People pulling up handbrake wrong!!

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I don't conciously try to forget to press the button to pull it up; but I will admit, on hills and such I have yanked it up quickly without thinking.

To be honest OP, you shouldn't be so obsessed over it. would you rather someone took their time to think "I know, I'll put my handbrake on! But wait, I MUST press the button!" and caused an accident rather than pulling it up quickly to prevent an accident?

I know I'd rather pull it up without the button pressed down instinctively than waste a valuable second of thinking time and potentially injuring myself or others.

If tyou've got to the stage where you don;t think about it, then fair enough, but don't knock people for not being the same about it - at least people remember to put the handbrake on!

Reply 61

Schleigg

Thinking that not using the button will damage the handbrake is like saying you need to pump the accelerator before starting the engine. Modern cars are better made and more reliable.

Anybody want to open the can of worms relating to NOT using your handbrake when waiting at a junction that's on a hill and just balancing the clutch/ accelerator [sarcasm] damaging your engine[/sarcasm]

Reply 62

nuodai

spikeymike

I'm not sure what you've been told but i was told when pulling up the handbrake you press the button at the end of it then pull it up.

Often i hear people just yanking it up. It ***** the handbrake up!

I was told to push in the button when just putting on the handbrake for general purposes, but to pull it without pushing the button (so it clicks) when parking (especially on a hill) so that it locks in right.

But my driving instructor's a bit of a clot so I don't carry out this procedure :p:

Reply 63

Yekno

If you don't press the button, you wear out the ratchet.

If you do press the button, you put extra wear on the release mechanism.

Either way the wear is minimal.

Don't forget the point of a ratchet is to allow you to move something one way but not the other. In all of the car handbooks I have seen, it states something like: "To apply handbrake, pull firmly on the handbrake lever. To release, depress handbrake button and push lever down". None of them mention pressing the button to put the handbrake on.

So just do it the way you prefer, it really doesn't matter from a mechanical point of view.

Reply 64

Tofufi

Schleigg

Funniest post of the thread award! :rolleyes:

Modern cars aren't much more reliable than a well maintained older car, and certainly not better built.
Just like many modern cars have disc brakes that can warp if you don't use the handbrakes at junctions, and disc rear brakes which can release the handbrake when they cool down. Warping disc brakes was less common when the technology first came out than it is now.

For example, compare the image Mercedes or Volkswagen had in the 1970s to the image they have now for reliability? :nah:

And sitting on the bite point for excessively long periods of time WILL damage your clutch mechanism, however old your car is. It won't damage your actual engine internals, though it will decrease MPG (and make you look daft).

Reply 65

Schleigg

Damage or just wear faster?

Surely the image Merc and VW had is now less because EVERYONE makes decent cars that all start first time and don't spew out black smoke if you leave them in the garage over a damp weekend.

WRT Disc brakes, sure, they have had some issues but my main point is that irrelevant of the fact that it may damage/ wear faster to pull your handbrake/ remain on the bite point/ use a higher gear than necessary/ rev to the red line/ not letting your car warm up before pulling away. Modern cars are much more resistant to the effects and you are unlikely to have your car long enough to have to deal with them.

Reply 66

ms500

As a Mercedes owner, I have a parking brake pedal instead, and therefore don't have this problem :smile:

Reply 67

bean87

ms500

As a Mercedes owner, I have a parking brake pedal instead, and therefore don't have this problem :smile:

im working part-time as a driver at a car auction at the moment, and it took me AGES to work out where the parking brake was on those mercs! i thought it was the pull-out button to the right. didnt see the little pedal for ages

bloody new cars, whats wrong with a HAND brake?!

Reply 68

ms500

bean87

I was aware of the pedal before I bought it, the difficult bit was finding out how to release it. Only then I noticed the pull-handle by the door.

Reply 69

Sync

ms500

I was aware of the pedal before I bought it, the difficult bit was finding out how to release it. Only then I noticed the pull-handle by the door.

Just don't do what my friend's mum did. Her new Mercedes was the first auto she'd ever driven. So, being used to manuals, she instinctively pressed down her left foot when approaching a junction. Cue screeching, panic and a change of underpants.

Reply 70

Fataldanja

i always push the button and pull itup so im safe!! haha

Reply 71

Castafoire

becky.fm

Test examiners don't like the sound :no:

Ooh, thanks for that, my test's next week :p:

Reply 72

pritnep

CurlyBen

The other bit to remember is that the lower teeth will suffer more wear, so if it did start to slip you'd be able to securely engage it a little higher (and would probably need to, due to cable stretch).

Yep, where the first notch or so won't hold the car so well, then get it serviced and they tighten or whatever to fix that.

Castafoire

Am I the only person that actually likes that sound?

I don't mind it actually, makes me know it's working.

Reply 73

DirtyHarry

Mercedes' reliability and build quality is top notch again according to near enough everywhere.

Reply 74

suze0811

4 pages on handbrakes. excessive?

Reply 75

spikeymike

Castafoire

Ooh, thanks for that, my test's next week :p:

Good luck with that! :smile:

Reply 76

bean87

Sync

women

Reply 77

andyroo_g

Choccielatte

Surely you should never have to put it up that quick? The car should be stopped with the footbrake first anyway.

Reply 78

mackemforever

it does not damage it if you pull it up without depressing the button. If anything it is the CORRECT way to use it, the ratchet is there for a reason.