Hard to get out of park when on a gentle hill.

[Magumba]

Hi,
I noticed since we have this motorhome that is is often very hard to move the transmission out of park when on a hill even one that is only a few degrees. The parking brake holds the camper just fine but there is the normal slight creep when I release the service brake after stopping.

[DriVer]

May I offer the proper way to park your rig on any type of grade.

Pull up to the stop where you intend on setting your brake. Firmly set the parking brake. Gradually let off the brake pedal and allow the drum brake to take up the weight of the vehicle. Once the vehicle is stable, shift to park at that time.

In getting back on the road. Start the vehicle. Shift out of park. Release the parking brake.

[Alan_Hepburn]

Good advice, Driver - that's the correct way to park ANY vehicle with an automatic transmission. Let the parking brake handle the weight of the vehicle, not the parking pawl in the transmission.

[Full-Timers]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DriVer May I offer the proper way to park your rig on any type of grade. Pull up to the stop where you intend on setting your brake. Firmly set the parking brake. Gradually let off the brake pedal and allow the drum brake to take up the weight of the vehicle. Once the vehicle is stable, shift to park at that time. In getting back on the road. Start the vehicle. Shift out of park. Release the parking brake.

I use this method, DriVer, and still mine gets stuck. I suspect it creeps a little after it sets for a while.

[DriVer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Full-Timers I use this method, DriVer, and still mine gets stuck. I suspect it creeps a little after it sets for a while.

FT, You might need to get the drum brake adjusted a bit. It should hold.

That said the parking pawl is the boss it has to hold the weight of the vehicle. The foot apply parking brake is a secondary device that allegedly can be applied consistently from one driver to the next but I can push my parking brake pretty far through its stroke however another person may not have the same strength.

This is where the AAPB excels in on the UFO. For example; My wife can set the parking brake as well as I could.

[Full-Timers]

My parking brake has always been tight, meaning I can stand on it and only get one click to set.

[MntDriver]

I can stand on mine and get three clicks....it seems to hold fairly well.

[Barbara S.]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DriVer Pull up to the stop where you intend on setting your brake. Firmly set the parking brake. Gradually let off the brake pedal and allow the drum brake to take up the weight of the vehicle. Once the vehicle is stable, shift to park at that time. In getting back on the road. Start the vehicle. Shift out of park. Release the parking brake.

Oops, guess I have been doing it wrong all these years! I stopped the vehicle and put it in park, turned off the engine, then put on the parking brake. I will try to remember to do it in the correct order from now on.
Thanks for educatin' me!

[DriVer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Full-Timers My parking brake has always been tight, meaning I can stand on it and only get one click to set.

Not my experience here. I can get 4 to 6 clicks out of mine and it holds steady. Maybe your parking brake cable ??? If the brake slips and loads up the parking pawl like you suggested earlier, that might be something to look at and rule out a stuck parking brake cable. just sayin' ..

[DriVer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barbara S. Oops, guess I have been doing it wrong all these years!

You're welcome and that's what we are all here for - to help one another.

[Magumba]

Thank you for your input.

I took the camper to Harold's RV in Bath Pa for state inspection and put this on the squak sheet. The tech tightened the parking brake cable and now taking the camper out of park is easy. He also made the same suggestion Driver did to apply the parking brake first then shift to park.

I'm now trying to relean 45 years of doing it the wrong way.

As always I'm grateful for your help.

[DriVer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Magumba I'm now trying to relean 45 years of doing it the wrong way. As always I'm grateful for your help.

Magumba, You're welcome.

[Alan_Hepburn]

I've got a funny story (in retrospect) concerning this procedure.

I had a Ford F350 that we used to pull a 5th wheel. Doing some maintenance one day I noticed some free play in the drive shaft. Further inspection showed a worn U-joint so I made an appointment at my local shop and dropped the truck off to have the U-joints replaced. I get a a call at work the next day - they say they can't find anything wrong with the U-joints. I get down to the shop and crawl underneath with the mechanic - sure enough the drive shaft is tight as a drum. Now I'm wondering how I managed to see almost 1/4" of play when I checked it earlier. I get in the truck to leave and notice that the parking brake is not set. I move the truck forward a bit, set the brake, shift to Park, get out and check the drive shaft again. Sure enough - there's way too much free play.

I go into the office and ask for the manager. I show him the free play and show him exactly why the mechanic could find no problem: when you use the transmission to hold the weight of the vehicle you put a load on the drive train which removes any free play - including free play caused by worn U-joints. The end result was my truck needed to be in his shop an extra day because the mechanic did not set the parking brake before looking for driveline issues.

As I was leaving, the manager was having a very animated discussion with the mechanic!

[wagonmaster2]

I had a mechanic tell me years ago that a driver should hold down the service brake peddle very firmly before setting the emergency (park) brake. The hydraulic brakes will apply the brake shoes more firmly than the cable emergency brake can, then the cable emergency brake can hold all the pressure the hydraulic brakes have applied. Does all this make sense, I may not have explained it very well but it's always made sense to me and the procedure I've always used. That is until I purchased a P30 chassis with the park brake on the drive shaft.

Wagonmaster2