I got handbrake wrong all these years

[Fast-n-Furious]

Ever since I learned how to drive back in the teenage years, I rarely rarely use the handbrake. When I had to park on a slope, I would just pull the handbrake AFTER switching to Parking gear and turning off the engine. I've been doing this without realizing it's the wrong order until today. Hope I'm not the only one...

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[Rock Hopper]

Yes...."handbrake" first, then put transmission into "park". Otherwise all the weight of the vehicle is on the transmission locking pin.

Parking the vehicle with the proper sequence will also make it easier to shift back out of park.

 

[Fast-n-Furious]

Yes...."handbrake" first, then put transmission into "park". Otherwise all the weight of the vehicle is on the transmission locking pin.

Parking the vehicle with the proper sequence will also make it easier to shift back out of park.

Most of the times I park on a relatively flat surface and don’t even use the handbrake.

 

[1BadManVan]

I just hold the brake when I throw it in park and dont let off the brake until I pull the parking brake. Has the same effect lol

 

[Fast-n-Furious]

And you can use it if you’re backing down a dirt slope so your fronts don’t lock and slide

Thanks, never knew about this use case.

 

[zakaron]

Some vehicles have an electronic parking brake that won't engage until the transmission (auto) is in park, like my company work vehicle (Jeep Cherokee). For that I always hold the brake with my foot while I put it into park, set the electronic parking brake, then let my foot go. I can feel the vehicle come to rest on the parking brake vs against the transmission pawl. If I'm on a flat surface, I usually don't both with the parking brake then.

Now this advise also applies to manual vehicles. My personal vehicles are all manual, so I always apply the handbrake first, let the car come to reset against the handbrake, then put the transmission in first (if facing uphill) or reverse (if facing downhill).

Funny story: when the parking brake cables seized on my GTO, I had to rely on the transmission being in gear and engine compression to keep the vehicle parked until I got the parts in to replace the cables. I visited my brother one time who lived on a hill. I had it in first facing up hill. Got out and walked around the car only to see it nudge backwards about 1/2". It paused, then it did it again. I realized gravity + 3700 lbs was more than what 10.2:1 compression on the LS1 could hold. It was slightly humorous because the car would actually pause as it fought compression, then it would roll another 1/2" and repeat. I got back in and parked at the bottom of the hill that day, but I still laugh picturing it roll then pause, roll then pause.

 

[rickinAZ]

I've never used the handbrake on an automatic car. And...I lived at 8,200' for thirty years, so there were plenty of hills. Was I tempting fate? That said, it's not like I was purposely parking on a grade.

 

[unsavory]

I've never used the handbrake on an automatic car. And...I lived at 8,200' for thirty years, so there were plenty of hills. Was I tempting fate?

Yes

 

[rickinAZ]

Yes

Well...in my youth I didn't wear seatbelts, rode in the beds of pickups and went swimming right after eating. I suspect that the parking brake danger is not exactly the Sword of Damocles. There is SO much more to worry about.

 

[Fast-n-Furious]

Some vehicles have an electronic parking brake that won't engage until the transmission (auto) is in park, like my company work vehicle (Jeep Cherokee). For that I always hold the brake with my foot while I put it into park, set the electronic parking brake, then let my foot go. I can feel the vehicle come to rest on the parking brake vs against the transmission pawl. If I'm on a flat surface, I usually don't both with the parking brake then.

Now this advise also applies to manual vehicles. My personal vehicles are all manual, so I always apply the handbrake first, let the car come to reset against the handbrake, then put the transmission in first (if facing uphill) or reverse (if facing downhill).

Funny story: when the parking brake cables seized on my GTO, I had to rely on the transmission being in gear and engine compression to keep the vehicle parked until I got the parts in to replace the cables. I visited my brother one time who lived on a hill. I had it in first facing up hill. Got out and walked around the car only to see it nudge backwards about 1/2". It paused, then it did it again. I realized gravity + 3700 lbs was more than what 10.2:1 compression on the LS1 could hold. It was slightly humorous because the car would actually pause as it fought compression, then it would roll another 1/2" and repeat. I got back in and parked at the bottom of the hill that day, but I still laugh picturing it roll then pause, roll then pause.

I’ve had two cars with electronic parking brake, one is push of a button and the other is a lever. They are either 0 or 1, not like the JL’s handbrake that you can pull to adjust a bit.

 

[ArcadeTracks]

I didn't even know about using the handbrake every time until I was reading through the Wrangler manual a few months ago! Did some research and also asked a lot of people I know. It seems I definitely wasn't alone in my naivete, and I was most certainly "doing it wrong" all those years.
It wasn't too difficult to change this habit,. Now I handbrake, then shift into park every time. (auto. trans.)

Fwiw, I don't blame the person who taught me to drive. None of the people I know "in real life" use the hand brake unless parked on a slope - and they usually engage it after they have shifted the vehicle into park and turned off the engine. Just like the OP.

(I'm also used to hearing it called the "emergency brake" or e-brake, although I have heard it called a parking brake occassionally -- maybe I thought it was because of manual transmissions?)

 

[Heimkehr]

The vehicles I've owned have been equipped with one of the following designs:

Traditional
Press pedal to engage; pull Release lever to disengage

A variation on Traditional
Press pedal to engage; press it a bit further (and harder) to disengage

Electric
Vehicle in Park, foot on brake, pull up on rocker switch to engage; foot on brake and press down on same switch to disengage

Wrangler (a true, dual-purpose emergency/parking brake):
-Pull up on hand lever with thumb button depressed to use as proxy rear brake for slowing
-Pull lever up with ratcheting action (no button press) to engage; depress button and lower to disengage

The Wrangler, which uses a true, dual-purpose emergency/parking brake design, is by far my preference here.

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Yes, with an auto trans, do engage the parking brake first, so that the parking pawl isn't being used in a manner beyond its engineered capabilities. Doing so may not damage it in the short term, but harm will be done on the installment plan.

 

[Alan_Hepburn]

Many years ago I had a Ford F350 long bed crew cab - it had developed an issue with a drive shaft U-joint. I could get underneath and easily move the driveshaft by twisting it, and by moving it up and down: definitely a loose U-joint! I took it in to a shop because I didn't have time to work on it, and left it. I got a call a couple of hours later that it was ready to pick up, so I drove back to get it. The service writer said that it was ready to go and I got in and drove a few feet - I could still feel, and hear, the loose U-joint so I backed it up and grabbed the service writer to complain. The tech came out, moved the truck to the front of his bay, put it in P and got under it to check things out - the driveshaft was tight as a drum so he showed me. I told him to get back in, move the truck a bit, set the brake, THEN put it in P - sure enough the U-joint play was evident!

By not using the parking brake the vehicle is free to move until the parking pawl grabs, and that loads up the drive train, eliminating any movement in U-joints, etc.

 

[1BadManVan]

Well...in my youth I didn't wear seatbelts, rode in the beds of pickups and went swimming right after eating. I suspect that the parking brake danger is not exactly the Sword of Damocles. There is SO much more to worry about.

Just because you survived some stupid decisions in your youth doesn’t mean it was the smart decision or couldn’t have ended badly. Only takes something to go sideways once to make you regret not taking the extra step. I rather take the .5 seconds to pull up the hand brake and save the extra pressure on the pin or risk even the smallest chance of the vehicle rolling away if the pin were to fail.

Not like you’re being asked to invest into an extra safe step, it’s right there from the factory and there for a reason.

 

[AFD]

Yes...."handbrake" first, then put transmission into "park". Otherwise all the weight of the vehicle is on the transmission locking pin.

Parking the vehicle with the proper sequence will also make it easier to shift back out of park.

Probably a stupid question since I've been driving a manual for a long time and just recently switched back to an automatic after many years, but going from say drive to park or park to drive, should it be one deliberate movement going straight from P to D, quickly passing through the other gears (reverse and neutral) or should you briefly pause at each gear?

I've never had an electronic shifter before, just the old mechanical center and column mount style, so maybe it doesn't even matter anymore. Anyone know?

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