On Thu, 12 Mar 1998, Allen Nugent wrote:
> I'm clear, now. I thought people were trying to tell me that differential
> spinning of the wheels would be worse when braking the driveshaft than when
> driving it, and I thought they were trying to invoke some other mechanism.
Not unless you add another mechanism! Remember, a brake can only slow
something down... funny things can happen when you are driving and
braking the same wheel; usually something busts.
> Actually, single-wheel spin could be worse - if the driveshaft brake
> produced more torque than the transmission!
>
> I guess we're stuck with the old little-drum-brake-in-the-hub trick.
Well, I hear some Fiats have an ingenious (sp?) system involving little
cams and levers and things... you yank the handbrake and half the rear
caliper squeezes...
you also need an engineer's degree to rebuild the rear calipers!
I would think that it could be possible to use a floating-caliper (?) type
brake; only one piston per caliper... then use your handbrake cable to
pull the fixed side towards the rotor... this probably wouldn't work very
well, but may be enough to hold the car steady on a hill
Or a secondary hydraulic system! yeah, yet another thing to leak...
Hmm, maybe I'll never make it as an automotive designer
-Malcolm
|