Using parking brake on AT/MT vehicles

Hey

I have always been a diehard hand brake guy when i park because after all, thats what its for; parking.
Even on level ground. Even my garage!!

My reason is because that tiny little roll that occurs after i put it in park and release the foot brake feels yucky for my vehicle and i fear allowing it to happen repeatedly will eventually cause damage to the transaxle, transmission, or parking pawl. A website i read also said something about the cv joints being stressed if you dont use it...

So here i am asking people who are more tech and truck savvy than me, WHEN DO YOU USE YOUR PARKING BREAK?


Here is the answer for when and how to use it if you wanna baby your transmission

 

I never use mine, unless parked on a steep hill. Interested in the information this thread will bring.

 

On hills or when I'm doing maintenance on vehicles.
Never heard of not using it stressing cv joints.

 

Like you I put it on everywhere, but I've never heard of stressing the cv joints.

 

Everywhere, but I was also in a manual transmission.

Automatics have a pin that engages once in park, but like anything, that pin could shear. It would take a lot, but it could.

The way I look at it, a slow roll, even though slow will cause a lot of damage or could kill a person. Even slow, that is a lot of mass moving...

 

righto sir....the whole thing about it rolling away and causing serious damage or injury is the obvious, but the less obvious damage is the one its causing your vehicle. regardless of steepness of slope, thats a lot of mass stressing different components!!

i think its a lot less pertinent with trucks/suvs than with cars because of their inherently beefier trannies and whatnot, but still a habit i wont be breaking anytime soon. I constantly have to remind people to release it before they drive it if they need to jock my silverado around for any reason.

 

Use mine all the time force of habit (a/t). Plus if you are on slight incline and get that roll back ,you get that loud pop when you shift from park to reverse .

 

Always. When I'm on a road trip with people and driving their car - when we switch out I sometimes forget to not use it and then they're really confused for the first five feet.

Started when I had a Mustang with a console hand brake. Kept it up with this truck's foot brake, and now the Tacos are back to a hand brake.

 

Plus, I read somewhere that the E-brake is what keeps the rear drums adjusted. Not sure how frequently that needs to be done - I guess mine stay well-adjusted.

 

I would use mine from time to time, especially when out offroading when we stop on a hill for a walk around or break, but my parking brake bellcranks are both rusted solid

 

X2

 

Always. With the automatic, the pins that hold it in park are the size of a pencil. Also, with a manual, I automatically put it in gear as an extra precaution. I once learned the hard way that a box truck I was driving had a non-working parking break. Backed into the dock and went in to sign in. Came back out and the truck was slowly rolling away. Luckily it had only gotten about 30' and I jumped in and stopped it, but could've been ugly.

Not sure if it's still the case, but the parking break used to also adjust the rear brakes.

 

Automatic. Stop, neutral, footbrake on, ebrake on, footbrake off, vehicle rests on footbrake, then into park. Ebrake holds weight, trans serves as safety backup. If on grade, wheels cut to direction that would take vehicle to curb, not into traffic.

Manual. Same process, except selection of 1st if parked uphill, reverse if parked downhill.

 

I have a manual and I don't have a parking brake. I leave it in reverse

 

I use the park brake on my manual and auto vehicles every time I park. I stop, engage the park brake, then put it in park or 1st so there's no load on the drivetrain. I prefer to have the inexpensive easy to replace parts do the work of keeping the vehicle where I left it, rather than the transmission.

 

1st if uphill? I used to leave it in 1st and it was not good. It would almost slip out and the truck could kinda move. Reverse has been so much better

 

Having an ebrake is even better.

Is yours just broken, or is there some custom performance reason to disable it?

Using chocks is an alternative.

 

I wish I had one but I have a tundra rear axle so it's not hooked up. I added a line lock for use when offroading though. But when I park over over night I don't use it

 

I've parked on steep hills and reverse has never budged

 

this seems a little extensive in the automatic...
my process is come to a complete stop, keep foot pedal fully depressed (engages all 4 brakes), put into park, engage parking brake all the way (rear drums only, i believe) then release foot pedal all the way.

line lock?