Do you use parking brake?

Could depend a lot on climate. On the west coast of BC, never had that happen, or heard of it, on cars with drum brakes, starting in the early eighties.

 

Rear discs have small drums in most cases for parking duties. The one thing discs suck at is parking use.

The couple times I've had the parking brakes freeze in 10 years, I was able to break in by just moving.

 

I once saw a guy driving around the parking lot at my University with he rears locked and his fronts dragging them along across the snow and ice. Looked like he had about as much control as a first-time ice-skater.

 

He should have tried rocking them. That worked for me the one time the rear wheels started dragging.

 

His way was funnier (since he didn't hit anything).

 

Hmm...
So it seems some people don't use their parking brake for fear of it freezing.
Sometimes with an unpredictable, "End Of The World" rapid temperature drop.

And some are just afraid of wearing out the cable.

You know....I'm still just going to use mine.
Sue me, if I like my car NOT moving when parked...even a little.

I'll let you know if I end up prematurely replacing the cable, and/or unable to use the vehicle to escape the encroaching Ice Flow due to rapid environmental change.

 

As a teenager, I snapped a parking brake cable on one of dad's vehicles when stepping very hard on the pedal to get the poorly working brake to hold. Had to re-park the car somewhere else flat.

The repairs for that were vastly cheaper than the times (<-- note, more than once) dad didn't use his parking brake at all, damaging someone else's property (house, truck, etc.)

Also cheaper than the time sis got confused and interrupted by unexpected arrivals, botching the 2-4WD transfer case on a pickup and leaving it in neutral, such that rolled away, through a fence, across a field, and into the brush at the creek. But dad isn't blameless there either, as he knew the parking brake was working very poorly but didn't get it fixed. While sis used it, she didn't know it was bad.

 

I was just going to ask this same question, but did a search to see if it had been asked before.
I used to apply the parking brake all the time (and always do if I'm anywhere BUT parked in my garage).

But about a year ago I started not bothering to apply the parking brake in my old Civic, and have kind of kept up the practice with my new Prime. If it was on any kind of incline, I wouldn't, of course, but the garage is completely flat, and since Toyota puts the brake where your foot is (instead of where your hand is), it's a little more effort to apply the parking brake, so I've not been applying it, only when not at home in the garage. Whenever I'm away from home -- even if it's flat -- I will. I don't imagine/hope it won't cause any harm, doesn't seem like there's any weight resting on the "gears" in Park when it's completely flat and level..

 

Sounds like you must have grown up in a very hilly environment? So, I guess putting it in park (or in gear for a manual transmission) and/or curbing the tires (assuming you you had curbs in your area) didn't help?

Thankfully, I could as a kid, and can now, park in a garage...


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Yes, the Rocky Mountain region is hilly. Curbs were just in the fully developed town cores and better developed portions of residential areas, most certainly not in any rural, agricultural, or National Forest areas. All of these rigs had manual transmissions, so had no Park position.

Most of them were old too, so declining engine compression limited the effectiveness of leaving it in gear. But on my last Ford, in Seattle, a carpool meeting location was steep enough that even at less than three years old, leaving it in gear (tried both 1st and R) and with the parking brake fully set, wasn't enough to hold hit. I could feel each cylinder hold a few seconds, then release. That area was curbed, but I was fearful enough of jumping the curb to go look for a less steep parking space.

 

Makes you want to take along wheel chocks. Oddly, they are shown in the Owner's Manual, to be used on the the wheel diagonally opposite when jacking up a flat. Toyota could earn some brownie points, by supplying them; think they could fit inside the rim of the spare.

 

Fortunately, in the rural area where I grew up, 'natural' wheel chocks (a.k.a. rocks) where usually readily available. But since the selection is frequently poor compared to the purpose-built version, perhaps I should throw at least one into each car.

 

The Toyota instruction above, saying "in front of" and "behind" for wheel chock placement, seems a little remiss. I like both sides, and really slam them in.

 

always use parking brake. flat. hills. home. everywhere. it's automatic.

 

Still haven't set it on my Prime, but I've only had it three weeks. Don't plan to ever set it, though, except for when I put the car on jacks.

 

Always use it in all my vehicles. It stops me from having to remember if I put it on or not when I leave. Always assume it was on.

 

You can modulate the application: flat slab in our garage: I apply parking brake, but not too heavy.

 

Why would you not use the parking brake? It's a very good habit to develop. Bad idea if you decide you'll remember when you're on a hill or not. There's a reason for parking brakes. You should use it.

 

Because it's completely unnecessary in all but the most extreme conditions.

The traction from the front wheels got you to where you parked and is going to have to get out of where you parked. It's a very unusual situation that the traction from the front wheels won't keep you where you're parked for the time between getting there and leaving.

And I don't consider it a parking brake, primarily. It's primarily an emergency brake for the extremely rare event that your hydraulic brakes fail. So I want to preserve its lifetime for that unusual event. Fortunately, in the over 30 years I've been driving, I've never had to use it for either purpose. In fact, I've only ever used the mechanical brake for manual-transmission cars parked on a steep hill or when I have one wheel off the ground on a jack.

 

Yeah, me too. Always have always will.


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