Parking/Emergency Brake Debate

[KrisZ]

I always set the parking brake eventhough my car is an automatic. I had it set in -25c with no freezing. I see people having parking brake frozen from not using it and the one time they use it it freezes, I never heard of this problem in manual cars, as the brake is used regurarly.

 

[froggy81500]

Originally Posted By: KrisZ
I never heard of this problem in manual cars, as the brake is used regurarly.


exactly

 

[sciphi]

Good to hear I'm in good company in regards to setting the parking brake.

 

[The_Jeff]

Originally Posted By: Shannow
I've never imagined NOT using the parking brake, except up in the snow country, and in a dead flat park (where there is the tiniest risk of them icing together).


That's my policy! Good thing there is sometimes the tires freeze in the ice ruts, further paralyzing the car.

Dodge dakota cable rusted up at the waterproofing (not) bellows between the open cable under the cab and the sheathed one that goes off to the axle. Lived like this for years, the equalizer tugged the opposite cable and it kinda sorta worked. Passed inspection, once my mechanic left it running in neutral for me to drive off and said "whoa" like it was a horse.

I did eventually free this up and put new unglazed shoes on ($12 for the whole axle!!!) and it was night & day.

 

[swalve]

Weird. Maybe it's because I'm a flatlander, but we are taught to not use the brake for parking. Turn the wheels toward the curb if you are on a hill.

I don't like the idea of the pads being in contact with the rotors for that long of a time. Leads to oddball wear pattens IMHO.

Has anyone had the parking lock break in a transmission simply from parking?

 

[tom slick]

Originally Posted By: swalve
Weird. Maybe it's because I'm a flatlander, but we are taught to not use the brake for parking. Turn the wheels toward the curb if you are on a hill.

I don't like the idea of the pads being in contact with the rotors for that long of a time. Leads to oddball wear pattens IMHO.

Has anyone had the parking lock break in a transmission simply from parking?


Why else would the vehicle come with a "parking brake?"

If you drive a manual and park on a steep enough hill you could come back with your car is a different place if you didn't use the brake!

 

[mstrjon32]

Originally Posted By: swalve
I don't like the idea of the pads being in contact with the rotors for that long of a time. Leads to oddball wear pattens IMHO.


I use it in both my cars (one disc brakes, one drum) every single day, always apply the brake HARD (even on flat ground, why not?) and they both stop smooth as glass.

 

[George7941]

Originally Posted By: froggy81500
Originally Posted By: KrisZ
I never heard of this problem in manual cars, as the brake is used regurarly.


exactly


I use my parking brakes everytime I park but on my previous truck, a 1986 Ford F250 2WD 4spd manual, the parking brake cables would seize up about every two years. This in spite of the parking brake being used a minimum of two times a day, every day. I tried averything - greasing up the portion of the bare cable where it goes into its sheath, trying plastic-coated cables, routing the cables so that there were no 'valleys' in their runs where moisture could accumulate inside the sheath etc, etc.

Ford trucks are known for parking brake cable problems. I did not have this problem with other vehicles I have owned

 

[sciphi]

My dad never used the parking brake on his 2000 Olds Silhouette minivan when towing our boat. It would be on the launch ramp and he'd throw it into park without setting the brake. The van and boat would surge back about 3-4" then bounce back and forth a few times before settling down. He would then wrestle with the shifter to go into D. With a very loud "clunk" when it finally went.

Transmission lasted 4 years like that before needing a rebuild.

My dad's example sealed my convictions for using the parking brake on any sort of a hill.

 

[01rangerxl]

I have an automatic and I almost always use the parking brake. The one on my truck works fine and can hold the truck by itself. It's there, and it works, so why not use it?

I didn't even bother with my Explorer. The shoes for the parking brake (inside the hub of the brake rotor) were so worn they barely made contact anyway. It was parked on flat ground most of the time though.

 

[JackFish]

Originally Posted By: mstrjon32
Her mechanic is a moron. I always use the parking brake, even on perfectly flat ground there is no reason not to. On my automatic transmission car I shift into N, hold the service brake, set the parking brake, release the service brake to make sure the parking brake is holding the car, and then shift into park. With the standard transmission, I just set the parking brake, take my foot off the service brake to make sure it isn't rolling, shut the engine off, and then leave it in 1st if the nose is up or R if the nose is down.

There is absolutely no good reason not to follow this procedure, it keeps the weight of the car off your motor and transmission mounts and is much safer than allowing the weight of the car to sit against the transmission alone.

X1
If you don't use it it'll seize up, and all the weight of the car goes on the transmission.

 

[Benzadmiral]

Living here in the Great Flat Swamp, I hardly ever have a hill to park on. Now and then, when I do park where there's a slight slope, I put it on for exactly the reasons described here, to save stress on my transmission.

As for turning the wheels, it amazed me that people in Denver and Golden, CO, where hills and slopes abound, didn't seem to know about that trick or didn't care. I, the flatlander, was the only one who'd turn his wheels into the curb when parked on a downslope, away from the curb when on an upslope. Maybe they used their parking brakes, but I don't know.

 

[johnd]

In come cars with drum brakes the self adjusting mechanism is actuated by applying the parking brake. If you never use it, it will never adjust. I actually know someone that this happened to-it was an automatic transmission box truck, Ford, I think.

 

[Dave Sherman]

The owner's manual for my CR-V actually says to use the parking brake all the time, and it's much nicer not having to pull it out of park with the weight on the parking pawl. I don't leave the parking brake on my collector car applied while it's in my garage over winter, however, since it's on a flat garage floor and I don't want the brake shoes sticking to the drums.

 

[slammds15]

I love it when ppl just throw it in park on hills in the winter "weird why is my car in the middle of the road?" IMHO why put trust in a simple small little steel pin? I have had little issue myself with P brake cables. Really the only time I've had issues is when I play in the slush and snow or mud and water when its at the freezing point. (but thats my own doing)

 

[Tornado Red]

Originally Posted By: mstrjon32
I use it in both my cars (one disc brakes, one drum) every single day, always apply the brake HARD (even on flat ground, why not?) and they both stop smooth as glass.


Same here -- it's a habit, always set the parking brake, then always release it before driving away the next time. It helps that I have an icon on the instrument panel that warns me when the parking brake is set.

 

[Falcon_LS]

Brakes are cheaper to replace than transmissions. I always apply the parking brake whenever I park, regardless of flat terrain or on a hill. It's become more of a habit. Having said that, if I park on a hill, I generally turn the front wheels so that the walls touch the curb as an additional measure.

 

[Tornado Red]

Originally Posted By: Falcon_LS
Brakes are cheaper to replace than transmissions. I always apply the parking brake whenever I park, regardless of flat terrain or on a hill. It's become more of a habit. Having said that, if I park on a hill, I generally turn the front wheels so that the walls touch the curb as an additional measure.


Turning the wheels is a legal requirement in all states, I think, but only enforced in some jurisdictions.

I asked a few people about their parking brake habits. It seems that I am the only one who uses his parking brake all the time. No one else I know EVER uses a parking brake.

I've always been surrounded by idiots, but now I have proof.