i heard that putting your car into first gear when you are parked with the brake on "saves your brake pads"

but aren't you supposed to put it in neutral when you park?

 

well not supposed to put it in neutral but its highly reccomended.. just when you leave it in gear you have to remeber to clutch in..but with the g37 it doesnt let u turn on the car without having your foot on the clutch so it doesnt really matter... the saving the brake pad part i have no clue..

i always leave it in N with the brake up, thats just the way i was taught

 

You can park in any gear you like; just make sure that your parking brake is firmly engaged. If you are parked up a hill, leave it in 1st gear; if you are parked facing downhill, leave it in reverse.

 

i understand that, but what about the "saving brake pads" part

 

I always park my car in first gear and not use the parking brake. Didn't know there was a difference with the braking pads, (first gear or neutral with parking brake).

 

You should ALWAYS use the parking brake.

I can't say it's BS, but in 25 years of driving a manual transmission this is the first I've heard of it.

 

Hey Black Betty, I've been driving a manual for 20 years now and never really used the parking brake(on hills of course) can you tell me why and what is the difference. If your on a flat surface, why would you use the parking break if I am already in first gear (parked). I don't understand what the difference is(being serious).

 

Your normal driving brakes and the parking breaks are completely different pads. The parking brake is actually really small. I don't know why you'd care to save your parking brake unless you do a lot of drifting competitions.

The only thing negative about using the parking brake is if you've run your car REALLY hard and used the normal driving brakes to the extent that you've really heated up the brake rotors. Then you shouldn't engage the parking brake right away until the rotors have cooled off because it could warp the rotor in the spot the parking brake is compressing. But, in all reality, you can only heat your rotors up to this point if you race on a track.

 

Your car can have the transmission damaged if it is pushed or happens to roll while in gear on a surface that you feel is flat but actually has a slight incline to it. It's not good for the transmission to be put in a bind, and if you park it in gear with no brake applied, any momentum forward or backward may put it in a bind even though it doesn't roll away. In reality it's not likely to happen very often. I suppose it's mostly just a good safety habit; it's in my nature because of my work.

 

+1

That's true, it would be an ugly situation for the car to receieve pressure whether externally or from an incline that would cause it to move while OFF and in Gear -- just sounds like it shouldn't happen.

 

I don't EVER use the parking brake, anymore.
Living up here, the cable invariably rusts up and the parking brake will eventually not work, and worse yet, get stuck in the "on" position.

It's happened to me twice----------never again-

As far as damage, the chances are SO remote of that happening, it's ludicrous to even give it more than a cursory thought.

When I drive a standard, usually any gear is good enough, unless you're on a hill, at which point, I'll use 1st gear, and turn the wheels into the curb.

The idea of having some sort of savings on the brake pads is ridiculous and for all practical purposes, doesn't exist-

 

Not using the parking brake? SERIOUSLY? Well there is a guy who does this crap out were I work and it didn't turn out so good for him when we had 80mph wind and it blew his car into the car parked in front of his. The sent out a building message about it. I don't think the guy was happen especially since he hit a Mercedes. lol. It is a "parking" brake so use it when you park...

And I don't see anyway that this would be hurting your brakes. Do your brake pads wear down when you are stilling in your car and you press the brake peddle down over and over again while parked? NO. The brake peddles wear due to friction from the pad hitting the rotor as it moves.

And if your cable is rusting up, you have a much bigger issue and you should look at getting that fixed.

 

A thousand tines NO How do folks get this idea

http://my350z.com/forum/showthread.php?t=114542

Lou

 

Your lack of experience speaks volumes-

For one thing----------------you can't FIX a rusted up parking brake cable.
I've been driving for over 40 yrs.
How about you??

Also: Do you KNOW for certain that the incident above was purely because the parking brake wasn't being used or that the vehicle was in 1st gear, or "Park," as per the car in question.

Either one would have prevented the car from moving.
It would slide first-

D'ya think the parking brake would stop the slide??

 

OK, 40+ years huh? Makes you an expert Well, I've been driving close to 55 years, and I'm certainly no expert. But, not using the parking brake, makes absolutely no sense to me. I've lived and driven in all climates and never had a problem using the parking brake. Any vehicle needs to be in gear (or park) with the parking brake applied when parked.