore.

Would it be possible that they tightened the handbrake to hard so it came to close to the backwheels? Do you think this is a fault of the mechanics?

We contacted the garage, as we just got the car checked up at their place, and 800km later it breaks down. They tell us that they are not in fault, if they would’ve tightened the handbrake too much, that the car wouldn’t have been able to drive out of the garage. They say that it’s our fault that the handbrake must have got damaged on the way.

They road from Cape town to Fish River Canyon is 800km, from which 70% is tarmac, we would be surprised if we would’ve damaged it on the way…
Please give us your opinion

Thanks!
Eef and Dries

Feel free to have a look on our website http://www.waarisworteltje.be or follow us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/waarisworteltje

 

[lugueto]

First off, you can easily drive off with the handbrake fully tightened.

Second, is your Prado equipped with rear disc brakes or rear drums? I would assume disc brakes, so the handbrake is a drum within the rear rotors.

If your cable broke, that would be the only damage you took. Maybe they overtightened it and when you pulled the lever the cable snapped.

If this is the case, they are without a doubt at fault. If not, they are still at fault as they are the ones who messed with it in the first place. Was your handbrake engaging correctly in the first place?

My previous Prado's handbrake was constantly being adjusted because the little drums would fowl up and stop engaging. So i had no handbrake for most of its ownership, I just left it in 1st gear and chocked it when it didnt work

 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

I don't fully agree. Those cables are very strong. There is no way that tightening the cable too much would or could allow it to break. You would definitely smoke the parking brake shoes and maybe do some damage to the internals of the parking brake mechanism, but tightening the cable alone would not cause it to snap. The human hand can not exert enough force, even with the leverage of the brake handle applied to snap that cable..unless some other damage has occurred.

It may be possible that if the cable were over tightened, it may cause a catastrophic failure inside the parking brake drum and debris from the failure fractured the cable somehow. But the big question here is: where did the cable snap? If it snapped off inside the parking brake drum, the mechanic could and probably is at fault. If it snapped off somewhere in the middle of it's span, somewhere other than inside the brake drum, then it is not likely they caused it to fail.

The parking brake shoes and drums would be worn heavily if the brake was mis-adjusted.

 

[r3run33]

hey I have a 2006 LX470 (100 series) and have had constant problems with my hand brake. Now ALL of my problems are because I live in the northeast part of USA and we get this brime stuff sprayed on our roads during winter to prevent ice and melt the snow etc. Yes it is possible to tighten to much and it snaps at the bracket/attachment part. its a delicate balance of having it tight enough to hold the vehicle but not too tight. and yes you can drive with either hand brake fully applied or broken off completely. Just make sure if you have a manual trans you park it in gear so it won't roll away on ya

 

[lugueto]

I have seen cables snapping when left too tight and the handbrake is pulled too high. Twice, in fact. These things do break

 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

OK, I acquiesce. But if that is really the case, I doubt if the shop over tightening them had anything to do with the snapping. You can only apply as much force as you can and that would have been the same force either before or after the service was done.

As I said earlier, if there is visible wear to the parking brake components as well, then maybe the OP has a leg to stand on.

 

[lugueto]

Well that goes without saying, the cable probably was worn out.

Big fan of your Hilux build, by the way!

Cheers,

Luis

 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Well that goes without saying, the cable probably was worn out.

Big fan of your Hilux build, by the way!

Cheers,

Luis

Thanks! You want to buy it?!

 

[lugueto]

No can do, I'm in Venezuela and I already own a 3RZ powered vehicle :sombrero:

 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Don't let a tiny little thing like international importing of a vehicle stand in the way!!!