no pun intended

So today at work, parked and went to out my emergency brake on, *BAM* foot went to floor. Tryed to release it, didnt come back up. Thought it slipped off the ractcet which is usually the case, not this time. Went inside, figred id look later. Lookin at my truck inside and i see something hanging from the bottom of the truck, went out to lok at it and sure enough its he emergency brake cable..

jee, one thing after another.. guess its not totally unexpected with 183k and 13(almost 14) years on it.. it was the original cable which got ALOT of use, me, my father and grandfather all used the e-brake everytime we parked.

Good habbit to get into, then you know your e-brake works and the cable doesnt freeze up.

Nice thing is, the aftermarket has the, and not to expensive. Not sure about the front cable, but the rears at least.

Fellro said:

Nice thing is, the aftermarket has the, and not to expensive. Not sure about the front cable, but the rears at least.

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well doesnt it suck that its the front cable

well isn't it just your lucky day... front cables are available from AZ for about $14 depending on wheel base... http://www.autozone.com/N,14400653/shopping/partTypeResultSet.htm

NeXtras said:

.........me, my father and grandfather all used the e-brake everytime we parked.

Good habbit to get into, then you know your e-brake works and the cable doesnt freeze up.

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It is a good thing to use them. If people saw what was holding the entire weight of their vehicles (auto trans) on hills they would not rely on it. The little parking "pawl" can break off or slip pretty easily.

hey if my e brake works I use it all the time-as stated good habit to get into

I have a manual myself, so nearly mandatory... sad thing is, it didn't work for the first two years I drove the truck... sure is nice to have them working now. Between being a pin having to shut off the truck to hook up the trailer, and the risk of it rolling off otherwise...

In MA its tecnicly the law to use the emergency brake when parked.. people will argue that and say only on a hill but my driving teacher said its mandatory all the time when parking or your car/truck isnt "properly secured"

i know people who have a manual and dont use there emergency brake.. jjst leafve it in gear and hope for the best... not a good idea

I never use the ebrake, auto or stick. Mine just has to work for inspection.

Not using the e-brake in a manual is a bad idea I think.

I've never had an auto tranny roll away in park, but I suppose it has happened to someone before.

The reason I always use it is that I'm a space cadet, and sometimes I will forget to pull the handbrake in the car. Sometimes I will also forget to put it in gear. However, never once (to date) have I forgotten to do both.

If it's a foot operated parking brake, I never forget for some reason.

I don't get it, why is it a bad idea to not use the e-brake in a manual? The flywheel/clutch don't hold it well enough?

I did the same thing you did, Nextras.. went to use it.. SNAP. Haven't used it since, I'll get around fixing it before I start driving again.

It's just a good habit to get into. You might bump the gearshift and knock it loose when you're taking something out of the seat, your girlfriend's purse strap might catch on it and knock it out of gear by accident, your rings are shot and the truck will slowly creep downhill (don't laugh I've seen it), etc.

Plus, if you're like me and you forget, it's good to have a backup in place.

Hey, sweet... my truck doesn't move no matter how big the hill it's on, guess my rings are in good shape. Lol.

andym said:

........I've never had an auto tranny roll away in park, but I suppose it has happened to someone before......

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Yes...It has happened many times before. Dad and I used to rebuild automatics. I have seen quite a few of them with broken parking "Pawls". You are relying on a tiny (maybe 1/2" square) tab to hold the entire weight of a vehicle!!!


I won't do it.

its odd, i know it doesnt work, but i still hit the pedal when i park. just force of habit. Lol throws me off balance when my foot goes right down to the floor quick.

I know its law in MA to use it. When i took my road test, the officer made sure i put the brake on everytime i parked the car

Lol, and you've got an auto.. I don't even have that habit and I have a manual.

NeXtras said:

I know its law in MA to use it.

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And in grand Massachusetts tradition, almost everyone ignores it.

Love to see that one enforced .. another one of the dumb laws that can't realistically be enforced.. I can understand the reason they would want such, but not really the way to go about it. However, they may use it as a way to ticket someone in the event a vehicle does roll away...

If ya don't use the E-Brake, read this

andym said:

I've never had an auto tranny roll away in park, but I suppose it has happened to someone before.

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Umm, if you EVER had it happen, if you're lucky, it'll only be VERY embarrassing.


I had a '73 E-350 LWB van decide to take a trip one night, with no one driving. It wasn't very good at driving itself, though.


Went somewhere in it earlier that day, bought parts for a weed-eater, and sat on the side with the doors open to repair the weed-eater. Parking brake WAS set, and old C5 was in Park. PO didn't do a very good job modding the linkage from the original 3-on-the-tree, so it tended to drop outta park, especially under light load. Parking brake held just fine while the drums/pads were still warm, but back end was pointed downhill. One bad thing about the E-Brake, it holds better forward than it does reverse.

So, finish what I'm doing, use the weed-eater, close and lock the van, and go inside and clean up for the evening. About 8:45pm, I hear what sounds like thunder, and think about the rain we'd been having. At 9:00 pm, someone knocks at my front door. It's a cop. Good lookin female cop. Now what? My van had been stolen (and recovered) about 3 months earlier. She asked if I owned a blue/white/silver van. Me: "Umm yup, is it gone again?" Cop: "Well, yes, but not very far. You REALLY need to see this."


I get my shoes on, and walk out with her, and there's my van, back end dropped off a 5 foot high retaining wall next to the neighbor's house. It had dropped off the wall and onto the step bumper, rocked, and bumped the house next door. It flattened a little aluminum siding, but otherwise no damage to the house, and very little to the van. Poor gal living in the house had knee surgery on BOTH knees the day before, and was TOTALLY freaked out thinking someone was trying to break into the house with something VERY large. Well, yeah, a LWB E-350 IS VERY LARGE. I guess it liked her, dunno. She really wasn't all that pretty. The cop was better looking, but wouldn't give me her phone number.


Ever try to pull an E-350 back up over a 5 foot high retaining wall? Doesn't do many favors for the hanger bearing on a 2 piece drive shaft, nor the exhaust, running boards, and ground effects. Wasn't very nice to the stone wall either. Gotta love that step bumper though. It hit the ground, hopped one time, then stopped the van just short of taking out the wall and the A/C system of the neighbor's. There it sat with the rear wheels hanging in mid air, and front wheels still up on top of the wall. Rather interesting position to see a van that large sitting in. I only wish I had photos of it.


The wrecker came, pulled up in my yard, took one look, and the driver said "I'm gonna need a bigger truck". I don't guess they really listened when I called them and explained the situation. Even then, while pulling it back up over the wall, I saw the wrecker stand up on the rear lift, and pick all the wheels up off the ground. I could have walked under the front wheels. The wrecker was based on an F-500 frame, and I saw it nearly vertical 3 times before "Ol' Pug" decided it should come back home.


So, even if you use the parking brake, MAKE SURE it won't roll. If a significant hill is involved, a good chock is not a bad idea too. At least turn the wheels to one side and shorten the trip as much as possible if it decides to go on walkabout.

Oh man, that's a great story. Thanks for sharing.