roverdrive and trans. brake cross-bar clearance

[Alk-3]

So over the weekend i had a chance to install my new roverdrive unit. i should mention that dealing with the sellers was absolutely flawless, and i had the unit 2 days after ordering.. anyway, it fit just perfect, everything went just perfectly except that i had to remove the transmission brake bar that goes from one frame rail to the other in order to fit the roverdrive.. now i have no e-brake because of it.. has anyone come up with a solution to this? i hear this is common, but i cant see how some people DON'T have the clearance issue.. unless the transmission mounts are almost completely rotted away thus dropping the whole transfer case the required distance.
i kinda need to have the e-brake for safety, and for parking on hills..
short of moving the whole bar up a couple inches and re-drilling the frame, is there an easier workaround?

[onecross]

I had the same issue with mine.. i just re-drilled.

cheers!

[Tim Smith]

Could you post some pictures? I haven't noticed anything like this but it was very tight when I pulled the transmission off with the roverdrive installed on it. The added length just made it tough to line the whole unit back up on the clutch disk but otherwise it was pretty easy in my own opinion.

[Alk-3]

I'll snap some photos when i go to redrill. i have new transmission mounts, so it may be that they are taller than yours causing this issue.. bit of a pain, but not the end of the world.
i love the roverdrive though.. its nice to have a nice quiet overdrive again.. too bad my transfer case is so loud i can barely think..
btw, anyone know what a fair price to ask for a noisy fairey? or where to post it for sale?

[Tim Smith]

I'll snap some photos when i go to redrill. i have new transmission mounts, so it may be that they are taller than yours causing this issue.. bit of a pain, but not the end of the world.
i love the roverdrive though.. its nice to have a nice quiet overdrive again.. too bad my transfer case is so loud i can barely think..
btw, anyone know what a fair price to ask for a noisy fairey? or where to post it for sale?

I just sold a good working and quiet Fairey for $600. If it's real bad, you might want to talk to RDS about it for a better evaluation.

[Sputnicker]

I had the same issue. Per Roverdrive's recommendation, I put a slight bend in the transmission brake cross bar to provide clearance. The spherical bushings on the cross bar can easily accommodate such a bend without binding. To make the bend, I supported the two ends of the bar on jack stands and used the weight of the vehicle (lowered by means of a floor jack) to provide the bending force.

[Terrys]

anyone know what a fair price to ask for a noisy fairey? or where to post it for sale?

Noisy? Compared to what? Most Fairey's are sorta noisy. I just paid $300 for one, but had to order aa new clutch sleeve for $140. If your input splines are good (bothe the sleeve and the mating main shaft, then there's something to compare it to. They are very easy to overhaul, provided all you need to replace are the shims. If you're into bearings or any other bits, it gets expensive, but it's deffinately saleable.

[siiirhd88]

You could always swap the parking brake handle to one from a RHD truck, which doesn't use the cross shaft. It would be further to grab and might bother the passenger a bit.....

Bob

'02 Disco II SD
'80 SIII 109
'75 SIII 88 V8
'68 SIIA 109 V8

[Tim Smith]

I'll have to take a better look at my truck to make sure it isn't already bent.

[robert wood]

You will get some interference with the handbrake cross shaft on Series I and II LHD with the stubby hand brake. This can also be an issue with a Fairey Overdrive. After about 1963 the longer handbrake lever was fitted and ROVER raised the shaft so interference is not an issue. Ray

[Tim Smith]

That explains it as I'm a SIII lightweight. Thanks Ray.

[Regan]

I installed a Roverdrive earlier this year in a LHD Series 88. The cross bar got in the way of the overdrive and I discussed with Ray on how to fix, who was helpful. He suggested I heat up the bar and try to bend it to clear. With my limited tools/heat, I could not do it and opted for another way. I simply built an approx. 3/4" X 3" flat bar(drilled) to both sides of the crossbar and raised the whole brake system up an inch or so. It clears and it works just fine. If you want to see a picture of it, let me know, I'll run into the man cave and snap a few.
Regan

[Momo]

I just encountered this problem last week while installing a new Roverdrive on my SII 109 SW. It wasn't mentioned in the assembly instructions so I was a little surprised when I couldn't get things together.

First I unbolted the handbrake crossbar assembly to finish the RD installation, then I called Ray. He said, "Oh, your truck must be a Series II," and he suggested the bending solution.

But I decided to see if the handbrake crossbar assembly could be refitted without any mods, and it located to the stock bolt holes just fine. The crossbar touches the RD housing but, at least on the road, there's no obvious vibration or rattle, after about 50 miles of mostly freeway travel (No verdict offroad). The RD has made the cabin much quieter too.

I would say it's less than 1/32nd or so of interference, so the bend would be basically unnoticeable if done properly.

I will probably bend the crossbar in situ before putting any more miles on the car to avoid any damage to the RD case, but I wanted to let everyone know that it can all at least be assembled without any mods.

[Alk-3]

well, either bending the bar or redrilling is a simple fix, and well worth it for the overdrive..
i drive my truck as a my daily driver, so its overdrive is a must. I've put on about 600km's this week on the roverdrive. its easy to forget its even there, which i very good thing.
the fairey was stupid loud.. earplugs were a must. it drowned out everything else completely. ill take a better look at it to see whats wrong with it, but it was working perfectly then suddenly got VERY loud in a matter of seconds, so its not just that its worn out on areas due to use.. there was a failure of some sort that caused it. i spoke to RDS and after determining that there was no way to determine what might be wrong with it, I'd have to send it down there for a hefty chunk of change then get it assessed and that could have cost as much as a new unit anyway.. even if it was deemed too worn to repair i would still be out the shipping. just made more sense to switch to the roverdrive and be done with it. Glad i did. money very well spent on this unit.
as they say, you never regret paying for quality.