What gear do you park your 5-speed Maxima in? Do you always set the parking brake?

 

i always set the parking brake up.
actualy, arent we NOT supposed to do that though?

manual says park it in R. but i do 1 a lot. half and half depends which way the car is sloped when you park

 

I always use the p-brake but always keep it in neutral. Hasnt rolled away on me yet..

 

I generally park mine in 1st with the e-brake on. But during winter time, if the car is going to sit for a while, I don't use the e-brake. A friend of mine did that last winter with the car sitting for a day or two and it froze in place. Burned up his rear brakes quite a bit before they released. He had to get new rotors and pads. Yikes!!!

 

I have always parked it in neutral w/ the E-brake too. I just wanted to see how the others do it.

 

1st if I park forward, reverse if I back in

 

between a turbo timer that keeps the car running when you get out, and a remote starter ... i am given no choice but to leave my car in neutral and use the parking brake. hasn't failed me yet (knock on wood)

if you park on hills often, set the parking brake first, THEN leave the car in gear.. if you let the car roll and rest on the gear, it can be damaging over time.

 

ah you had to throw in that turbo timer part
thanks for the tip though on the hills thing. whether or not i knew that already, sometimes ill do it all wrong and let the car roll in the gear and i always feel bad.

i heard you shouldnt leave the parking brake up if its going to be for a long time, like over a vacation or something.

 

If you leave your car in gear and the car (for some reason or other) gets towed from behind, does it mess up your transmission?

My old car had its parking brakes on and it became toast once the tow truck had its way with it.

 

N

 

What the H E L L is that?....get your A game together and come again!

 

N = neutral

 

 

depends on the way im facing. If im parked rear in, so that i can just drive out i leave it in first with the brake set. If im head first and have to back out i leave it in reverse.

 

N unless a hill

 

i do E-Brake and Neutral everytime!!!! never had a problem...

 

N - Ebrake, the way HLH describes.

Sometimes I leave it in gear, but a while back I read that if someone hits your car while its parked in gear it can damage the gear.

 

On 1st with parking brake engaged

 

'P'

if i did have a 5spd, probably 1st

 

i leave it in neutral and use the e-brake and I don't park on hills.

 

 

Have all of you heard about how if your parking brake line is slightly cut from a part under your car (usually its the trailing arm of the rear suspension) it can rust and eventually break? I think motorvate.ca has a fix about that. Well unluckily, one of our cars *slightly* had that problem. I put anti-rust all over it and taped it up, and then bent it away from the area that it was always rubbing against. It gives me an uneasy feeling to have caught a problem like this on a component of a car that should be flawlessly designed.

Well IMO it's a bit scary to leave your car in N with only the parking brake on if it's on a hill. You just never know when that cable might snap. Anyway to go along with this thread, I set the car in gear to the opposite of the slope I'm parking on, even if its slight. If it's a slight incline up, I keep the car in 1st. Parking brake on, then shift to first.

If at all I've been braking a lot, and hard, I try to find the flattest parking area possible and leave the car in gear w/ the parking brake only lifted slightly. I remember reading from Cheston that putting your brake up after extended periods of braking can warp your rotors. Anyway, thats it.