DarkFireGT

Well, we were talking about this in another thread and someone said we should me a poll. So how do you park your manual car on level ground?

I personally park in neutral with the parking brake for a couple of reasons:
1) If your foot slips off the clutch after/while starting, the car will not lunge forward
2) If someone hits my car while parked, my drive train cannot be damaged and I will likely have less body damage because the car will not resist against the impact so much.
3) My parking brake gets daily use, thus will not freeze up and will be operable if an emergency happens.
4) If someone else happens to get in my car, they will not cause step 1 to happen.
5) I can't see any benefit to parking in gear.

If I happen to park on a large incline and the parking brake won't hold it, then, and only then, I'll park in the opposite gear as the direction I'm facing. But I've never had to do that in this car. With a good tug, the parking brake holds very well.

theedge67

In my old Mustang (89 4cyl with 220K miles) I parked in 1st all the time. The springs in the shifter mechanism were noticable worn out. It was super easy to pull the shifter over to the 1-2 side, and much stiffer to go over to the 5-R side. I guess years and years of sitting with the shifter in 1st wore out the springs.

Now I park in neutral with the e-brake on unless it is on a good size hill, then I'll use 1st plus e-brake.

smileyjoe

I park mine in gear and with the e-brake on.

Robbieg

In reverse, p-brake on.

karman

I voted in gear with it off.
But... least little incline and it is on.

citizen arcane

On a flat surface - neutral w/ ebrake pulled because of reason 2.

MustangLynda

In the spring/summer/fall I park in 1st with the parking brake on.

In the winter I park in 1st with the parking brake off because of the freezing brake issue.

MrMojo1953

I use mine, more often than not, just to give the parts a workout.
I think I remember that it was a good for avoiding emergency brake issues later on.

GTMark052

For the most part I've been leaving it in gear and using the parking brake as well. Since this will be the first winter that I've had the car, due to the freezing brake issues, I've been leaving it in gear with no brake on when really cold outside.

Mayito514

In Neutral w/Parking brake I have been doing this all my life and so far so good....

catman

It depends. If I'm parking on a steep incline, then the e-brake is on and it's in first. If I'm parked in my garage, then the e-brake is on and it's in neutral.

spike

I used to do this my whole life until I got this mustang (which has a terrible parking brake.. you have to yank like well to really stop the car from rolling on any incline) Within the first month, 3 hours after my car was parked in a friend's driveway and on a really really slight incline, my car rolled backwards on it's own into the street. The only way I knew this was happening was when my car alarm went off. I park in 1st or Reverse all the time now.

Mayito514

This Mustang's E-brake works just fine so I cant relate to your situation.
beside not much incline in Miami

n8rfastback

i always park in gear, when not on level ground i put the brake on.

theedge67

I think the e-brake works very well. It does require a little bit of effort, but it works better than most other cars I have owned.

spike

Maybe mine needs adjustment then. Right now I wouldn't call it a brake at all. I'd call it mild resistance at best. I'll look into it. Anyone have any tips on where to start with e-brake adjustment?

DarkFireGT

I would first check the calipers, to make sure that both retaining clips are in their proper position. Then I would check the union of the cables, where they meet up to the single cable coming from the lever, to make sure everything is ok there. I know one of the clips came off my caliper on my '05, and that made the parking brake very spongy, and I had to pull it really high up for it to engage. Got a replacement from the dealer, and good as new.

69Mach1-409

Usually in gear (1st or Rev) with the brake on unless it's below freezing out.. then I'm just in gear. I've had way too many vehicles have their rear brakes (Ebrake) freeze on me and my friends.

MTAS

I put it in neutral, set the brake, shut it off, then slip it into 1st. With an auto, I put it in neutral, set the brake, put it in park and shut it off.

runningwild4.6

I always park with it in gear. If I'm parked in my garage I leave it in reverse, should my foot slip. If I'm parked on an incline, then I put it in the opposite gear of the direction I'm pointing. Some officer friends of mine say that you should always put it in reverse then set brake. A friend of mine had her car parked once on an incline in first gear with brake set when at work when a coworker came in to inform her her car was at the bottom of a hill sitting on a tree. (Apparently her ebrake had failed) The TT operator also said to always park in reverse. It's I guess a matter of preference. Maybe someone has a better explaination?