Parking Brake Question

[chetJ]

Do you guys use the parking brake ? The manual seems to suggest that you should use it every time you stop the T4R. Will not using the parking brake damage my T4R in anyway? Are there any advantages to using the parking brake?

 

[Antman]

I use mine everytime. If someone is nice enough to run into your bumper while parked, it could damage your transmission. Having the parking brake on can help minimize the shock. Won't help your bumper out though:cry2:

 

[zepjet]

In most vehicles, parking brakes use a cable (i.e., they're not hydraulic). If you don't use them regularly they rust, freeze up, and become unusable. It's best to either use it all the time or not at all.

 

[1000MPH]

I only use mine on an incline but it's pretty useless unless I push it halfway thru the floorboards.

 

[tonkat]

I was always told to never use the parking brake in winter conditions since the cable can freeze... and you don't want that to happen if your parking brake is engaged.

 

[SevenMaryThree]

The little light and beeper aren't enough to warn my dumb ass that it is still engaged. So I don't 'use' it, but I do exercise it when I get in and out of the vehicle.

I had to replace two of them on my last Tundra. Lesson learned.

 

[chetJ]

Ok so it looks like-

Ok- so it looks like most people on here do not like using the parking brake for the fear of either the line freezing or it being left on while driving. When I read the manual yesterday (finally got a chance to do it) I was afraid that by not using it I had damaged my new T4R or something..whew!

 

[chetJ]

SEVENMARYTHREE- Where is the little light located on the dash- and does the beeper continue beeping continuously if the truck is being driven while the brake is still engaged?

 

[Ryan_S]

I think the problem in the winter is the shoes freezing to the drum. They dont get heated up so they are alway wet, When The park brake is engaged they freeze. That's what happens in my WRX anyway.

 

[scanny]

I think the problem in the winter is the shoes freezing to the drum.

Yes, that the reason I too don't use parking brake in winter. But when it's getting warmer I don't use parking brake out of habbit : )

 

[Uneek]

Use it all the time, even when in the snow. The coldest condition I've used them in were in the teens. No problems with it in cold weather. What I do is engage and disengage a couple times then set it for good. Also the parking brake is stronger holding the vehicle from rolling forward than it does backwards, at least with my 4Runner, it's that way. So when I'm in the snow, I usually need to back out.

Mine has gotten stuck a few times here and there, but it's usually because I sprayed a lot of water over the rear wheels/breaks with the pressure washer. But rolling backwards a few inches breaks it free.

The advantage of using the parking brake is the weight of the 4Runner is held by them rather than the parking pawl. I always set the parking brake first when I park, shift into neutral, so that if it rolls forward on backwards the weight is on the brakes and then into park. When I leave, I shift into gear and then release the parking brake.

:iagree: with the earlier poster, I have to stomp the parking brake into the floor, otherwise the 4Runner will roll on an incline. My Tacoma on the other hand just needs to pushed half way down. I got to adjust the 4Runner's e-brake.