Total Performance Emergency Brake

Has anyone used the pinion-mounted emergency brake kit sold by Total Performance? www.tperformance.com/street_rod_store/4300/277/?CFID=232479&CFTOKEN=49728531 I have an 8" Ford rearend and the kit seems pricey but I'm looking for a clean, easy way to get an e-brake in place and prefer not to have the cables running out to the hubs.

Anyone have experience with these or can you suggest alternatives?

 

I owned one, but never used it. I bought an abandoned T bucket project from some guy and it came in the package. Ours was one of the hydraulic units that I understand are not available any more due to some Government thing that Mickey had to take care of. For some reason they wanted it to be mechanical rather than hydraulic.

It was a nice looking unit and pretty compact. Only downside was that the handle is made to mount sideways, not straight fore and aft like you think it would. I have also heard reports that debris like dirt and stones lodge in the rotor and jam it up sometimes, but have never seen any on the street to ask people how they like them.

Don

 

Track T-4
I have the mechanical one on my Total car I just finished in December. I bought the hydraulic one when it was available but decided to go with the cable operated mechanical one. Didn't want more brake juice to deal with. Still haven't got it adjusted yet but I think it's going to work ok. I have the handle mounted crossways in front of the drivers seat but you could put it elsewhere if you wanted. Hope this helps.

Dale

 

Here are a few pictures of the Total emergency brake installed on a car.

 

Don, Dale, Bill:
Thanks for the feedback. I checked with TP and they said the handle could be mounted side-to-side or fore-and-aft, of course the trick is keeping the cable to one side so it clears the rotor and the driveshaft. I'm considering mounting the handle sideways in front of the seat to keep it out of the way but am undecided right now.

Bill:
I assume those are pics of your T? I like the access panel you cut under the seat. Is that the mechanical or hydraulic caliper, I don't see a cable or tubing - unless I'm missing it. How did you mount your handle?

Dale, Bill:
Did you do any reinforcing of the floor under the handle? Someone said they did and I'm curious what others are doing.

 

Hi Track T-4,
I have not built a car yet. The pictures are from a recent trip I made to Total Performance. I have 400 or so close-up pictures from Total on my photobucket site if you care to look at them. http://s180.photobucket.com/albums/x316/sstarphotos/

 

Man, that rotor sits low! But then, so does everthing else under these cars.

 

Fred...I think it's an optical illusion in that pic. The rotor hangs down maybe an inch or so below the bottom of the rear axle center.

 

Yea, I think you're right. I can't see Total P building a car that had anything below the scrubline. Whew!