Parked on incline

[JustSonic]

Just had a major scare when I was called over the intercom at a restaurant that a white chevy was rolling backwards in the parking lot.

I walked outside where my car was parked on a roughly 20-30 degree parking strip. The parking brake was set with it in gear yet it had come half way out of the stall.

Anyone else have this issue?

 

[4g63gst20]

Happened to me with my 2009 chevy aveo. Small engines and low compression wasn't very combo.

 

[wbjones]

after watching my Mom for these last few yrs (she's 91) and a few others, I've noticed that most folk that use their parking brake, don't pull it on enough ...

good test ...stop car, turn it off, set parking brake, take foot off brake, push clutch in ... if car rolls, pull brake a bit more, leave in low or reverse

if you can't get the car to sit with just the parking brake, then the cable probably needs adjusting ...

glad nothing bad happened

 

[MORTIS]

Oh wow, that is a concern, especially in my case. In 40 years of driving I've never owned an automatic, and I've never parked any of my cars with the hand brake applied, just left in 1st gear, and none have ever moved on any incline. Seems I may have been pushing my luck with a 1.4L Sonic.

 

[The Champ]

The parking brake was set with it in gear yet it had come half way out of the stall.

What gear? Should be in 1st or reverse for best protection.

 

[JustSonic]

Always first gear for me.

I tested it today and found it would hold only at FULL lock. One click off and it rolled back. In gear only and it rolled back, just very slowly.

Maybe Im used to the foot brake from my truck but I have to really yank the handle to get it to full lock. I guess stay away from hill parking; almost impossible in a Rocky Mountain state.

 

[Palmaris]

Always first gear for me.

I tested it today and found it would hold only at FULL lock. One click off and it rolled back. In gear only and it rolled back, just very slowly.

Maybe Im used to the foot brake from my truck but I have to really yank the handle to get it to full lock. I guess stay away from hill parking; almost impossible in a Rocky Mountain state.

That can easily be adjusted so that it works better for you! Don't assume it was set perfectly from the factory.

 

[JustSonic]

Why wouldn't the engine/transmission be enough to holdnit though?

 

[Palmaris]

Ha! I don't know. And I'm a Mechanical Engineer! But obviously it wasn't designed for that, That's why they call it a parking brake, its there for when you park and I would use it if I parked on a pool table.

p.s. engineering answer would say that the force of the car wanting to roll downhill is obviously larger than the force of the 4 piston seals and camshaft angles and bearings wanting to remain stuck in their same position.

 

[Papasonic]

A small displacement engine with only four cylinders, and lubrication technology that provides limited internal resistance to rotation; is why just leaving the manual transmission in gear is insufficient to prevent the vehicle from rolling when parked on an incline. The best resistance to engine rotation while in gear would be the lowest gear ratio, which in the Sonic, would be first gear, not reverse. Even this is insufficient to prevent movement without application of the parking brake too. You can test if the parking brake is applied sufficiently by depressing the clutch, after the vehicle is in gear with the park brake set; if it rolls, the park brake needs to be set tighter by applying more force when applying.

 

[wbjones]

Oh wow, that is a concern, especially in my case. In 40 years of driving I've never owned an automatic, and I've never parked any of my cars with the hand brake applied, just left in 1st gear, and none have ever moved on any incline. Seems I may have been pushing my luck with a 1.4L Sonic.

it's even more important with an automatic ... the parking pawl CAN over time become a real PITA if you don't use the parking brake religiously ... to the point that the car will rock backward or forward to the point that you CAN'T get it out of park, without someone pushing the car back up the hill to relieve the pressure on the pawl

YOU ARE STUCK right there ... engine started and no way to move the car

the parking brake is there for a reason, and many folk refuse to use it

 

[MORTIS]

it's even more important with an automatic ... the parking pawl CAN over time become a real PITA if you don't use the parking brake religiously ... to the point that the car will rock backward or forward to the point that you CAN'T get it out of park, without someone pushing the car back up the hill to relieve the pressure on the pawl

YOU ARE STUCK right there ... engine started and no way to move the car

the parking brake is there for a reason, and many folk refuse to use it

My wife has had several automatics and I still never used the parking brake when parked but those cars were mostly larger displacement engines which may be irreverent on an auto when the tranny is set to 'Park', yet still never a problem pulling the tranny out of Park.
Numerous times I've parked my manual Sonic on a somewhat steep forward incline in 1st gear and no brake, and it held fine, but I will be more conscientious of doing that from now on.

 

[bluejay]

it says in the owners manual that if parked on an incline facing upwards to put car in 1st gear with P-brake on and when facing downhill put the car in reverse with the parking brake on. i was surprised to learn that, ive always just put in 1st no matter what way i was facing . i have only ever owned small displacement cars and have never had a car move while it was in gear.

 

[MORTIS]

it says in the owners manual that if parked on an incline facing upwards to put car in 1st gear with P-brake on and when facing downhill put the car in reverse with the parking brake on. i was surprised to learn that, ive always just put in 1st no matter what way i was facing . i have only ever owned small displacement cars and have never had a car move while it was in gear.

Have you always used the parking brake in combo with 1st gear?

 

[Papasonic]

I also agree that the park brake be applied on an auto trans Sonic; especially when on an incline. There is tremendous pressure on the parking pawl assembly within the transmission, if attempting to prevent vehicle movement when parking on an incline.

My reasoning for using first gear vs reverse on a manual trans, is the gear ratio. The reverse gear ratio is close to the gear ratio in second gear, thus less resistance to rotating the engine in reverse than in first gear.

 

[MaD]

Wow... I rarely ever use my p-brake, only time I do is when on a steep 6% or so. In my bugs, always used 1st gear, some times the p-brake due to the very high compression engines I had, my last was a 2110 big valves, Engle 120 cam pushing about 115hp... [emoji41] it was a blast to drive.

Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk

 

[bluejay]

i always leave it in a gear with the P brake on even on flat ground.i take it out of gear b4 i start the car

 

[bluejay]

i also use the P brake on my 2015 auto equinox .

 

[Papasonic]

It's a good habit to always use the parking brake with either a manual or auto transmission. Ones that never get used often wont work when needed: The cable and/or linkage will sometimes corrode or seize. When this occurs, it often will not apply correctly, and if it does appear to activate properly, it often wont release.

 

[MORTIS]

^ I agree that a p-brake that is never used may seize up and fail if ever needed. Like I said, I never use it when parked and engine off, but of course I do use it if momentarily parked with the engine running.
My biggest concern is when Other people park my car and apply the p-brake, especially service techs. I actually stick a small note in a clearly visible spot saying "Do not park outside with handbrake applied, leave in 1st gear"; so far the techs always do as requested. In the few instances I forgot to leave the note, I found the brake pulled on so hard that it stretched the cable.
I keep all visible brake linkage lubed, and the p-brakes on all the cars I've owned have always worked and never needed adjustment.