Ducato Handbrake extender

One of the most annoying things I have found with my 2004 Nuevo and something I want to fix is the handbrake being too low to get hold of because of the seat being higher due to the swivel facility, and how this makes hill starts with cars behind you a little tricky.

I found this Handbrake extender designed specifically for the Ducato to overcome this issue. It seems to be £80 everywhere and looking at the video below very easy to fit. It utilises what they call Fly Off Activation which as Mike from the Nags head would say seems a 'bit Urgent Dell'.

I was wondering how this (Fly off action) would work for hill starts and indeed if anyone has fitted one of these or similar or how other people deal with this issue

Link below to the main Product page

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Reviews here 
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I have one  not easy to master as they can obstruct entry and exit  and if accidently caught can easily be knocked off and make rotating the seat harder ,I an confident with mine after 2 years use .

I have one. Its like this:

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I agree with Molly3's comments. But it's easy to stop it from fouling the rotating seat by inserting 2 washers - see a thread by Gromit. And yes, I have caught my shorts on it a few times whilst getting out, but without damage to me or the van - only to my dignity!

I wouldn't be without it. 

Cymro

Cymro wrote:I have one. Its like this:

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I agree with Molly3's comments. But it's easy to stop it from fouling the rotating seat by inserting 2 washers - see a thread by Gromit. And yes, I have caught my shorts on it a few times whilst getting out, but without damage to me or the van - only to my dignity!

I wouldn't be without it. 

Cymro

I think that is the same one. Do you not remove the little pin and rotate it downward to stop yourself etc catching it or is that all quite a bit of faff

Indeed I do when rotating the seat.  It's no faff: the pin has a key ring and I tie that to the lever so it's never mislaid and always readily available. 
Cymro

I have the same one would not be without it but i agree  you have to be careful when getting in & out of the drivers door

Forgot to address your concerns about fly-off, Bigplumbs. It's like a racing handbrake. If anything it makes hill starts (on manual gearbox) easier because there's no need to lower it: it just drops, and you concentrate on the other things.

There is a knack to using it without clicking all the ratchets when pulling up the handbrake (by holding the lever forwards whilst simultaneously pulling it up, then - when brakes are on - easing the lever back to the locked-on position. That holding the lever forward depresses the handbrake button. You soon get use to it.

On my van (Peugeot, not Ducatto but I assume identical?) when the driiver's seat is swivelled, the seat box does brush against the handbrake lever. By adding a washer or two to the bolts at the base of the lever, the lever can be angled towards the door when applied, thus not being pushed by the seat box. I usually park with handbrake off, all wheels chocked. For that I lower the extender (removing the axis pin). The seat is clear of the lever then.

Cymro

Cymro wrote:Forgot to address your concerns about fly-off, Bigplumbs. It's like a racing handbrake. If anything it makes hill starts (on manual gearbox) easier because there's no need to lower it: it just drops, and you concentrate on the other things.

There is a knack to using it without clicking all the ratchets when pulling up the handbrake (by holding the lever forwards whilst simultaneously pulling it up, then - when brakes are on - easing the lever back to the locked-on position. That holding the lever forward depresses the handbrake button. You soon get use to it.

On my van (Peugeot, not Ducatto but I assume identical?) when the driiver's seat is swivelled, the seat box does brush against the handbrake lever. By adding a washer or two to the bolts at the base of the lever, the lever can be angled towards the door when applied, thus not being pushed by the seat box. I usually park with handbrake off, all wheels chocked. For that I lower the extender (removing the axis pin). The seat is clear of the lever then.

Cymro

Thanks for the reply but still a little confused I am afraid.

On the hill start I want to pull up on the brake, Hold it there and then ease it down as the gears/clutch bites. Ie do a normal Hill start. I am rather confused how you push it forward to disengage the button but also pull back.

Sorry to be a pain but at £80 (which I feel is rather over priced to be honest) I dont want to buy it only to find I end up chucking it in that box we all have at the back of the shed 

I bought the first kobran handbrake extender to the UK and turned down the chance to import them.
They worked well but had to be very tightly clamped on or they could slip. Hopefully the new ones are better.

Paulmold wrote:[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Not sure if that one gets in the way of the rotating seat

Looks exactly like the one I had on a 2006 ducato and you had to release the handbrake to swivel the seat. May be different on later vans of course.

Bigplumbs wrote:
On the hill start I want to pull up on the brake, Hold it there and then ease it down as the gears/clutch bites. Ie do a normal Hill start. I am rather confused how you push it forward to disengage the button but also pull back.

 
Sorry if my description is unclear: it's the same problem as describing in writing how to tie a Windsor knot!  

First, let's assume there's no extender. You come to traffic lights on a hill and stop using the footbrake. You press the button on the handbrake lever (to lift the lever without clicking the ratchets) and then you either (1) hold the lever up with your thumb still depressing the button [if your stop is likely to be brief] and then lower the lever as you engage clutch and move on; or (2) having lifted the lever so the brakes are on, you release the button such that the handbrake remains engaged until, eventually, you depress the button and lower the lever as you engage the clutch and move on. So (1) is for a brief stop, and (2) is for as long as you like.

Now doing those with an extender, for (1) you pull the extender grip backwards (so that the lever button is depressed) and lift the lever whilst continuing to keep the grip backwards: no ratchet sound, and lever not locked - so when you're ready to move off, you just lower the lever - at all times keeping the grip part rearwards. But for (2) you again hold the extender grip backwards, so that whilst lifting the lever there's no ratchet sound; and when the lever is fully up (so the brakes are engaged) you ease the grip forwards (which releases the button). That has the effect of releasing the button so as to hold the lever in the brakes-engaged position.  When you want to move off, pull up the lever a little and, moving the grip backwards you either gently lower the lever (as for a hill start) or simply drop the lever for a racing start. Don't do many of the latter in the Nuevo!

It works. And it eliminates the need to reach all the way down to get to the lever.

Cymro

Cymro wrote:

Bigplumbs wrote:
On the hill start I want to pull up on the brake, Hold it there and then ease it down as the gears/clutch bites. Ie do a normal Hill start. I am rather confused how you push it forward to disengage the button but also pull back.

 
Sorry if my description is unclear: it's the same problem as describing in writing how to tie a Windsor knot!  

First, let's assume there's no extender. You come to traffic lights on a hill and stop using the footbrake. You press the button on the handbrake lever (to lift the lever without clicking the ratchets) and then you either (1) hold the lever up with your thumb still depressing the button [if your stop is likely to be brief] and then lower the lever as you engage clutch and move on; or (2) having lifted the lever so the brakes are on, you release the button such that the handbrake remains engaged until, eventually, you depress the button and lower the lever as you engage the clutch and move on. So (1) is for a brief stop, and (2) is for as long as you like.

Now doing those with an extender, for (1) you pull the extender grip backwards (so that the lever button is depressed) and lift the lever whilst continuing to keep the grip backwards: no ratchet sound, and lever not locked - so when you're ready to move off, you just lower the lever - at all times keeping the grip part rearwards. But for (2) you again hold the extender grip backwards, so that whilst lifting the lever there's no ratchet sound; and when the lever is fully up (so the brakes are engaged) you ease the grip forwards (which releases the button). That has the effect of releasing the button so as to hold the lever in the brakes-engaged position.  When you want to move off, pull up the lever a little and, moving the grip backwards you either gently lower the lever (as for a hill start) or simply drop the lever for a racing start. Don't do many of the latter in the Nuevo!

It works. And it eliminates the need to reach all the way down to get to the lever.

Cymro

Many thanks indeed that makes it perfectly clear. Now all I got to decide if it is worth the £80 

It is,

groundhog wrote:It is,

Also very clear 

I have ordered one. Seems to take a long time for delivery

l it turns out it was a lot quicker for delivery than it said. It arrived Thursday so only about 3 - 4 days after I ordered it from Ebay. It is very easy indeed to install and you even get the Allen key provided. So if you were to be a person who owns very few tools you can do it easily.

It is also easy to work and I think it will make hill starts very easy indeed. As you already probably know the handle will drop down by removing the pin so that the seat can rotate. 

All in All I am very glad I followed peoples advice and got it. Is it over Priced well yes it is a little I think £59.00 rather than £79.00 is more the mark but hey ho. I suspect I will not miss that £20  .

If you are wondering about getting one of these dont hesitate you will be pleased

Here it is in the Handbrake on. Off and Handle down position.

As others have said always leave you van in gear as well as it is possible to ping this off easier than the normal brake.

Handbrake on :

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Handbrake off:

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Handbrake off with handle down but you can also have the handle down with handbrake on which would be more normal

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I've put one of these in the accessories for sale section.

Well I used mine for the first time the other day Properly and they are indeed very good

Just make sure it is done up really tight and check it every now and again. I did have an early one work loose and couldn't release the handbrake at a junction.