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

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[TheWarden]

Hi, there are 2 adjustments of the handbrake on the LC Colorado, one at the lever by the drivers seat and the other on each brake it self.

I suspect the garage simply tightened up the lever adjustment nut and did not adjust the handbrake at the wheels as is the correct proceedure. The cable probably snapped as a result.

The Cable is in 2 parts, the main cable from the lever in the cab and then a link cable to the other wheel. The link cable would be an easy fix. Also the handbrake consists of shoes inside the rear brake discs, these are hard to see without dismantling the hub etc.

Have a look here for more info on the handbrake and its adjustment

http://www.landcruiserclub.net/forum...ight=handbrake

[tacr2man]

Whether they did it incorrectly or not , you could get the same end result from driving after forgetting to fully release the handbrake . Therefore the chances of getting any redress against the garage is about Zero. This is probably not what you want to hear . Their possible poor work is basically unproveable. HTSH

[Overland Tonka]

If the handbrake was left on there would be signs.. Burning smell and visible signs on the disk/shoes and lower fuel consumption.
Incorrect adjustment would be my thought. Then again, old cables can snap.

Just leave the car in gear when parked and fix it later.

[moggy 1968]

handbrakes on 4x4s are shit anyway