Leaving truck in gear on ramp

When backing my boat up to the dock, my e-brake wasn't enough to keep the truck from rolling. So i decided to put it in first gear after i turned it off, which held great.

Is there any reason why leaving it in gear with the weight of the boat, could cause any damage to the trans.?

Also i've tried adjusting the e-brake cable and my parking brake still sucks...any ideas??

 

check the rear pads, a friend of mine and his dad were at the river and had his F150 on the boat ramp in park with no brake and somehow something in the trans. broke, the truck and trailer went rolling down the boat ramp and sunk. long story short make sure the e-brake works or at least put something behind the tires

 

The pads are fine, my brakes work great, it's just the e-brake that blows.
Was his manual? It seems like they're is no difference between it being in gear when off and when i'm starting to pull the boat/trailer out of the water, except for the clutch....

 

Probably oughta use wheel chocks just in case.

 

no it was automatic

 

Yeah i've got some scrap 2x4's in the bed, as a just in case, i just want to make sure i'm not going to kill the trans by doing this. Since the e-brake is useless

 

Freaky thing happend once to me when I was parked getting out the truck slowly started rolling back, i quickly went back in and put it in drive, but I never looked to see if it was in park, I always assumed it was in reverse and the parking break just didnt hold

 

unfortunately i can't put it in park as my truck is stick.

 

What he said. I used to have a manual Bronco II for many years that had a horrible emergency brake and I would leve it in gear. As the clutch wore it didn't hold as well and one day, on a steeper than normal ramp, the truck started slipping down the ramp when I powered the boat on the trailer. I leaped into the water and was able to jump in the truck before it got all the way in the water but still had the tail pipe and the back of the Broco under water.

After that I used a chock on the front left wheel. I tied a rope to it so as I pulled up the ramp I could hold the rope and drag the chock with me.

I now drive an '09 Tacoma with an automatic but still use the single chock every time.

 

For what it's worth, when I had a manual I would ALWAYS park it in 1st along with the e-brake. As you've found, the e-brake alone won't hold the MT on a steep hill. Don't know if does any damage though, but I always did it...

 

Nothing wrong with putting it in gear. In fact.....I trust putting it in gear before using the ebrake. Drum brake e-brakes suck regardless.

I remember one time unloading our jeep on the trailer. We tow with the jeep out of gear but the ebrake on. Fortunately for us....we disconnected the front straps first and the rear straps were still attached. The thing started rolling off the trailer and the rear straps 'caught' it. Anytime after that...we put it IN GEAR prior to disconnecting any straps.

 

Even with the added weight of a boat, you don't think i could damage the trans. since i'm putting alot of strain on it.

 

Whenever I tow cars with my buddy's 18' car trailer (about 4,500 lbs w/ a car) I always put the truck in first and leave the emergency brake on if I'm facing up a hill. If I'm facing down a hill I put it in reverse. Better safe than sorry. Nothing wrong with leaving it in gear.

Funny story, I had a buddy with a 1st gen DSM ('90 Eagle Talon TSI AWD turbo for those who don't know DSM's) he came over to my house and parked his car in the street just used the e-brake. I lived at the top of a really long hill. He came inside, we were hanging out for a little bit and I looked outside and didn't see his car. I said "allen did you drive?" he said "yeah I drove the DSM and parked it in the street." Well we looked about 500 yds down the street and his front end was wrapped around a tree in my neighbors front yard about 4 houses down...with the e-brake still up...It jumped the curb and hit a tree.

 

Use the ebrake also for added 'help'

I don't think you'll hurt anything. And as many years as Toyota trucks have been around and people have been towing with them.....I'm certain that if there'd be a problem with putting it in gear, that would be all over the internet. I've been cruising toyota forums since 99 and I haven't heard anyone having problems ruining a tranny while putting it in gear with a load-on. That's just my theory anyway.

Besides..... wouldn't you rather keep things SAFE than worry too much about the truck?

 

Without a doubt, i'm always with another person and i can load the boat up myself while the other person is on the brakes.

It's just good to know that if and when the situation calls for it again (high wind, choppy water, by myself....) i can rely on the truck holding while not doing any damage to it.

Thanks for the info