E-brake for Decoration?

Ok...I drive an AODE convertible. As you vert people know you have to put the parking brake on to put the top down(safety feature). Well when i first got the car and hadn't gotten used to it yet there were several times when i left the e-brake on while driving and didn't notice a thing as far as performance. Out of curiosity the other day i was pulling up to a stop light and decided to try to use the e-brake to stop. it did nothing. did i break something by driving with it on a couple of months ago or is an emergency brake just for decoration on automatics??
 
Decoration is a good way to describe it ;)
My 92 5.0 was an auto and I only had used it for parking as well.
You're right with the, no difference in performance either with having it on while driving it around. The brake seems to be a bit weak, try getting your brake line changed, I had to do that with my old one because I couldn't notice a single difference with having it on or off. But it's mainly for a parking brake feature.
My '94 is stick and I have already noticed a huge difference in between both parking brakes, even after replacing my automatic one.

Meh, it does look nice though doesn't it? :nice:
 
well i have a 95 vert that had an aode in it now i converted to a t-5. ive driving many of times with the ebrake on and it still works perfectly fine to this day (it better with manual :) ) but i do notice i have to pull up way further than when in my buddy's 01 cobra. he only needs to click it a few times while i have go about 2x as far
 
I'm glad I'm not the only one that has driven around with the e-break on after putting the top down. It's so stupid but so easy to forget. I also use mine as a second cup holder (between the e-brake and passenger seat) since it only has 1 cup holder.
 
I like on a hill so my driveway is sloped. My e-brake on my '88 barely holds. I need to yank it way up to get it to where the car won't roll in neutral on a 15-20 degree bank. Good thing the car is an AOD. I put it in P, let it roll slightly til the tranny catches it and then yank the e-brake.

The ebrake in my 5-spd '03 works very well. Only need a few clicks and it will hold on some serious grades. When i park, i set the e-brake first and then put it in 1st. When i go back to the car the next day, i push in the clutch and the car doesn't move meaning it's been holding by the e-brake the entire time. I have driven with it on accidentally. It drives fine oddly enough. I only noticed it when i came to a slight hill and notice my car wasn't rolling back in neutral
 
i never could see why people leave their car in such a low gear. i doubt anyone else drives your car but that rare instance someone does, pop right after the engine starts. if i leave it in gear, i do it in third or forth so it will die right away if someone forgets to take it outta gear cause ive almost hit a few cars in front of me cause some people leave it in first and plus i never leave it in gear so that makes for a bad combination
 
HazMat404 said:
i never could see why people leave their car in such a low gear. i doubt anyone else drives your car but that rare instance someone does, pop right after the engine starts. if i leave it in gear, i do it in third or forth so it will die right away if someone forgets to take it outta gear cause ive almost hit a few cars in front of me cause some people leave it in first and plus i never leave it in gear so that makes for a bad combination

What are you talking about? You don't push in the clutch when you crank it? It starts like that?
 
The E-brake in my 94 GT holds just fine on inclines but I can drive around (and sometimes have, on accident :nonono: ) with it on, and couldn't feel a difference. I was thinking maybe there is a safety feature that automatically disengages it? :shrug:
 
I've never heard of that safety feature.....it's not a very good safety feature...:P

I think you're cable is hooped, personally. I drive stick, and mine works alright, and I can honestly say i don't think i've ever driven away with it up, i remember the few times i did nearly do it, the car was pretty much halted.
 
CManT1914 said:
What are you talking about? You don't push in the clutch when you crank it? It starts like that?

no my neutral safety switch is hooked up right but once i start the car, i let off the clutch right away. since ive been driving stick, thats pretty much what i do when start the car and not keep it down. i usually try to check to make sure its in neutral but on the rare occasion that its still in gear in my car, i try to make sure its in a gear that wont really make it jump too forward when i let the clutch out after starting. it just might be the way i start the car but thats me
 
red95aodevert said:
I'm glad I'm not the only one that has driven around with the e-break on after putting the top down. It's so stupid but so easy to forget. I also use mine as a second cup holder (between the e-brake and passenger seat) since it only has 1 cup holder.

WAY OT...but i think i can steal my own thread...our cupholders are really gimpy. they don't even hold a 20 oz. coke bottle...this is my main purpose for the e-brake.

I'm glad to know that i'm not the only one with a crappy brake and that i didn't break something expensive lol.
 
5.0stangette said:
WAY OT...but i think i can steal my own thread...our cupholders are really gimpy. they don't even hold a 20 oz. coke bottle...this is my main purpose for the e-brake.

I'm glad to know that i'm not the only one with a crappy brake and that i didn't break something expensive lol.


Our cars have cupholders?
:rlaugh:
 
I can't drive with my e-brake at all, I've done it twice since I owned my car, both during the first week. It's hugely noticeable for me. Maybe the verts have different setups, but for some reason I doubt it. When you get your car inspected in MA it will fail if the e-brake doesn't stop the car when in motion.

And did you ever notice that if you put in anything larger then a soda can into the cupholder you need an extra joint in your arms to shift comfortably? Bad design. I guess you could say you shouldn't be trying to drink, shift, and drive at the same time but then, and I've seen him do this, my brother can shift, talk on his cell phone, smoke a cigarette and eat and drink burger king all at once. Its pretty amazing and he did it in stop and go on main street.
 
I only use mine when I'm on a hill so I don't put the car in a tranny bind. Sucks when you bind the tranny and can't get the damn thing out of park. Other than that it's used mainly to hold bottles of pop between the seats. I used mine at the auto-X too. Mine works great, you guys need to get your stuff fixed. :D
 
HazMat404 said:
i never could see why people leave their car in such a low gear. i doubt anyone else drives your car but that rare instance someone does, pop right after the engine starts. if i leave it in gear, i do it in third or forth so it will die right away if someone forgets to take it outta gear cause ive almost hit a few cars in front of me cause some people leave it in first and plus i never leave it in gear so that makes for a bad combination


I live on hills, so i NEED to put it in gear when i park as a backup. When i start the car, i always slip into neutral and do the "neutral wiggle" before kicking in the clutch and starting the car.

The reason why people put it in 1st is because if the e-brake ever went, the car won't roll in 1st gear. The higher the gear, the easier to roll. If you put it in 4th or 5th and are on a slight grade, it will roll on you.

If you want to see what i am talking about, let off the gas in first gear and see how hard the car slows down. 1st drags down pretty fast. Now toss it in 2nd and do the same. Do it for 3rd 4th and 5th. By the time you get to 4th and 5th gear, you'll notice you can coast a long ways in gear with the car barely slowing at all.

This is why you always park in 1st or reverse. Reverse is even a higher gear ration than 1st so the car will be harder to roll if you park it in R.

Like i said, i live on a hill and my driveway is a 20 degree slope so i NEED to park in gear. It's just a habit now for everywhere i go. I'm the only one that drives my car so i know to slip to N before starting and i always do the wiggle before letting my foot up at a stoplight.
 
5.0stangette said:
WAY OT...but i think i can steal my own thread...our cupholders are really gimpy. they don't even hold a 20 oz. coke bottle...this is my main purpose for the e-brake.


Ever drive an 01-04 Mustang? They actually have decent cupholders.

I can put a large coffee in my front cupholder and not hit it using the stock shifter. The rear cupholder has an insert you take out for the large 20oz drinks. Works really well. It only took ford 10 YEARS!! to make a good cupholder in the Sn95 stang