Handbrake

[hairy monsta]

Sorry for asking basic questions, I don't mean to bore you all, but, as I'm new to all this I'm sure I will. Bear with me, we all have to start somewhere.
  Just wondered what handbreak set up people use for reliant axles with drums?

[Manky Monkey]

You mean what lever? Or what cable?
When I built my green one I used a rod linkage with a pivot point mounted on a tab welded to the frame that turned the pulling motion of the rod through 90 degrees to activate the brake arm on the back of the drum. Haven't checked the MSVA regs for handbrakes but the previous set of regs were poorly worded & led to a lot of builders, including me, assuming the handbrake only had to act on one wheel, when it really has to brake all the wheels on one axle, ie both rear wheels or, if you want to be clever, the front wheel. So my rod set-up only operated the near side brake. Very neat & tidy but not actually legal, though it did pass several MOTs like that. I later changed to disc brakes & used a twin cable set up. I always recommend the same company for cables of all types:
Speedy Cables of Abercrave, Swansea. 01639-732213 or 01639-732299. You can make up your own using cut down old car cables & clamps & pinch bolts, but why bother when you can have them custom made for about 20 quid each?
If you're asking about handbrake levers, we use Metro ones, because they look good, they're held in the car by just two bolts, making them easy to remove & easy to fit to your trike & they're quite short so you can tuck them out of sight & they have quite a short travel so you don't need much operating space above them. We usually pay about 5 quid each for them from local scrap yards.
Don't forget the regs say you must be able to operate the lever from your normal riding position.

[trikerpete]

Sorry for asking basic questions, I don't mean to bore you all, but, as I'm new to all this I'm sure I will. Bear with me, we all have to start somewhere.
  Just wondered what handbreak set up people use for reliant axles with drums?

try to use the original reliant h/brake setup from the donor vehicle, including the strengthening chanel/bracket from underneath the body that the lever bolts into, this is ideal for welding to trike chassis and refitting lever onto, you may have to shorten cables, but thats not a major job using steel wire clamps etc. use stainless fittings from yacht/boat rigging.
good luck with the build
pete

[Manky Monkey]

Or you could do that! 

[TwistedPatience]

And you only need one drum activated by the Handbrake.

[Manky Monkey]

Err, both the Construction & Use regulations & the new MSVA regs say it's gotta be both rear wheels.

Ahem: Chapter 16 of the MSVA manual. Brakes. Section 4.
"Check that every tricycle is equipped with...
c.) A parking brake device that operates on the wheels of at least one axle".

So if it's the rear axle it's got to lock all the wheels on that axle, ie, both. If you can rig up a viable handbrake mechanism on the front, (it's got to be mechanically operated, so not hydraulic & independant of the normal service brakes), you could have it operating on just the front wheel cos that'd be all the wheels on that axle.

[Desperate]

Mini and Morris Minor levers are perfect. Used to use two modified Austin Maxi cables.