Should the handbrake be engaged or disengaged? I've always engaged it everytime I park for as long as I can remember, but am not sure whether I should engage it or disengage with 2 feet of snow surrounding the car.

 

What kind of question is this?

 

Are you worried about the snow jamming the e-brake?

 

This question was asked in my brakes class when i was at UTI, its kinda hard to explain and even harder to believe, lets say ur drivin arouind town and u heat up ur rotors/pads, now when u normally place it in park ur brakes are not applied, but if u were to apply the parking brake "SUPPOSEDLY" u could warp the rotors there for creating a pulsation on braking. now the whole 2 feet of snow.....what are u afraid of? its not like ur packing the 2 feet of snow ON ur brake system. hope that helps

 

maybe if you were parking in 2 feet of 25 deg F ocean water, it could be a problem then...

Seriously though, i highly doubt that any snow will even touch your rotors.

 

I personally do NOT use the parking brake in very cold weather. There can be enough moisture around the cable and working mechanism that when the car sits for a while it can freeze and then you are stuck.
Just out of curiosity duke, why did you make that comment? This is a very good question for this time of year.
Harris's question made a lot more sense than your comment did.

 

it was -13f yesterday and my ebrake worked fine....but i lubricated the entire ebrake system just before cold came, in november

 

Good question. One time my rear brakes did stick when I put the emergency brake on overnight.

k.

 

As long as you use use them regularly I think its fine to go ahead and engage them.

 

My rear brakes stick every morning when it cold out, after the e brakes been on all night.