LPT: Test your emergency brake

Submitted by tbalonick t3_10m9kws in LifeProTips

You know that weird lever by the cup holders all covered in coffee grime? Or for the other half, that pedal all the way opposite the gas? Yeah that's your emergency brake.

Ideally you'll never need to use it, and 99% of you never will. But for those 1% that do, it would really really suck to need it and have it bind up or not work at all (which is more common than you'd think).

So go ahead, give it a pull/push, it should feel nice and firm and ratchet down well. Then go ahead and in a clear area put your car in drive or reverse and let off the brake, NO GAS PEDAL NEEDED. If your car moves you've got at issue that should be looked further into, it could be nothing more serious that an adjustment or a deglazing but could be much more.

I will note there is an exception to this. If you live somewhere that gets lots of snow and the roads are salted (the rust belt folks) and your vehicle has high mileage, maybe reconsider or have this looked at by a professional. The reason being is rusted up park brake components have a tendency to set and then not return and this is no Bueno when you want to start moving again. This also goes for super high mileage cars that have never had them used.

That is all. Be safe out there. 👍

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NyJosh t1_j61s0hu wrote

It's a parking brake, not an emergency brake. It's meant to hold the car in place on hills, etc. when you park to prevent putting all the weight of the car on the transmission.

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Bongos-Not-Bombs t1_j621m0h wrote

About once every few years at a boat ramp I'll see a parking pawl failure, and it's pretty funny when it happens.

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tbalonick OP t1_j61s5pq wrote

Bingo, that said there's such a small subset of vehicle owners using it as such.

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twohedwlf t1_j61rwxo wrote

You mean the parking brake? I'd hope everyone is using it frequently, you should be.

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Bongos-Not-Bombs t1_j621hua wrote

I drive a stick shift, I use it every day.

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lurkinglen t1_j64s2lt wrote

What does it have to do with a stick shift? Because you park in neutral?

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Bongos-Not-Bombs t1_j64vx0n wrote

It's another safety fallback, I wouldn't trust keeping it in gear alone.

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lurkinglen t1_j650gro wrote

But that's the same in an automatic drive, or an I missing something?

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Bongos-Not-Bombs t1_j655t6d wrote

It's not quite the same. In an automatic, you have something called a parking pawl, which is a little cam that prevents the transmission from moving when in park. When you park a manual in gear with the parking brake disengaged, all that's holding it there is engine compression - and park on a hill steep enough, you may find that the force of gravity is enough to overcome that.

Will you be OK 98% of the time? Probably, but I've parked my Jeep on pretty precarious inclines before off-road and if you make it muscle memory you don't have to worry about it.

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Avocado314 t1_j61szjk wrote

Have always engaged every time I park, always odd when I find people who don't. Good LPT.

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keepthetips t1_j61r8hf wrote

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Lanceo90 t1_j62z7b1 wrote

Maybe its just been tucked away somewhere I can't find it, but I was under the impression they stopped putting these in cars a decade ago.

Granted my data points are limited to my 2001 Hyundai Elantra having one, my 2011 Toyota Camry not, and work's 2014 Ford F150 not.

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CoffeemonsterNL t1_j63473y wrote

My 2010 Prius has a foot pedal for parking brake. Completely to the left, hard to confuse with a (non-existing) clutch.

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