Do You Use The Emergency Brake?

[grizzly]

When I launch my boat I set the brake and then put it in park.

When I am leaving the ramp I take it out of park and release the brake.

I had a F-150 that would resally BANG if you didn't use this method. I am sure it wasn't good for the transmission.

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[VAMike]

The real question is, does anybody who uses the parking brake not have a cracked up boot?

 

[Blue Streak]

The real question is, does anybody who uses the parking brake not have a cracked up boot?

I do & I don't. 32,564 smiles ?

 

[THLONE]

TV show writers should be told that there are emergency brakes on vehicles. It drives me nuts to watch some "actor" creaning down a hill pumping the brakes being terrified.
Sorta like being terrified to drop a tailgate all by yourself. Dammit I broke my New Years resolution already.

 

[JACKSMYDOG]

My drivers training as a teen was by a retired CHP Sargent. He drilled so many things into our heads and one of them was parking on a hill:
1. curb your wheel so the curb is taking the load
2. set the cable / emergency / parking brake
3. if you are driving an automatic that day, put it in Park. If it's a manual, put it in the gear opposite the way your car would roll downhill (facing uphill, put in 1st. facing downhill, put in reverse).
The idea is to think about what's taking the load & what its backup is.
He usually followed these lessons with really gruesome stories about what he saw happen when people didn't do what he was teaching us. It must've been pretty effective, as I find I still automatically follow every one of them all these years later.

Bumping for value.

 

[9zero1790]

some times im split between it being parking brake vs. e brake. years back when i had the government motors flu the rubber pedal cover for them used to say emergency brake. - as if someone would be down reading the silly thing lol. way back if you had a 60s gm i remember the brake being a handle under the steering wheel. i think it was just labeled as brake or park brake. i dont recall what ford calls them in the manuals etc. just for grins, is the point of said device to be used in situations of brake failure - emergencies or is the intent that its for parking in steep or otherwise risky ways to reduce the chance of runaway. silly thoughts but worth a ponder. if it was really just an e brake would it not better be to be like tractor trailer brakes, lose air and brakes kick on, break connection brakes kick on. i may need a break from the brakes... oh me so funny ...

 

[DanholmesVentura]

Yup, we live in the hilly part of Ventura & I got in the habit of always using it. The Mazda's is electronic - engages automatically.

 

[Blmpkn]

Whenever i notice an automatic in park with the ebrake on.. I imagine someone like this must be its owner.

 

[VAMike]

Whenever i notice an automatic in park with the ebrake on.. I imagine someone like this must be its owner.

Weird. When I see an automatic without the parking brake on I imagine someone like this

 

[JesseS]

I do, but not in sub-freezing weather, don't need a frozen parking brake.

 

[mtbikernate]

I do & I don't. 32,564 smiles ?

me, too, at almost 16,000mi.

my last Ranger would get a frozen parking brake when it was cold whether I used it in freezing weather or not.

if I didn't use the brake, when it'd freeze up, the rear drum would rub ever so slightly, but not enough that I'd notice immediately. then I'd roast the brakes because they'd heat up once I got moving.

If I DID use the brake, I'd notice it immediately and wouldn't end up burning up the brake.

 

[Blmpkn]

As a man who really appreciates statistics and odds... id LOVE to compare how many parking pawl failures happen a year vs. How many times transmissions were shifted into/out of park without use of the e-brake.

I can absolutely guarantee the odds would tell you that using the e-brake while shifting to/from park is a waste of time and needless wear on components.

BUT... theres people out there I'm sure who use condoms as well as hormonal birth control along with an IUD AND spermicidal lube before they go twenty-toes so.... people are nuts and go way T.F overboard for no reason ?‍ lol.

Don't get me wrong.. good for them.. I'm just glad I can life my life without worrying about every little detail as much as they do. I'd be willing to bet that segment of people have as many heart attacks as the morbidly obese.

 

[mtbikernate]

whether it actually causes extra wear and breaks parts isn't necessarily the whole point, though.

using the parking brake before putting the transmission into park DOES put less strain on that parking gear and makes it easier to shift out of park later on.

I do this on my driveway every day, and my wife started doing it in her subaru after she had a day where she just couldn't wrestle the shifter out of park and had to have me come out and do it for her. it doesn't take all the strain off of the parking gear, but it reduces it.

 

[Vichtz]

 

[Mr.Mel]

in my 2019 I use the Parking Brake often for the reason some mention just to keep it working. Northern salt can do it in fast if you do not use it. Funny I have driven Rangers since they came out in 1982 and all were manual transmission until now. Every one of them the Parking Brake would seize up eventually and after throwing $$ into parts I gave up on them so I would just park the truck on the level as much as I could and leave them in gear. My last one, a 2004, the motor finally did not have enough compression left and it would not hold the truck in place in my driveway so after getting a call from the neighbor about my truck in the road I started carrying a plastic wheel chock. I would park the truck in gear, jump out and chock the drivers rear wheel as it was just starting to drift slightly down hill and it would rest against it the chock and stay in place. POW Problem Solved! Now the magic happened when I went to leave and the truck was resting HARD against the chock, Easy Peasy I tied a string to the chock and grabbed the string before I got into the truck. I would start the truck and leave the door open and backup slightly until the chock was loose then pull the chock into the cab with the string and drive off. Can you spell H-I-L-L-B-I-L-L-Y!
My wife was merciless at beating up on me for this process and thought my truck was a total embarrassment. Oh the modern luxury of an Auto Transmission. I liken the CRS (chock retrieval string) to the Tailgate damper, it just makes life bearable.

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