Line Lock

Line lock or roll control orginally designed for racing (burnouts or starting line hold) which is why it was put on the front brakes. Dirt buggies used them for parking brakes on the rear wheels. My Pantera has aftermarket Wilwoods which have no E brake provisions so I have hydraulic locks on the rear calipers. They are basically a pressure lock valve. The racing line-locs (I believe a Hurst item) are an electric solenoid valve which is button operated to release the brakes when the car is launched. Hall Pantera included a lever operated valve with their brake kits which I believe were Wilwood Superlights that I have on my car.

A line lock does the same thing as you holding the brake pedal. Having a cable operated parking brake gives you a 'back up' system in the event of a loss of fluid scenario where pushing the pedal would just push more fluid out of the hole!

Michael

I had the line lock on #1905. It was fine for burn outs or locking long enough to get the mail or swap drivers. It was never intended as anything more although I think some times I think they are installed because an emergency brake was removed.

Problem was it drained down and if you used it as a parking brake you can bet after an hour or so the pressure had blead off.

As far as emergency brake, if you lost line pressure int he first place this will do nothing for you.

I ran into this when I did a rear disk brake coversion on the MGB. I needed an emergency/parking brake and the line lock wouldn't do either. I simply took a wilwood parking brake caliper and made a bracket. It wasn't too hard.

Michael .. doesnt your red 5S have a line lock braking system ? Ron

quote:

My red 5S has a line lock brake system

I don't quite understand. If I have the line lock on and then release the clutch in 1st and rev the engine, the car will sit there utill I release the line lock? Something to try on the streets this weekend I suppose, maybe leave some 335 tread and break a 1/2 shaft

quote:

Originally posted by accobra:
Michael .. doesnt your red 5S have a line lock braking system ? Ron

quote:

My red 5S has a line lock brake system

My 5-S came from the factory with a cable hand pull parking brake like everyone elses. Somewhere along the line it was changed to a lever type of line lock that sqeezes the rear calipers. It's mounted in the stock location and when it's activated the red dash light comes on. You have to pump the pedal a few times to get it to hold.

It's not solenoid activated, so I don't think it's exactly like a line lock. It has a big body that the brake line is plumbed into, and out of, so my guess is that the lever pushes a plunger that emulates holding the brake pedal indefinitely.

It's never failed me, but I only use it once in a blue moon when I jump out of the car for a quick sec while it's still running. I don't know if I'd trust it to hold the car on any kind of incline, but next time I'm out I'll park on a hill and see what happens.

I believe it was the one that Gary Hall once offered (maybe he still does). It was in my Pantera when I first came across it in '95.

Michael

quote:

Originally posted by DOES 200:
I don't quite understand. If I have the line lock on and then release the clutch in 1st and rev the engine, the car will sit there utill I release the line lock? Something to try on the streets this weekend I suppose, maybe leave some 335 tread and break a 1/2 shaft

A line lock was intended for drag racing. What you would do is go through the water before the staging lights to get the rear tires wet so they would spin easily. Then you'd pull up a bit, press and hold the line lock button which would hold just the front brakes, and do a burnout. This would clean any unwanted residue off the tires as well as heat them up for maximum grip at launch.

If your button or lever type of line lock is plumbed to the front brakes, you could turn those 335's into landfill easily, I'm sure. Just make sure that it goes to the front brakes. Every Pantera (which isn't many) that I've seen with a line lock type of parking brake had it plumbed into the rear wheels.

Where is the button or lever located? Do you see any of the brake lines under the front hood 'spliced' into? Mine is right next to the driver's seat.

Michael

Hey Michael. I looked under the car at the wheel brake lines, and can't see anything tell tail showing it may be hooked up to the front or rear brakes, but maybe there is some splice between the brake resouvor, the line leaver and the brake. I suppose I could just jack up the car and see if the rear wheels would move or not.

But if I used the line lock, could I be at a stop and have the line lock applied, release the clutch and sit there without the tires spinning? Kind of like an automatic trans car sits at stop with your foot on the brake, or is that not possible with a manual trans? I wouldn't think that possible, but Im no mechanic.

Since my parking brake lever is right next to the driver's seat, I would think the rear brake line is interrupted at that location, next to the water pipes running under the car. That would only be seen by jacking up the car and looking into the tunnel. If your brake lever is in the same location, it could be spliced into the same way.

If you were to apply the line lock on a hill, you could take your foot off the brake and it would hold like an automatic. (The car would have to be in neutral or it would stall) The brakes would still be holding the car, but your foot would not be doing the work, the solenoid would be holding the fluid there for you. Just keep in mind that if the brake is applied to the rear wheels trying to go would be like trying to walk with your shoes nailed to the floor!

Michael

quote:

Originally posted by Cyboman:
Just keep in mind that if the brake is applied to the rear wheels trying to go would be like trying to walk with your shoes nailed to the floor!
Michael

I like the shoes analogy. But that's what I wonder, if I can sit at a light, apply the line lock, rev the engine to maybe 2 grand or so with the car still and no tires spinning, then release the line lock and take off? With an automatic you can do that somewhat...used to do that with my wifes white Maserati Biturbo automatic and eat the ricers by getting a nice high rev jump from start Probably not possible with standard trans though. My lock lever is by the park break too, so it may be to the rear tires. When I get a chance I will jack up the rear and see if the rear tires spin free.

Definitely not possible with a standard. Automatics can do it by rerouting hydraulic pressure to activate both forward gear and reverse at the same time so in effect the car cant move but forward engages instantly when the transbrake is let off. I suppose you could put a linelock into your clutch line with a similar effect but you would leave a tire trail like David did in his video when you let it loose.

Blaine

quote:

Originally posted by DOES 200:
But that's what I wonder, if I can sit at a light, apply the line lock, rev the engine to maybe 2 grand or so with the car still and no tires spinning, then release the line lock and take off?

That would be the same as dumpimg the clutch at 2 grand. If you're on a flat surface, you could just rev the engine to whatever RPM you wanted, and then just sidestep the clutch. You could always use a line lock to stop you from rolling if you were on an incline while doing this. Drag racers use a button on the shifter they hold while revving, then release a split second before dumping the clutch. With their hand already on the shifter, they're ready for the 1-2 shift. You could set yours up the same way.

Michael

QUOTE]
That would be the same as dumpimg the clutch at 2 grand. If you're on a flat surface, you could just rev the engine to whatever RPM you wanted, and then just sidestep the clutch. You could always use a line lock to stop you from rolling if you were on an incline while doing this. Drag racers use a button on the shifter they hold while revving, then release a split second before dumping the clutch. With their hand already on the shifter, they're ready for the 1-2 shift. You could set yours up the same way.

Michael[/QUOTE]
Thanks Michael. I will just continue to stomp the gas, I was just curious how all this works. The ricers have been anoying me lately, but just straight gas pedal always solves the pesky coffee grinders.