Parking Brake Performance
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Joined: Oct 2012
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Parking Brake Performance
Does anyone have an idea of what type of performance one can expect from the parking brake when it is working optimally?
I just replaced all of the components - cables, shoes, etc and burnished the system and while it definitely now holds the car on a steep incline, if I am going 20 MPH or so and pull it all the way up, it's doesn't lock the wheels, it just comes to a slow stop.
I'm not looking to do any "Tokyo Drifting" or anything, I was just wondering just how much stopping power you can get when they are working at their best.
Can they ever lock the wheels if you are moving?
What kind of stopping distance should I see at 20mph? 50mph?
I just replaced all of the components - cables, shoes, etc and burnished the system and while it definitely now holds the car on a steep incline, if I am going 20 MPH or so and pull it all the way up, it's doesn't lock the wheels, it just comes to a slow stop.
I'm not looking to do any "Tokyo Drifting" or anything, I was just wondering just how much stopping power you can get when they are working at their best.
Can they ever lock the wheels if you are moving?
What kind of stopping distance should I see at 20mph? 50mph?
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 6,506
Likes: 139
From: Butler Pa
Does anyone have an idea of what type of performance one can expect from the parking brake when it is working optimally?
I just replaced all of the components - cables, shoes, etc and burnished the system and while it definitely now holds the car on a steep incline, if I am going 20 MPH or so and pull it all the way up, it's doesn't lock the wheels, it just comes to a slow stop.
I'm not looking to do any "Tokyo Drifting" or anything, I was just wondering just how much stopping power you can get when they are working at their best.
Can they ever lock the wheels if you are moving?
What kind of stopping distance should I see at 20mph? 50mph?
I just replaced all of the components - cables, shoes, etc and burnished the system and while it definitely now holds the car on a steep incline, if I am going 20 MPH or so and pull it all the way up, it's doesn't lock the wheels, it just comes to a slow stop.
I'm not looking to do any "Tokyo Drifting" or anything, I was just wondering just how much stopping power you can get when they are working at their best.
Can they ever lock the wheels if you are moving?
What kind of stopping distance should I see at 20mph? 50mph?
Race Director
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 15,892
Likes: 42
Does anyone have an idea of what type of performance one can expect from the parking brake when it is working optimally?
I just replaced all of the components - cables, shoes, etc and burnished the system and while it definitely now holds the car on a steep incline, if I am going 20 MPH or so and pull it all the way up, it's doesn't lock the wheels, it just comes to a slow stop.
I'm not looking to do any "Tokyo Drifting" or anything, I was just wondering just how much stopping power you can get when they are working at their best.
Can they ever lock the wheels if you are moving?
What kind of stopping distance should I see at 20mph? 50mph?
I just replaced all of the components - cables, shoes, etc and burnished the system and while it definitely now holds the car on a steep incline, if I am going 20 MPH or so and pull it all the way up, it's doesn't lock the wheels, it just comes to a slow stop.
I'm not looking to do any "Tokyo Drifting" or anything, I was just wondering just how much stopping power you can get when they are working at their best.
Can they ever lock the wheels if you are moving?
What kind of stopping distance should I see at 20mph? 50mph?
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,217
Likes: 448
From: Loir Valley Sarthe, France
2025 c3 ('74-'82) of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2024 C3 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2023 C3 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
As said, it sounds like your parking brake is doing all it can!Be thankful you’re on the far side of the Atlantic! Here in France, and in my native England (and most of Europe I believe) all cars over a few years old are subjected to stringent tests, in the UK annually and here every two years (5 for “classics" over 30 years old). One of the items tested is the parking brake and the test requires it to stop a moving car and, worse, the lever should only come up about 5 “clicks”, something which it was not designed to do.
It’s tested on a rolling road and is a major source of pain for owners of C3s, and even C5s!Thankfully here, there is a little leniency for “classics” so I have avoided the usual “fix” of over adjusting it for the test, and then getting the car in the air as quickly as possible afterwards to re-set it before the shoes burn out!
