Do we really need a parking brake

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stans52

New member
Joined
Oct 4, 2018
Messages
3
Location
encinitas ca
I will be putting a T5 transmission in my 52 Plymouth when one comes available. With it there goes my Plymouth transmission parking brake. I got to thinking about it. Do I really need a parking brake? I never use one in any of my vehicles. Only if I park on a very steep hill which is hardly ever. I will just stay away from hills. I do have a Jeep Cherokee rear end which will fit with work. Then I have a E brake. Do I need the extra work? Anyone running without a parking brake? Stan
 
Driveshaft mounted E-brake is an option, like a modern version of your old trans brake. Easy to install & there are a variety of kits on the market.
 
Where I live, I also have to have an Emergency brake to pass the inspection to get my registration. All of the rear-ends that I have used have a cable operated mechanism to spread the shoes and apply the brakes. I just have to engineer a connection from the end of the cables to my E-brake lever or pedal. With the T-5 in my '36 truck, I still use the E-brake a lot.
 

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Personally, I wouldn't have a vehicle without one. You just never know when something weird is going to happen, and a second line of defense is nice to have. Putting the one in my Ford was a hassle, but I'm glad I did it. :)
 
Back in my VW days I was driving along a suburban street at 40 in a 30 when I spotted a speed trap just ahead. I didn't want to light up the brake lights so I pulled the parking brake lever. Problem was I forgot to hold the button in. The rear wheels locked up and I slid to a stop right in front of the nice man with the radar gun.
He said, "Nice one", and waved me down the road.

That was in the 70's and I haven't encountered a similar situation since so I haven't needed a parking brake.
 
I vote yes to have one. My Samurai has a horrible setup that rusts up and needs to be kept lubed constantly. I have needed it a few times and didn't have it. Busted a brake line and lost all the fluid. Drove home downshifting. REALLY would have loved to have it then. Jim
 
Being w/o a parking brake reminds me of my first car, a 62 Chrysler New Port. It also had the parking brake on the rear of the trannie, but an internal type instead of an external band, like the older cars. It was worn out, so it wouldn't hold the car anymore, and that transmission (push button) had no Park. Because it didn't affect the regular brakes, and because I would have to crawl under the car and drop the driveshaft to fix it, I just kept a wheel chock handy in the front seat area. I'd open the door, set it out, then let the car roll slowly forward or back depending on the direction the road slanted, and then reverse the process when I was leaving.
 
Good story, bob w. :D


I've had brake failure twice in my life and the E-brake saved my skin both times.

Those incidents were many years ago... anyhow, if either of those incidents were to happen today and I knowingly excluded a functioning E-brake, I'd expect to pay heavily due to words like "negligence", "liability" and "culpability". (Insurance agents, lawyers and morticians make their living on those words.)

In my awkward way, I'm simply trying to say, don't tempt fate. Make the car as safe as you know how, don't cut corners, don't "wake up dead" and never invite litigation to your table.

.
 
me also Dr. both times with single reservoir masters, one of the first things on this Mack was a working parking brake
 
You are thinking of the Emergency brake as just that; a brake that will save you in an emergency, [to keep the lawyers, insurance agents, and morticians at bay]. I'm not making light of this idea, it's important; but I'd like to add more to it. If you also think of this secondary system as a parking brake, you will use it quite a few times a day, and each time you will be thankful that you had the forethought, [or spirited advice] to add this brake to your car. It is also important to be comfortable in your car and not annoyed at your own corner-cutting.
 
At the garage I go to I mentioned emergency brake and was corrected that it is a parking brake. Back in the day they were called emergency brakes but somewhere along the line the name was change to parking brake. Jim
 
Good story, bob w. :D


I've had brake failure twice in my life and the E-brake saved my skin both times.

Those incidents were many years ago... anyhow, if either of those incidents were to happen today and I knowingly excluded a functioning E-brake, I'd expect to pay heavily due to words like "negligence", "liability" and "culpability". (Insurance agents, lawyers and morticians make their living on those words.)

In my awkward way, I'm simply trying to say, don't tempt fate. Make the car as safe as you know how, don't cut corners, don't "wake up dead" and never invite litigation to your table.

.

You are thinking of the Emergency brake as just that; a brake that will save you in an emergency, [to keep the lawyers, insurance agents, and morticians at bay]. I'm not making light of this idea, it's important; but I'd like to add more to it. If you also think of this secondary system as a parking brake, you will use it quite a few times a day, and each time you will be thankful that you had the forethought, [or spirited advice] to add this brake to your car. It is also important to be comfortable in your car and not annoyed at your own corner-cutting.

Well said, fellas!
 
Here in the rust belt I'll bet half the car 7 years or older do not have a working parking brake. They simply corrode to the point of being non-functional. You either have to use it all the time or not at all. Apply a parking brake that hasn't been used for a while and there's a good chance you'll be on a flat bed getting towed to a repair shop because it wouldn't release.

I'm pretty slow witted; if the brakes went out I wouldn't even think to step on that little pedal next to the kick panel. I'd just go blasting into that gas transport tanker serenely while my passengers were screaming their lungs out.
 
I have some similar stories of emergency stopping as above. 52 Plymouth? I had the 48 Dodge with the emergency brake shoes grabbing the driveshaft.

I am for now running a single barrel master cylinder. It is new, Oreilly had 1(one) left on the shelf. The wheel cylinders are all new. And still these brakes suck.

The yayhoos that put this contraption together moved the E/Parking brake grab bar on the floor to the right of the hump, passenger side. ??? Anyway, I practice using it just in case. I calmly tell my already frightened passengers that if I yell "stop!!", to quickly pull that bar up. The looks I get. I really need to upgrade the brakes, but for now leave myself a lot of stopping room.
 
You know what they say "If the brakes don't stop you something will""..I like the Ford explorer disc brake rears, rotor has built in drum for little e-brake shoes, works great, thos rears are 31 spline, 5 lug axles and all have trac lock units. Those rears are still reasonably priced and readily available. Buy one with cables still on it, easy hook-up.:)
 

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