Tractor Brakes

[GNasty 82]

Has anyone ever reconfigured their e-brake system to control each rear corner individually for the purpose of using them as a tractor brake?

[Volcom]

Line lock each back wheel.

[GNasty 82]

I'm kind of looking for feed back as to how well it works type feedback.  Obviously you need an open (or unlocked) rear diff. 

Is it worth the trouble?  Will it harm the diff with lots of use?  Any other concerns?

[Volcom]

I guess I don't understand what a "tractor brake" is used for.  Sharp pivot turns? 

[GNasty 82]

Yeah, the idea is with and open rear diff (or unlocked ARB/elocker), you lock up one tire with the ebrake and pivot around that tire for sharp corners.

I was just wondering if anyone had ever tried this and if so, was it actually worth the effort?

[jrock]

I was toying with this idea.
Use the rear e-brake cable lines and make a twin stick lever thingy between the seats. Then use your current e-brake lever for a t-case mounted e-brake. Make sense  

It would assist in turning and locking a single wheel.

[Cheesemaker]

If Bigmike ever posts up about what he has done to his rig, you will see that he has installed electric line locks on his real axle. 

[wifesaysimadumbass]

i know a guy that has a competition jeep that he has that installed... i think they call them cutting brakes you see them on dune buggies alot but i want to say his are front and rear

[bleakhorizon]

wouldn't make much since because there isnt enough weight really to "pivot" on the rear axle.... I wouldnt even think it would be a good alternative to a locker. The only way i would even consider it is if you had a selectable locker where you could unlock it and use it as a turning brake.... i dont even think a well build buggy would would have enough weight on the rear to help.....  maybe in a uphill high traction situation....

im sure there are people who have done this and it may work for them... but it just dont make since to me lol

[jrock]

It's cheaper than a selectable. Cooler too. 

[emsvitil]

It would be helpful with a limited slip......

Add brake to the side with the least traction so the side with the good traction gets more..

[GNasty 82]

The idea isn't so much about getting traction (get a locker for that  ) as it is to make tight turns.

[bleakhorizon]

well most of the people here that would try a mod like this already have a diff locking device, and it just wouldnt work with one..... If you need to turn sharper i still dont think it would help you much.....

try taking a toy truck, holding one wheel in the rear and rotating the other, it does pivot on the axis, but with lateral drag on the front tires with a PU that doesn't have good weight distribution (or even a runner which has a heavier rear) isnt going to make much of a difference it will prob just drag that tire.....NOW if you do a front digg and take the whole rear axle out of the drive equation it seems to me this may help a bit as the other rear tire is not trying to push the axle your trying to drag....

like i said however this is just my opinion and i just dont see it feasible to go threw all the work, especially since the pulley system alone wouldn't be worth the work IMHO would be way easier to plum a cutting brake in and use the factory hydraulics...

[IronClad]

this has been done for yearrrrrsss and yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrssssssssssss and yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrsssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss way back even when vw bugs were the shizzy

[bleakhorizon]

just cause its been done for years and yeeaaarrrs and so on dont mean that it would work worth a crap on our trucks..... I was hoping someone that has cutting brakes would chime in...

and yea bugs and rails were a good candidate because the rear engine.  and the lack of available lockers..   when i drove my old baja in the sand i didnt even use the steering wheel,  it was all cutting brakes because of the heavy engine i had (corvair)

[IronClad]

Actually it DOES work worth a crap on our trucks people have been running them in extremely light weight FRONT engine  comp buggies for years which i can garundamntee are far lighter than a toyota. This is not a new and exciting concept to the rock crawling world.

you guys should get off marlin sometimes

[Cheesemaker]

Add brake to the side with the least traction so the side with the good traction gets more..

Back in day, we used to just use the parking brake to get the axle to "lock up." 


The sandrails were the biggest users of cutting brakes, but their use has been widely used in many different applications.  Basically, in a open/selectable axle by locking up a tire, you make that tire the pivoting point.  As long as there is traction and you don't just drag the tire.

This is why the title of the post was "tractor brakes" cause I know that tractors have/had? two brake levers/pedals side by side, so that you could step on them independently or both at the same time.  It allowed them to turn tighter, especially in barns when room was limited.  Alot of the old farmers still own the old Ford N series tractors cause they are small, light, cheap and maneuver very easily with the cutting brakes.  Can't tell that I grew up on a farm?! 

[WHITE_TRASH]

Cutting breaks rule the roost in comps.  If you have a way to disconnect the rear drive and do a front burn locking the inside tire tire in a turn will make you turn SHARP.  You can always to a 3/4 burn too.  Leave the power to all 4 wheels but lock the inside in the rear.  The unlocked rear tire will spin twice as fast as the front but it will make you pivot on that rear locked tire really nice.

I'm welded in the back but I am swapping in a 300 so I'll have front dig and eventually I'll put an arb in the 14 bolt so I can do super sharp digs.