Frozen Handbrake

RoaminRog

RoaminRog

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Does anybody else remember to leave the handbrake off in this weather, to stop the brakes freezing together? Either leave in gear or use good old fashioned house bricks.
 
RoaminRog said:
Does anybody else remember to leave the handbrake off in this weather, to stop the brakes freezing together? Either leave in gear or use good old fashioned house bricks.
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I never put it on, just leave the car in gear, I think it encourages the handbrake cables to stretch.

:idea-007::idea-007::idea-007:
 
Never on when parked up at home, just leave in gear and house brick.
My late wife did the opposite, handbrake on and out of gear regardless of where she parked up her car. I know of 2 people who had the handbrake fail when parked up and out of gear and their car rolled away. A neighbour did the same and his car ran into his garage door, an expensive fix !
 
I use the handbrake and leave it in gear,except when it goes in to a garage for work to be done .I then i leave it in neutral as the next person getting in may turn the key without checking it is out of gear
 
Thanks for the reminder, I always used to leave handbrake off if parking for any length of time but last two cars have had electronic handbrake linked in with auto box and ignition and have got out the habit. Van has been parked for 3 weeks with handbrake on out of gear (it is on the flat), strange how you forget things isn’t it? Or maybe going senile
 
I seem to remember a news item on TV sometime ago about cars [Citroens ] I think rolling away after being parked on slopes with the handbrake on, the reason was that when parked the brakes were hot and as they cooled the brakes came off because of contraction ??
 
vindiboy said:
I seem to remember a news item on TV sometime ago about cars [Citroens ] I think rolling away after being parked on slopes with the handbrake on, the reason was that when parked the brakes were hot and as they cooled the brakes came off because of contraction ??
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It happens with cars with the 'Top Hat' type disc brakes. The area of the Parking brake is much smaller than the Drum type (when you manually moved the whole rear brake shoe).

I always leave my car and motorhome in gear (especially as the motorhome is parked on my sloping driveway). Even without the handbrake being on, it makes a loud noise when I reverse off the chocks if it has stood a long time.
 
vindiboy said:
I seem to remember a news item on TV sometime ago about cars [Citroens ] I think rolling away after being parked on slopes with the handbrake on, the reason was that when parked the brakes were hot and as they cooled the brakes came off because of contraction ??
Click to expand...
They did a recall and changed the ratchet on the handbrake to make people pull it on harder, people were just pulling on the first click.

:D
 
I would hate to have to explain to the police and my insurances company why my van handbrakes was off, as it was being removed from my neighbors kitchen ? .
 
vindiboy said:
I seem to remember a news item on TV sometime ago about cars [Citroens ] I think rolling away after being parked on slopes with the handbrake on, the reason was that when parked the brakes were hot and as they cooled the brakes came off because of contraction ??
Click to expand...

Nop the drums will shrink and tighten when cooling.h/brake cables wont stretch but the shoes will bond to the drums if left on to long,always better to rock van back and forth a inch or so to free up before moving of otherwise the linnings can be ripped of.
 
For my car which gets used most days I always use the handbrake, never had problems.
For the van which might be parked up for several weeks always leave it with handbrake off, I did once leave the handbrake on for couple of months and it made hell of a bang as the shoes released.
 
Nabsim said:
Thanks for the reminder, I always used to leave handbrake off if parking for any length of time but last two cars have had electronic handbrake linked in with auto box and ignition and have got out the habit. Van has been parked for 3 weeks with handbrake on out of gear (it is on the flat), strange how you forget things isn’t it? Or maybe going senile
Click to expand...


Oh, I was going to post a photo of what happened to my shed, when a very sporty, brand new, Mercedes hatchback, rolled down the drive & crashed into it, when the push button, handbrake gizmo thingy that you mention, failed or wasn’t applied correctly!
But as a newbie, I haven’t passed verification yet so it won’t let me lol!
 
Just scared myself nearly to death! This thread prompted me to check if I'd left the handbrake on... I always leave Birdie in 1st gear after backing her down my little sloping drive but don't always remember about the handbrake. So, out I went, checked that the gearstick was properly in 1st and took the handbrake off. When I got out and shut the door the van started wobbling and moving towards the house!! :scared: Had to dive back in super-quick and pull the handbrake back on... plus I've added a couple of house bricks. I'm guessing there's an invisible layer of ice on the drive and taking the handbrake off was just enough to settle the tyres onto a slightly different spot that wasn't as dry. Phew!
 
trevskoda said:
Nop the drums will shrink and tighten when cooling.h/brake cables wont stretch but the shoes will bond to the drums if left on to long,always better to rock van back and forth a inch or so to free up before moving of otherwise the linnings can be ripped of.
Click to expand...
No Trev,

the Citroen hydraulic handbrake issue, these were cable operated handbrakes on the front wheel disk, not drum, the fix was a new replacement handbrake ratchet that made people pull the handbrake on harder,

a bodge way was for the first teeth on the ratchet to be ground off to make people pull harder.

There was nothing actually wrong with the disc brake pads.

:wave:
 
molly 2 said:
I would hate to have to explain to the police and my insurances company why my van handbrakes was off, as it was being removed from my neighbors kitchen ? .
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Surely it would be more difficult to remove it from their kitchen with the handbrake on?

Seriously though, always leave it in first or reverse gear, then if the handbrake fails for whatever reason, it's still not going anywhere.
 
Hen on the Nest said:
Oh, I was going to post a photo of what happened to my shed, when a very sporty, brand new, Mercedes hatchback, rolled down the drive & crashed into it, when the push button, handbrake gizmo thingy that you mention, failed or wasn’t applied correctly!
But as a newbie, I haven’t passed verification yet so it won’t let me lol!
Click to expand...

Mine sounds different to that. If you don’t put it by flicking switch it will come on when you turn engine off. I had a job convincing Caz you had to do anything as it was always coming on she thought you didn’t need to do anything :)

I suppose she was right really as you don’t, it will put itself on and it comes off when you start to drive
 
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