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Non clicker for the same reason as @Kerley up there. But I only ever use the handbrake on the ferry, leave it in gear everywhere else.
Mrs always tells me off. She starts the car without depressing the clutch (I know, I know!).
There's only one option, buy a new car! Our 17 plate with doesn't allow you to start the engine without depressing the clutch!
Clicker. Just pull the thing up. One of the best sounds ever. Jeez, some wronguns on this thread. What would AvE say...
Mrs always tells me off. She starts the car without depressing the clutch (I know, I know!).
This is an easy one.
Aside from the fact that leaving it in gear acts as a backup for the brake, if you don't depress the clutch when starting then the starter has to do more work. Indeed, I've driven cars that you cannot start without depressing the clutch.
Plus, it's a safeguard in case the previous driver left it in gear...
Does anyone know of anyone who has had to replace a handbrake specifically because of ratchet wear?
Yes, my Dad had to, twice, in a Renault 4. But it was bit of a crap handbrake, the ratchet indents were on a straight bar that you pulled out rather than teeth on a curved track that you have with most handbrakes.
Button in here, out for the last couple of clicks. I broke the handbrake cable in my Dad's Viva (after the R4) on my driving text, button in or not...
Surely button in as when applying whilst cornering you wouldn't use the ratchet? Nope, just me?
I always pressed the button, just because I liked to.
How you are supposed to effect a handbrake turn with these weird electronic handbrakes I am not sure.
Electric thing here. But in the olden days, definitely a non-clicker, quite apart from the fly off handbrake which is a non-clicker anyway.
Another non clicker, just because.
Came here to post this...
button in.
But then I give it one click further, just to be sure
You should treat your handbrake like you treat your woman - press gently on the button then slowly pull until you feel some resistance...
I spotted straight away that the h/b was engaging and disengaging with no ‘feel’ on the handbrake
I don't see how clicks have anything to do with that. If anything, I'd have thought that clicking would mean you're less able to feel the cable tension.
'Aidy
Member
I spotted straight away that the h/b was engaging and disengaging with no ‘feel’ on the handbrake
I don’t see how clicks have anything to do with that. If anything, I’d have thought that clicking would mean you’re less able to feel the cable tension.'
Over some months, my wife had failed to notice that the handbrake was taking longer and longer to engage. It was as a result of a progressively binding rear caliper, which was slowly becoming stuck on. Because it took time to develop, she hadn't twigged that day by day it was getting worse.
I drove the car for the first time in 3 months, clicked up the handbrake, noticed that it took 7 clicks instead of its usual 4. If she'd been a clicker, she'd have spotted the issue the day it took 5 clicks to hold.
22 years ago when I learnt, button in was taught.
Thanks all. Long and short of it is: formal lessons, and the driving test itself, both look for a button being pressed in to engage.
I think thats crazy, as an audible cue adds safety, and as handbrake cables stretch, and brakes wear, some kind of engagement indicator such as number of clicks must be a good thing- but I'll now teach her with the official method.
I drove the car for the first time in 3 months, clicked up the handbrake, noticed that it took 7 clicks instead of its usual 4.
Sure. That's not a "no feel on the handbrake" thing, though.
press button in only when pulling handbrake turn, surely?
Does anyone know of anyone who has had to replace a handbrake specifically because of ratchet wear?
Mrs OTS used to yank the handbrake on full force, even when parking on the level and in gear.
I suggested many times that it wasn't necessary and was likely to cause damage.
Oh how I laughed when the handbrake lever assembly had to be welded back into place at one of the subsequent MOTs. 🤬
Just because it's taught without rational reason doesn't mean it's the correct way.
I recently resat my test after 10 years of driving and some of the giberish the instructor came out with about wear and tear was mental.
It's almost like they are out to **** your first cars clutch.
And don't you dare drive with economy in mind. You'll get marked down for not making progress..... Ie you see a 30 coming up so you lift off to avoid braking hard at the 30. Nope you will do the limit till nigh on the 30 then brake forcefully.
As a serial driver of old and high milage (and even crap quality old cars like mg and rover) ......I've never had a ratchet wear out and I rarely press the button.
I doubt your wife would notice 5 instead of 4. I wouldn’t, life’s too short to count handbrake clicks. I have no idea how many clicks my car takes.
Occasionally I pull it on to clean the Handbrake drums add otherwise they’d never get used, I have no idea if this actually makes any difference or not but feels like preventative maintenance.
'Aidy
Member
Sure. That’s not a “no feel on the handbrake” thing, though.'
Maybe bad explaining on my part. I meant that no resistance was felt in raising the lever until a fairly high point, despite it travelling through 7 clicks. With it being a fault that was apparently slow to develop (or so I was told), this increased travel hadn't got spotted.
Press the button definitely. However, I had a boyfriend who i dated very briefly and when driving anywhere he would randomly click the button... A LOT. Most of the time he didnt even know he was doing it, he even wore out one button and had to replace it.
Maybe bad explaining on my part. I meant that no resistance was felt in raising the lever until a fairly high point, despite it travelling through 7 clicks.
I still reckon the resistance/lack of would be easier to feel with the button in, so that you're not overcoming the friction of the ratchet.
Fair enough that clicking lets you spot increased travel, but I don't think that "feel" is a good argument at all.
Also: Having not driven it for a while, you're more likely to spot a change that's developed over time that she is, regardless of clicks or not.
Push the button, that's how I was taught by my instructor years ago.
Do the clickers still click when pulling the handbrake on for a hill start?
That would feel really weird.
The only people that shouldn't press the button are actors/actresses
I was taught button in to avoid wearing the ratchet. But the same course also taught me double de clutching so maybe neither are necessary.
and when driving anywhere he would randomly click the button… A LOT.
He was pretending that it was the fire button for the heat seeking missiles.
I do it too.
There are a lot of arseholes on the roads who need exploding.
Advanced driving course instructor who was also a mechanic said push the button in, that will do me.
I dont know what I do? I've never thought about it.
My mind is blown.
*Runs to drive car round the block.....
Non-clicker, have always been. I also have always left the car in gear, even before cars required the clutch to be depressed to start. The only time that I wouldn’t have the handbrake on as well was if the car was to be left for more than a couple of weeks. My current car has an electric handbrake with auto hold but I always lift the button at traffic lights to stop dazzling person behind with brake lights. I was laughed at about this when taking a test drive but everyone to their own.
My current car has an electric handbrake with auto hold but I always lift the button at traffic lights to stop dazzling person behind with brake lights.
Surely the brake lights are only on with the brake pedal depressed.
If she’d been a clicker, she’d have spotted the issue the day it took 5 clicks to hold.
I've done 90,000 miles in my car in nearly a decade of owning it and I couldn't tell you how many clicks my handbrake takes, so I wouldn't notice one more by the sound alone.
@trail_rat, the making progress spout is as you say way out - goes against all 'look ahead and anticipate' teaching IMO. Not the same as dawdling, but why would one behave as if the 30 sign was a total surprise?
Probably - for me as others have said - best push for my driving was sitting motorbike test - lot more anticipation and consequences if not. Not that I was actually very good on bike..
My current car has an electric handbrake with auto hold but I always lift the button at traffic lights to stop dazzling person behind with brake lights.
Better to dazzle the person behind than pollute the planet with diesel fumes, I always think.
Foot on brake = engine cut-off.
Mrs always tells me off. She starts the car without depressing the clutch (I know, I know!).
Aside from the fact that leaving it in gear acts as a backup for the brake, if you don’t depress the clutch when starting then the starter has to do more work. Indeed, I’ve driven cars that you cannot start without depressing the clutch.
Plus, it’s a safeguard in case the previous driver left it in gear…
I'd like you two to meet my wife (in a non-biblical sense).
Her - "You left the car in gear, and I nearly hit the front wall when I started it"
Me - "Sorry about that, but you should really check the car isn't in gear before you start it anyway"
Her - "But I never leave it in gear"
Me - "But you're not the only one that drives the car"
Her - "I know, and you shouldn't leave it in gear"
Me - "I don't, generally, but sometimes I might forget. That's the reason you check a car isn't in gear before you start it"
Her - "But I never leave it in gear"
andonandonandonandonandon….
I can't honestly remember what I do. The wife's car has an auto handbrake but mine doesn't. I think I press the button in.
The handbrake adjustment thing is a bit of a red herring these days as most modern cars have auto adjustment mechanisms so should get the same number of clicks no matter what the wear on the handbrake is.
I can't think of any reason why you should press the button in other than the annoyance of the clicking noise. Its a ratchet...they're designed to be ratcheted up...just like your bike freewheel. You don't feel like you're being mechanically unsympathetic to your rear hub freewheel when you coast do you? So I really don't think it matters.
On the engage first gear when parked thing..absolutely no reason to do so on a modern car with decent handbrake, maybe with exception than if you are parking on a steep hill. In the olden days when handbrakes were dodgy and were not effective it was a thing, just like engine braking and going down the gears when slowing down...just no need these days.
On the engage first gear when parked thing..absolutely no reason to do so on a modern car with decent handbrake, maybe with exception than if you are parking on a steep hill. In the olden days when handbrakes were dodgy and were not effective it was a thing, just like engine braking and going down the gears when slowing down…just no need these days.
i can think of one very good reason. In frequent use. saves your brakes gettting ****ed.
My daughter got a telling-off by her driving instructor the other day for clicking when applying the hand brake!
I don't click when applying
I always leave in 1st gear when parked
I always go down the gears when slowing
I learnt to drive in the 80's! 🙂
they’re designed to be ratcheted up…just like your bike freewheel.
Of course no one's ever had a freewheel/hub fail!
just like engine braking and going down the gears when slowing down…just no need these days.
Whaaat?!?! Since when do you not need to use engine braking!? That's got nothing to do with how modern a car is.
Engine to go.
Brakes to slow.
As a motorcyclist, I'll never get this right.
My current car has an electric handbrake with auto hold but I always lift the button at traffic lights to stop dazzling person behind with brake lights.
Better to dazzle the person behind than pollute the planet with diesel fumes, I always think.
Foot on brake = engine cut-off.
Foot on brake might be engine cutoff but it doesn't sound much like auto hold to me.
i can think of one very good reason. In frequent use. saves your brakes gettting ****.
Brakes are designed to be used and designed for stopping. Would you rather wear out your brakes which are a relatively cheap consumable items, or your clutch and engine, which are not so much consumable items (relatively) but many times more expensive.
Only 2 situations where engine braking is specifcally recommended to my knowledge...racing to decelerate and manage weight shift (heal and toeing)...but race car engines are rebuilt far more frequently than road car engines so wear and tear due to this is irrelevant, and in slippery and icy conditions again to manage weight shift and reduce the risk of inducing a skid. But under normal circumstances the brakes on modern cars are massively over engineered and more than capable of being used for their primary purpose.
My daughter got a telling-off by her driving instructor the other day for clicking when applying the hand brake!
I don’t click when applying
I always leave in 1st gear when parked
I always go down the gears when slowing
Opposite to my driving instructor then back in the day when I was learning to drive then. Has anyone failed a test for any of these things or is it just a habit of the driving instructor? And my dad was told not to do 2 and 3 when doing his advanced driving course (no mention of 1). But no engineering justification for any of those things are necessary so maybe someone in the last 30 years has dreamt up with a safety reason for not doing it.
Want to add unneccessary wear and tear to your engine and clutch and increase fuel consumption by engine braking? then go ahead, it's your wallet. Park in first gear on the flat?...unnecessary, but go for your life so long as you remember when you come to start the car again and be careful not to pin someone walking in between you and the car in front on the one occasion you forget to check and start the car when in gear - sods law...if it can happen it will happen. It's a certainty
I really don't think any of this matters either way, its just arguing for arguments sake, but hey, it's the internet!
Of course no one’s ever had a freewheel/hub fail!
Crikey...judging by the number of threads on here about failed bits on bikes you'd think the things are not fit for purpose...the reality is it is almost always operator error/incorrect installation/crap or non existent maintenance. How many handbrake ratchets have failed? I bet the failure rates on those things are pretty low - i.e. as near as damn it zero. The things are made of 1/4 inch thick steel. The main cause of failure on handbrakes are cables snapping which has nothing to do with the ratchet mechanism.
You're taking this far too seriously wobbliscott! 🙂
My neighbour is an advanced motorist - scariest person I've ever been in with and can't park for shit! 🙂
Does anyone know of anyone who has had to replace a handbrake specifically because of ratchet wear?
Yes, my Dad had to, twice, in a Renault 4.
I would rather hope that technology has improved a little since then!
With it being a fault that was apparently slow to develop (or so I was told), this increased travel hadn’t got spotted.
I would guess you'd have noticed such a sizeable change regardless of click counting?
Better to dazzle the person behind than pollute the planet with diesel fumes, I always think.
Foot on brake = engine cut-off.
As far as I'm aware, the auto hold doesn't illuminate the brake lights and the auto-stop will still work.
I’d like you two to meet my wife (in a non-biblical sense).
TBH, I'd make a point of always leaving it in gear. It's because it's occasional that it's a problem, she'll get into the habit of checking (or pressing the clutch in like a normal person) if it's every time.
Only 2 situations where engine braking is specifcally recommended to my knowledge
Slowing down for traffic lights, if you change down gear by gear then you're in the right gear to keep going should they change.
be careful not to pin someone walking in between you and the car in front on the one occasion you forget to check and start the car when in gear – sods law…if it can happen it will happen. It’s a certainty
If you depress the clutch when you start the car it's not a certainty, it's an impossibility (which is one reason why you do it). No checking of anything required. I was taught this 30 years ago, when did you clutchophobes all learn to drive?