handbrake not holding car

[02gzm]

I thought it was common knowledge to always put it in first or park when on a hill?

[Mr_will]

I thought that was the sole purpose of having a hand brake?

as aaronng said its there more to assist either the P function in an auto, or 1st/reverse in a manual, and for hill starts etc.

leaving your car on any sort of slope and relying on the hand brake alone is a very bad idea.

[LittleDragon^^]

Ohhhh...That makes sense.
I suppose I've never had to use both at once since there aren't many hills in Darwin that I've had to park on!
My hand brake cable snapped about a year ago and I had to use 1st for a little while. Gave myself a shock a few times when I went to start my car without having the clutch pressed in! haha!

[aaronng]

Ohhhh...That makes sense.
I suppose I've never had to use both at once since there aren't many hills in Darwin that I've had to park on!
My hand brake cable snapped about a year ago and I had to use 1st for a little while. Gave myself a shock a few times when I went to start my car without having the clutch pressed in! haha!

First rule of driving manual. Shake your knob left and right before starting the engine. You'll see lots of oldies doing that when they drive stick. Make it a habit.

[02gzm]

Ohhhh...That makes sense.
I suppose I've never had to use both at once since there aren't many hills in Darwin that I've had to park on!
My hand brake cable snapped about a year ago and I had to use 1st for a little while. Gave myself a shock a few times when I went to start my car without having the clutch pressed in! haha!

Should be clutching in when you start the car anyway

[FDBenni]

Yup should be habit to clutch in before you start the car, you never know you could have knocked your gearstick in gear before u left the car.

[bennjamin]

yup always put the car in the OPPOSITE gear that you are facing on a hill

IE facing downhill put it in R
facing uphill put it in 1st.

[LittleDragon^^]

That's just dodgy Darwin driving schools. I got my license 8 years ago and wasn't told any of that!

[curtis265]

A lot of my friends lack that knowledge about parking in 1st or R. They rely solely on the handbrake.

I drove one of those friend's cars and parked it in 1st. He almost went into a bimmer... tee hee!

[02gzm]

It's also good practice to clutch in when you start the car so the input shaft is disengaged. Means slightly less work for the starter motor and less chance it will fail over time.

[fitme]

hand brake first then 1st gear(m/t) or P(a/t)...i dont want to rely the weight of the car on the tranny...and it is much easier to release the stick to N..

hand brake should hold the car....you just need to adjust the cable behind the handbrake handle..same principle as the bike caliper brakes..onced the pads are eaten...you need to adjust the cable length


most of new cars now has safety features...it wont start unless you put it on "P"..dont know abot M/T..

[02gzm]

I'm pretty sure you'll know about it if you try to start a manual in first gear