Hand brake

I find it a struggle to rotate the driver's seat on my nuevo 2014 ek as it catches the hand brake leaver ,unless I fully release it ,not a good idea when parked on a hill ,any advice please ,

molly, this is an issue with all right hand drive Sevel (Boxer, Ducato) vehicles post 2006. you can work around this by easing the seat back or fwd as you turn it, and in most cases this will do the job.
have a little practice and you'll soon get it.

This is a common issue and has been discussed in several threads with a few options on how to work around it. You may have to do a search to find them, I use the method suggested by Bolero Boy, bit of a faff if doing every night but no problem when staying for a few on a site.

I modified mine quite easily.

Undo the top two nuts and bolts holding the handbrake assembly onto its bracket.

Insert two or three washers in between the bracket and the handbrake assembly to angle it toward the driver's door. (It doesn't need to be angled by more than a very few degrees.)

Test, and alter the thickness of the washers as necessary until the seat just clears, and you are satisfied.

It worked well for me, and made hardly any difference to the feel of the handbrake in operation.

Hope this helps.

I followed Gromit's advice and confirm that it is successful - even with a handbrake extender.

I have a 2015 Boxer and I do not experience any issues at all with the handbrake when turning my seat - and Ive even fitted a lower seat box?....are they all the same?

big'nuf wrote:I have a 2015 Boxer and I do not experience any issues at all with the handbrake when turning my seat - and Ive even fitted a lower seat box?....are they all the same?

How many clicks dose you're hand take to bite .Bazz

I found it quite easy to move the seat forward, rotate it, then move the seat back against the steering wheel.
I could manage this 2 or 3 times a day, depending on how many times we stopped, without breaking into a sweat. 
Silly design, but easily got around.

Strange, we have the 2014 Boxer base and have no problems rotating the drivers seat. No adjustment has taken place. Moving the seat backwards and forwards whilst rotating, manages to avoid the brake handle.

- Just had a thought, when new, the the handbrake would not hold our van on the ramps! Adjustment was carried out by the dealer, so perhaps our brake handle position is now low enough to be avoided.

Pete

I must admit the hand break is my biggest complaint. To have to actually bend and reach down to set and release the break is crazy and makes hill starts etc a real pain, And I'm not a small person.
I have found that adjusting the seat slide during swiveling does work for us but that hand brake is a design disaster. Please could we have an electric set/release as in modern cars?
CP

I find a lot of people seem to have drivers seats set to the highest adjustment. When we see vans coming towards us, it’s often difficult to see the drivers heads!
I always have my seat at its lowest and I am 5’10” with normal length arms, the handbrake is easy to reach for me without bending.

ChrisP28 wrote:I must admit the hand break is my biggest complaint. To have to actually bend and reach down to set and release the break is crazy and makes hill starts etc a real pain, And I'm not a small person.
I have found that adjusting the seat slide during swiveling does work for us but that hand brake is a design disaster. Please could we have an electric set/release as in modern cars?
CP

You might care to buy and (easily) fit a handbrake extender. I followed PaulMold's advice, and bought one. Works a charm, and no longer have to impersonate an orang outang, groping down for the lever.
I bought one of these: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Cymro

ChrisP28 wrote:. . . that hand brake is a design disaster. Please could we have an electric set/release as in modern cars?
CP

I'm not so sure about that. If it was any higher, sliding off the seat to get out of the cab could easily result in a castralto singing voice - for us blokes anyway!! 

That's true, Dave! I admit that I've managed to snag my shorts a few times on the extender, before becoming accustomed to its presence!  But subject to that, the extender suits my needs.

I remain unconvinced as to the merits of electronic handbrakes: can you reverse down a hill? And more important, could I continue to perform doughnuts in the Nuevo if it didn't have a handbrake lever?....
Cymro

Cymro wrote:

ChrisP28 wrote:I must admit the hand break is my biggest complaint. To have to actually bend and reach down to set and release the break is crazy and makes hill starts etc a real pain, And I'm not a small person.
I have found that adjusting the seat slide during swiveling does work for us but that hand brake is a design disaster. Please could we have an electric set/release as in modern cars?
CP

You might care to buy and (easily) fit a handbrake extender. I followed PaulMold's advice, and bought one. Works a charm, and no longer have to impersonate an orang outang, groping down for the lever.
I bought one of these: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Cymro

That look's great dose it interfere with seat rotation. Bazz

Bazz: yes, it did not solve the rotation issue ( which, from a post above may have been resolved for later Peugeot vans). So I followed Gromit's advice and fitted washers to the handbrake pivot bracket, which solved the issue.

Thus when on site, I park as normal by allowing the vehicle to come to rest, in gear. I chock 2 wheels. I then pull out the hinge pin on the RareSpare Extender and tip it forward to the floor. The driver's seat can then be rotated. Sometimes I re-apply handbrake but usually don't bother. With the washers fitted, the handbrake doesn't foul the seat.

Cymro

The hand brake extender looks like a definite possibility, thanks for the heads up.
I love the idea of doing donuts in a 4 tonne MOHO the trouble is the wife has vetoed it at the first suggestion, must try harder there.
I'm a bloke and over 6 feet, never having had any trouble reaching the controls in either cars or trucks so I'm not sure it's my body shape that's at fault here. We do normally follow the instructions and chock the wheels and select first gear before releasing the brake and rotating the chair.
I've never had any problems reversing with an electronic brake release even with trailers on the back. My ideal would be air brakes with the dash release but you cant have everything. Showing my age here I do remember the old shooting brake cars (5 door hatch back to all you youngsters) which had a brake handle mounted under the dash beside the steering column, that seemed to work ok.
Thanks for the comments.
CP

If you remember the shooting brake's handbrake, you may remember the quick-release handbrake lever fitted to sports cars. The RareSpares Extender is like that: to release it, just raise enough to free the ratchet, and drop!  Engaging is the reverse: lift whilst holding it forward, and pull back to fix. You quickly get use to it and trust it.

Thanks for replies

Ordered hand brake extender. Rare spares , hopefully fitting extender and tightning cable and fitting washer's will improve driving and rotating Bazz

ChrisP28 wrote:I must admit the hand break is my biggest complaint. To have to actually bend and reach down to set and release the break is crazy and makes hill starts etc a real pain, And I'm not a small person.
I have found that adjusting the seat slide during swiveling does work for us but that hand brake is a design disaster. Please could we have an electric set/release as in modern cars?
CP

chris, doesnt your Corinium have Hill Holder as standatd or as an option....certainly most Fiats do, is ypurs on a Boxer?
this holds the van on the brakes when on a hill so that you have several seconds to move your right foot from the brake to the accelerator...
even before i had this (last two Fiats) i could manage 9/10ths of incline starts without the handbrake, just fleet of foot...
ok, there were one or two really steep ones and, i agree, the handbrake is a pain (even more so with armrests in the way) but Hill Holder is great...

My 2014 nuevo  dose not seem to have hill start assists.  I understand it needs  to be a steep hill for it to activate.

My main Peugeot dealer confirmed that my March 2017 Nuevo does not have Hill Start Assist; nor can it be retrospectively fitted.

Thanks question answered .duff information from owners hand book

Over the weekend I looked at an eldis hand break  same year as my nuevo  . the hand brake had a spacer bracket fitted moving the hand brake away from the seat . no problems at all rotating driver seat  .