FRANKP60 Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 What do you guys recommend, when you are on site or on your drive parked for any length of time, do you leave the handbrake on ,or off, leaving it in gear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tracker Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 Handbrake only usually because rightly or wrongly I don't like to think of undue strain on the transmission being imposed by the wheels driving the engine instead of t'other way round. But I expect there will be others of differing persuasions as ever was - and you do need a good handbrake which not all vans have!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spospe Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 Normally we leave the van in 3rd gear with the handbrake off, when either at home or when using it on sites / Aires etc. If 3rd gear will not hold it securely, the slope is too great for sleeping comfort and we would not usually stop there. We don't have or use ramps, so very occasionally we do have to use stones or branches to get the van level(ish) and under these circumstances the handbrake will have to be on; but this is the exception. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brambles Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 Why do you not use the handbrake? After all it is designed and there to hold the vehicle. To me its a bit like sticking your hand out the window to warn you are turning when you have indicators, or shouting lookout when you have a horn. Serious question though, why not use the handbrake? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tracker Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 We don't leave the handbrake on at home over winter as it rusts on and can stick fast. I put a block in front of and behind two wheels and there it sits quietly between runs out. Mind you our drive is level - which helps!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 My car is an auto I never use the handbrake on that. The Motorhome I always use the handbrake and leave it in first gear & if on a steep slope wheel chocks. Always best to park across a slope rather than facing up or down it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 spospe - 2011-03-11 4:15 PM Normally we leave the van in 3rd gear with the handbrake off, when either at home or when using it on sites / Aires etc. If 3rd gear will not hold it securely, the slope is too great for sleeping comfort and we would not usually stop there. We don't have or use ramps, so very occasionally we do have to use stones or branches to get the van level(ish) and under these circumstances the handbrake will have to be on; but this is the exception. I'm intregued, why 3rd gear? Oh and for us it's handbrake on, also if in a car with electronic handbrake it's in gear as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirage Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 Our drive slopes back so when parking I drop all weight back onto wedges then leave it in gear with handbrake off. Leaving handbrake on for any length of time can be asking for trouble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Tayside Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 on site - handbrake on and in reverse gear, a belt and braces safety thing. At home handbrake off. There's no chance of the van rolling due to where it's parked but as an added precaution I chock the wheels. If you leave the handbrake on for an extended period you risk the brakes sticking on, uneven corrosion on discs or drums and also tend to stretch the handbrake cable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 On our drive we have a slope downwards from the road, so it butts up against some pavers with the handbrake off, but in gear. On site we would always have the handbrake on and usually in gear as well! If you leave the handbrake on all the time and don't move the van for any length of time they can stick on solid ... you try moving a 3.5 tonne motorhome with stuck on brakes ... not funny! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BGD Posted March 11, 2011 Share Posted March 11, 2011 Handbrake on. As others have said, yes, it is in theory possible that the back brakes might "stick" on if the handbrake has been left on for months. But no-one has yet mentioned that even if this was to happen, it's a piece of cake to "de-stick" the two sets of rear shoes/disc pads: just shove the MH into first, or even better reverse gear, rev the engine, and release the clutch pedal sharply. That said, we don't leave ours undriven for months and months anyway......if you're leaving such a valuable/expensive piece of kit just unused and depreciating on your drive for such periods of time, why did you spend all that money on it in the first place? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mel wood Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 spospe - 2011-03-11 4:15 PM We don't have or use ramps, so very occasionally we do have to use stones or branches to get the van level(ish) . Is this safe? Why do so? The cost of levelling blocks/ramps and the space they take are not excessive? Still it is up to you as long as no one else suffers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geppetto Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 Our drive is level and made up of hardcore and gravel. The van when parked settles into a deep rut which has been made by the weight of the van over time. I therefore leave the handbrake off. Having said that and after say about a week, when I take the van out for a run, there is sometimes a loud clunk as I move off which sounds like the brakes or something releasing. Which would be odd as the handbrake has not been left on. Is this a normal noise? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brambles Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 I am going to say it is not normal if you have left the handbrake off. I would check you do not have any binding brakes. Check the temperature of the wheel bolts after a reasonable run, say over 10 miles where brakes have not been used a lot. They should not be hot, be very careful in case they are hot. Also check on a very slight slope the van rolls gently from rest. A binding brake shoe staying in contact with the drum could easily still stick to the drum after a day or two.. I am a little suspicious you might have a binding brake wheel cylinder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 BGD - 2011-03-11 10:59 PM ... it's a piece of cake to "de-stick" the two sets of rear shoes/disc pads: just shove the MH into first, or even better reverse gear, rev the engine, and release the clutch pedal sharply... This is far from true. There was a posting on the Ford Transit forum from a guy who had used the technique you've suggested on a Mk 6 Transit (rear drum brakes) and, after several violent attempts at unsticking the seized brake had destroyed the clutch. My next-door neighbour's Vauxhall Astra had a rear brake stick and the put-it-in-gear-and-release-the-clutch-sharply ploy failed to unstick it. Eventually a mechanic had to remove the road-wheel and hammer the outside of the brake-drum. I always engage a vehicle's parking-brake when I'm not driving it and, if the vehicle is parked on a slope, I'll put the vehicle in gear too. (I vividly recall seeing a newish BMW car, with nobody in the driving seat, trundling down a Cheltenham street glancing off parked vehicles.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spospe Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 We have been away, hence the delay in replying .... colin: We use 3rd gear simply because there is no bias from the spring on the gearlever, it simply pushes forward into that position without any strain at all and provides enough braking. If the slope was such that 3rd gear would not hold us, then we would move. mel wood: Ramps are not expensive, but they are not needed for 99 times out of 100 and our van is small, so why carry them? Stones are vastly stronger than plastic and that (or suitable bits of wood) are what we use on the 1% of occasions that we really need leveling (eg The North Cape plateau). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trooper Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 As has been said, short time on site handbrake can be used. for long term at home DEFINATELY do NOT use hand brake, we have had cases of having to have the brakes dismantled to release the brakes, once when an employee left a van in my back yard, I had to do the work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 I always apply the handbrake on our Merc based AT both at home and on site and have never yet had it stick on, even after being left for 8 weeks late last year as we couldn't use it due to unforeseen circumstances :'( I think it is all down to the quality of the discs and pads and there tendency to rust or not. As for leaving in gear, the best gear would be the highest ratio from wheels to engine, ie 1st or Reverse, as this will require most effort to turn the engine. A higher gear, say 3rd, will require less effort to turn the engine as the gearing will be a lower ratio and so your MH is more likely to 'run away'. Clear as mud??? Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 Always used the handbrake when the vehicle is stopped and never had a problem with brakes although I've heard such stories before. If you don't use the van regularly, the risk of brakes sticking is just one of the things you'll need to worry about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Collings Posted March 19, 2011 Share Posted March 19, 2011 My two VW based 'vans have been parked with the handbrake on for the for a total of twelve years. The only brake trouble was a sticking rear wheel brake cylinder totally unrelated to the handbrake being on. The handbrake is designed for parking and thats what I use it for. In winter the 'van gets a 20 mile run once or twice a month. Pads or shoes can stick to drums/discs due to rust but corrosion also occurs under friction materials even when the brakes are off. Since the banning of carcogenic asbestos and incorporation of non ferrous metal particles in friction linings this has become more common. Its probably due to electrolytic action between the different metals. 1st or reverse for best braking effect but no matter which gear or even neutral there will be some springs in the gearbox (there are dozens) that are stressed more than others. If you really want to even things out leave it in a different gear in rotation but the phrase lifes too short springs to mind. Use it or loose it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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