Parking Brake Sucks?
 

After reading that our Z lost major points in the C&D Drift competition partly due to the parking brake being unable to lock the wheels, I decided to test mine out a bit.

Not sure if you guys have used the parking brake much, but it absolutely blows. The damn thing can barely hold the car on a 2% grade with the brake fully 'pulled'. Even better...try using it to stop the car when you're rolling at 5 or 10 mph. A full, hard pull just slows the car very gradually.

Is this an adjustment issue or did Nissan install a joke of an e-brake?

Yeah I read that article and wondered. I did park at the gf's parents' house once and the e-brake wasn't up all the way. My car started to slowly roll as I was getting out. Luckily I noticed then. There has to be a way to adjust it, whether it be at the handle or in the rear.

The e-brake on the 350Z is a drum style E brake inside the rear rotor, which I assume it to be the same on the 370Z. This makes them very weak for drifting that is why most people who drift 350's have added hydro e-brakes.

The drum should be okay for parking, unless on a large incline, but then it should be put in gear, although I am not a fan of leaving the car in gear while parked.

Yeah me neither, I've trained myself to never leave it in gear. This helps when I want to add remote start too. Thankfully there is a neutral shifter position wire. I wonder what's out there as far as converting the e-brake....

The drum style brake should be ok for parking... but really does not do its job. Unless you leave the car in gear and it just starts to roll back. Ive had my car roll 3 times already and sits there in the middle of the road... waiting for another dude to come and knock on my door and give me the "your an idiot" look.

Silly question, but are there disadvantages to leaving the car in gear when you park? I've had it drilled into my brain to put it in 1st/Reverse depending on where you're parked.

All I know is that it puts a strain on the transmission, where the transmission was not designed to be an e-brake. Even in an automatic, not using your e-brake puts strain on your sprag and other components.

hmm, never had a problem with mine. i park on a steep driveway, and it locks the car solid in place. wonder if nissan just doesnt adjust them all properly (most are just a cable with a nut that adjusts it...)

Well it's not that I use ONLY the transmission. I use both at the same time. Does that still put a strain on the transmission??

no.

The strain placed on the spurs.... are neglectful. I have been leaving cars in gears for a good percentage of a quarter of a century... never had a problem. but it now intrigues me to find out how much strain the spurs are receiving.

I'm just gonna park it the way I always have then.

I'm amused to know how many of us park a certain way, e-brake only, e-brake + gear, gear only.

Gear only = ??? in my mind, but maybe it works lol

Yeah if you use your ebrake, then put it in gear after already putting the e-brake up there would be no strain on the trans unless you are on a HUGE hill and the e-brake is then doing nothing.

I doubt even then it will cause anything bad to happen.

I have just always used only the e-brake whenever possible. Cause in my eyes brake pads and rotors are cheap compared to a clutch and transmission, that's why I never downshift when coming to a stop light. Just put it in neutral and coast then use the brakes. But that is a whole different topic...

Another way to look at it would be if someone hits your car while it is parked, and it is in gear the car will not move, it will be like hitting a brick wall... but if someone hits your car and only the e-brake is on, the car will slightly move so it wont be as bad. I know this has nothing to do with you but something to think about, haha.

Yeah, I've always done both for the last 20 years. I pull the e-brake first and make sure it holds, and then throw it in gear as a safety. There's no strain on the spurs unless the e-brake was to fade or fail.

You can tighten the e-brake cable slack if it feels like there is too much play in the handle.

+1...None that I know of. I would NEVER depend on the parking brake to hold the car..My last several cars have all been marginal in this area. I don't think it's exclusive to the Z

I'm the same way about stop lights, but then I sometimes get caught off-guard with a sudden green light and have to hurriedly get back into gear XD

Interesting point about the gear when you get hit, I always reasoned I want to have the brick wall so the car doesn't go driving away if it gets hit hard...dunno.

So, everyone agrees the parking brake/e-brake sucks.

How to fix? I doubt even if every Z owner complained, Nissan wouldn't change how the system operates.

Agreed.

I've always pulled the ebrake, and stick it in 1st (if on level or incline) or Reverse (if on decline), or Park.

ebrake takes the brunt of it all, the rest is on the transmission/engine/clutch.

The stress on the transmission/transmission is less than what it goes through while you're driving it.

"Cause in my eyes brake pads and rotors are cheap compared to a clutch and transmission, that's why I never downshift when coming to a stop light. Just put it in neutral and coast then use the brakes."

I have a 2001 Frontier Supercharged 5 speed manual with 90,000 miles. For those 90,000 miles I have downshifted almost every time I approach a red light or stop sign. Still has the original clutch disks and transmission/rear end are great shape. So enjoy your Z and downshift :driving: . . . because it was made for doing these things. BTW....when you downshift there is less wear to brake pads and rotors because the engine is helping to bring your car to a stop.

I downshift from time to time depending on the situation, but I am just saying I would rather save wear and tear on a high dollar item like clutch and trans when I could just use the cheaper brake pads and rotors, which are much easier to change as well.

Getting back in gear is the fun part :) haha!

And it could go either way with the accident. If the car gets hit then goes flying into someone else and they get hurt.

Or if the driver in the car that hit you dies because your car was in gear and the impact was so great, when it could have been softer if your car would have moved a little. I don't know where I am going with this.. haha.

I'll downshift when slowing, but not stopping. Don't use my e-brake in either situation. (back on topic! rofl)

I have always used my e-brake unless I am on a moderate to steep incline. Otherwise, I just use the e-brake. I do this because I have heard that if someone were to hit you while your car is parked, and in gear, it will damage the transmission. I can see how that makes sense, if someone were to hit your car while its parked, and in gear, suddenly your transmission is forced to violently turn the engine by itself(which we all know, is very difficult).

haha:roflpuke2:

Nope... mine is 2010 and it works great, stops the car from 20 mph no problem, even have way engaged it keep mine from rolling.. not sure if they made a change from the 09 model, mines a 2010 ??

I wanna know what would be involved in changing/upgrading the e-brake to excel more in drifting-type applications.

You would need to tie into the hydro brake lines, so the e-brake would be like pushing the brake pedal, but it would only activate the rears.

Here is a link to what a local did to his 350Z:

Nackers: Handbrake install

That's a lot of work haha. Thanks for the info on that setup :tiphat:

My S14 had a great e-brake, even though I rarely used it. I'm guessing it used a different style.

You dont need an E-brake to initiate a drift in the Z - just clutch kick in turn and gas it hard... once you are sliding counter and modulate throttle

There is more than one way to drift, I understand how to do it just fine, it's just that the e-brake not being a POS would be nice.

Depends on the track layout, e-brake is needed to initiate tight radius corners.

:iagree:

Not interested in drifting, just I don't like how when I stop in my garage, pull the E-brake, put it in Park, and left off the brake, that the car rolls foward about an inch from drivetrain tension (I assume)

I'm not a big drifter, but this ebrake is completely unreliable for holding the car on a hill by itself.

As for the "leave it in gear" vs ebrake when parking...you guys don't live in a cold climate. Anyone in a freezing climate can tell you about a story when their ebrake froze. Most people here just leave a manual transmission in gear without a parking brake engaged.

As for the idea of straining your transmission by leaving it in gear...which do you think has higher load on the transmission cogs: 1) parking a car and leaving it in gear while resting against a cog or 2) driving away under heavy acceleration? As another person posted, I've been leaving my MTs in gear without an ebrake engaged for the better part of a decade with no problems.

+1 for wanting to upgrade our POS Flintstone ebrakes. I could stop my car faster by dragging my foot out the driver's door.

:worthless:

This might be off topic but when your coming to a stop, you down shift into a lower gear but still have the clutch depress and also press on the breaks to stop, will it cause any damage?

To avoid putting strain on the transmission this is what i do; come to a stop, pull handbrake up enough to hold car firmly whilst keeping foot on the brake, release brake, car should be rock solid, than put brake back on and put into gear and release brake and switch engine off. This way tranny is not stressed, car is firmly held in place by handbrake and if need be the tranny can act as an emergency position holder. Doing it this way particularly for auto transmissions places no strain on them and can be smoothly and easily put from park to drive with no clunky or bangy noises.

There are 3 adjustments FYI, one in each rotors, plus an adjustment at the handle (provided it is the same as the 350z). I shimmed mine at the handle, adjusted the rears, and put Project Mu drum pads in the rear. Locks for drifting just fine :)

And straight away entries while dragging it down an outer clip.

for some reason, I always leave my gear in 1st when parked, someone told me you should do that when I first learned stick about 10 years ago and it is now just a habit I can't stop