[sumeethaldankar]

My experience over the wheels getting jammed with cars parked overnight or for long durations like 1-2 weeks with the handbrake engaged is as below.

Cars which were washed by the washerman frequently saw this issue. I noticed this and stopped the washerman from pouring contents of the dirty bucket water over the wheels post the car clean up. This reduced the problem to a very large extent.

On my current Swift I no longer use a washerman and also I do not wash the car/wheels. This is done just during the car service and never when the car is with me. My car is covered with a TPH car cover all the time when it is parked at my premises. The car is near 4 years old and I have never till date had the wheel jamming issue even during the rainy season. I wipe the wheels with a damp cloth rather than bathing them in water.

I do not yank up the handbrake all the way up but keep it a little above the middle notch. My car is always parked in first gear. I also use the handbrake at traffic halts and at inclines even on mild ones

[supermax]

Originally Posted by Raghu M

1st or 4th, it's a gear. I see no difference in which gear you slot while parking. The intention is to lock the wheels and not move freely. When on inclines, I use both the hand brake and slot it in any gear. In my apartment, I generally use my hand brake but if I am travelling out, I just lot it in any gear and leave.

1st or 4th makes a huge difference. It's far easier for the car to start rolling in 4th, or even easier in 6th, than in 1st, simply because the gearing is so.

Originally Posted by jigar1791@gmail

Long ago, I had heard from a friendly mechanic who used to service our Esteem, it's better to put the car in the 2nd gear and not to engage the hand-brake unless necessary. His logic was the tyre's life increases (marginally) when you do not let the hand-brake's friction rub with the hot rubber.

Unless you're misremembering or misunderstood him, your mechanic made not one but two bad suggestions; 1st gear is better than 2nd, and as others have already pointed out, there's no correlation between the rubber of the tire to parking brake usage, unless of course you are using the p-brake while driving, to do Tokyo-drift style drifting!

Originally Posted by Jeroen

There is only a few reasons when not to apply the parking brake:

When you park in freezing conditions, because the parking brake might freeze solid.

Jeroen

Yup. I had to force myself to remember this the first few times I parked in winters here, before it became internalized.

[Aluminium]

Is it possible to exert more pressure on the gears when parking than during hard acceleration? Maybe slotting into gear exerts a pressure on the system? I don't think so. (Ready to be proven wrong.) 1st gear for me most of the time.
The power of putting it in gear was shown to me by my father and I thought it was magic. Cos, my puny arms couldnt pull the handbrake enough to stop the car from rolling in a very sharp slope. After he put it into gear, the car wouldn't go anywhere.
Of the many advices I got, an Uncle asked me not to use the parking brakes after long trips because the hot shoes may fuse with the drum. Maybe in the older days. I wonder how true it is now. I use them anyways when parking on inclines, when I need that added peace of mind. But otherwise, I am a believer of leaving it in gear and letting the hot shoes cool down.

[sandx]

I used to slot into the first gear in my Alto and leave it like that when stationary, as there was an issue of the rear drums getting stuck. However on my EcoSport, I have never used the gear while parking. I usually carry a small angular object in the boot to use if needed underneath the wheels. Even in my apartment parking I use bricks to hold the car stationary, where the area is pretty flat.

But using the gear seems to be mainstream from the posts here, and I may get into that habit now. It always looked like the mechanism was in stress when leaving the vehicle in a gear with respect to parking, especially on an incline but it may be something that I need to let go in my head.

Apart from the apartment parking though I always use the parking brake wherever it necessitates a parking or on brief halts like traffic stoppages, inclines etc.

[theqca]

Originally Posted by supermax

1st or 4th makes a huge difference. It's far

Unless you're misremembering or misunderstood him, your mechanic made not one but two bad suggestions; 1st gear is better than 2nd,

I remember being told to do that (meaning put the car in 2nd gear when parking) in fiats, ambassadors as well as jeeps from a few different people back in the 80s so it definitely appears to be something that was a prevalent practice at that time - no idea if it was based on any technical reasons or just happened to turn into "the correct way to park a car".

[voldemort]

First up, this conundrum would only show up in cars with manual gearboxes.

I personally prefer gear+handbrake combination, for minimal chances of car rolling away. However, the handbrake on its own would suffice in most cases.

However, when I'm unsure that the next person who would drive the car is me, then I leave it in neutral due to fear that they may accidentally try to start without ensuring that the gear is in neutral, and mishaps might happen if people are standing close to the car.

Incidentally, in the Channel Tunnel that connects England and France (you drive the car into a train, and the train transports you and the car to the other side), they specifically announce you to engage handbrake and slot into first or Park (in the case of automatics) once the car is in the train.

[Freespirit27]

Voted for only parking brakes, consideration being most of my parking is on plains.
My understanding is that Parking brake (or Hand brake) is exactly that. It's a system of holding the brakes firmly (but not locking) on brake drums by mechanical(mostly wire) means, when the car engine driven hydraulic/pumps are not running and the line pressures are neutral. (Incline assist and use during traffic stops may be a discussion for another post)
So on flat surfaces a parking brake is sufficient and safe. Using a gear on flats may not be a good idea especially, for those not trained by my Raju Master, because the habit of depressing the clutch or neutral check, before start may not be a second habit for all and the tendency to accidentally crank the car in gear is not a good start to day's driving.
The practice of slotting either reverse or 1st on slopes is perfectly fine and strongly recommended.
Disclaimer: All this is in tropical climes where our brakes and fluids don't freeze or drastic metal expansion issues don't exist!

[shrinz.vivek]

I think 1st gear + Parking brake is the best.
Im not sure why people suggest 2nd gear or reverse gear.
My logic is that 1st gear always has the highest torque when the engine is running. So the opposite happens when engine is off. Meaning highest pushing force is required to make the car move when its in 1st gear and engine is off. That naturally means best holding.
Coming to using reverse gear for forward incline. I dont think even the steepest of the inclines can generate enough torque to move a car forward without engine power. Maybe someone from the hilly regions of India can share their experience.
Also parking brake is a must because it is a purely manual (cables and ratchet) and less prone to failure. Its is almost equal to tying your car to a tree with a wire cable. I am not sure if modern e-brakes have the same reliability.

[Aravind_M92]

CVT car here. My practice is to hold on to the brake until the lever is slot into P mode and handbrake is engaged; and then release the brake pedal.
Pulling the brake lever has two line of thoughts. One pull without pressing the button and other while pressing the button. For me, it's without pressing the button. There's some kind of satisfaction when the hand brake does the click sounds!

[balenoed_]

Originally Posted by Briarean

I think we should engage the handbrake first and then the gear. As @ rr_zen mentioned this sequence will not have any stain on the gear assembly.

Isn’t it supposed to be done the other way around. Isn’t the gear assembly capable of taking that strain than the brake pads. So shouldn’t it be gear first and then the brake.

[AjayJoshuaN]

I have a manual transmission and I usually always use 1st gear without the handbrake. When the incline of the slope is more, I use combination of handbrake and 1st gear.

I think the auxiliary brake should be used occasionally when really needed. If used daily just for parking unnecessarily, it will need recalibration later because effectiveness of auxiliary braking will reduce (have to pull the hand brake more notches higher to prevent the car from rolling on a slope). Finally, even when pulled up all notches on a slope, the car will still move.

So I think it is better to use it wisely when seen fit, instead of using it for general daily parking.

[chhotagujju]

I drive a Manual Chevy. Earlier I used to put it in 1st Gear + Parkbrake wherever i parked.

However, during the last monsoons, after I drove home through some water logged roads and parked in 1st gear + Park brake, the brakes got stuck over night. Next morning the brakes didnt get released. When the mechanic inspected it, he told me to park it only in 1st gear when the parking surface is flat and no slope.

When it is quite dry, i do put 1st gear + Park brake. But completely avoid park brakes when it is raining. If it is sloping, then 1st gear and then put a stone behind the tyres.

[nax04]

Cars which are parked for longer duration with handbrakes will jam the wheels (faced this issue with dad's wagonr which was parked in native during lockdown)
Had to call the local mechanic who tapped the rims with hammer to release the wheels.

He advised to leave it in 1st / 2nd gear on flat surfaces in regular parking areas.

Use handbrakes + gear while parking in malls / other areas for shorter duration for added safety.

[Night Raven]

In our Punto, I used to put handbrake at 2-3 clicks when parked on level ground and handbrake at 4-5 clicks plus 1st/reverse gear when on incline. Now in the compass it's only the parking brake. The EPB gets activated as soon as the driver door is opened or the engine is turned off. if on an incline I slot in to 1st gear also.

[zukhan]

First gear+ handbrake gang here.

Plus, in case of inclined parking scenarios where you're not confident with your car's parking brake, it is advisable to (also) turn the steering wheel towards the kerb/wall/pillar, so that the car does not run downhill even in case of a mishap.