emergency brake

[hello2006]

I was told that when you pull up or push down the emergency brake/hand brake you should press the brake pedal at the same time because it's bad for the car if you don't? is this true or does it not matter

[Pete_Coach]

It does not matter.
The parking brake is a separate unit. It depends on the car you have, you could have a very separate type of brake, from a independent drum brake to and electric one.

[sickcars]

The way I see it is that if your on a down hill, and you put the car in park and take your foot off the brake the car will slightly roll forward and the Transmission will lock it in place. This is putting strain on the transmission.

So its better to, stop the car, put it in park and while still holding the brake pull up the hand break and then let go of the break. Now the car wont roll forward and your not putting strain on the transmission.

[Dyno]

it doesn't matter

but...

if the car is on a hill you you want to put it in park then make sure you stop and set the parking brake, shift to neutral, release the brake pedal and press it (this puts the pressure on the parking brake) shift to park.

to release the parking brake make sure you press the brake pedal first because if you dont then the weight of the car will be stopped by the parking pin (assuming you are on an incline)

if you drive a manual car and park in gear then make sure you press the brake before releasing the parking brake, but im sure you would already know that if you drove stick.

[mr_raider]

The way I see it is that if your on a down hill, and you put the car in park and take your foot off the brake the car will slightly roll forward and the Transmission will lock it in place. This is putting strain on the transmission.


The transmission is not what's holding your car in park. It's actually disengaged just like in neutral. The stress is on the parking pin prawl. The danger on hill is that the pin may get locked from the car's weight if you don't engage the e-brake first. Your transmission won't get damaged.

[hello2006]

so it doesn't matter unless you are parking on a hill?

[Pete_Coach]

so it doesn't matter unless you are parking on a hill?
It does not matter at any time. Theoretically, you always have your foot on the brake when you are stopped anyway, right? Especially when on a hill. The key is to have it on when you are parked.
Sometimes, there is a situation where you have not pulled on it hard enough and the car rolls, you just have to make sure that it is in fact, engaged.

[MrBurns]

I would recommend that you use your parking brake every time you park, regardless of automatic or standard transmission. It could save your ass one day.