Thetastycat

Hey all - 95 w/AX15 and 4.0. Yesterday an Amazon van ended up in a ditch on my road, so I pulled over on a pretty steep uphill to hook up. Left it in 1st gear, and I really can't remember if I pulled the parking brake or not. After a minute or two I noticed the XJ would roll back an inch, then after a few seconds another inch, then another, so I put it in 4Lo and that held it. I'm on 35s with 4.88s. Is this normal??

I put an 8.8 in the rear and did all the parking brake conversion stuff, but I've never been thrilled with the parking brake's hold - I adjusted it so that it gets pretty hard to pull all the way up, but still seems to be able to roll on a decent incline.

I learned to drive on a crappy Subaru 5-speed sedan, and I don't ever remember it not holding on hills in gear...

lawsoncl

Not using the parking brake, or discovering that a vehicle can roll on steep hill regardless of what gear you left it in?
I had a 95 YJ as well. I recall the parking brake absolutely sucked and wouldn't hold on steep hills unless I also left it in gear.

Thetastycat

I was surprised that it would roll backward if left in first gear - didn't realize that could turn the motor! Guess if I have to do it again I'll jack that parking brake within an inch of its life and leave in 4lo-1st.

lawsoncl

Might need to check that your back brakes are properly adjusted too. The self adjusters never worked that well, especially if you never use the parking brake..

BlueRidgeMark

Yep.

And you should always use your parking brake!

It's not an "emergency" brake. It's for parking.

GreaseMonkey17

I have worked on more 8.8s than most people will ever have the displeasure to mess with in their life and I’ll tell you the parking brake isn’t meant to be used . The shoes are paper thin when brand new . None of it is made to be used on a regular basis and you can have ALL new components and still barely hold . There are 100s in our fleet I’ve serviced regularly for nearly a decade and working parking brakes is vital “safety measures “ for our fleet . Anyways there’s some rules of thumb to avoid mishaps like this . Always chock a wheel , curb the tires appropriately when parking so that it can’t roll away and in gear/park . Don’t rely on one method .

robsjeep

Slipping clutch, bad compression can cause this.

Thetastycat

GreaseMonkey, I'm really glad to hear you say this - not just me!! I put the 8.8 in not even a year ago, all new parking brake since old stuff was 100% shot, and never could get the new stuff to hold well. Got some differing opinions on the forum but it's just nice to know that I didn't screw it up, it's just not a good design. Looks like I'll be throwing some wood chocks in the back

00t444e

Not unusual, enough force will turn the engine, putting it in 4 low helps because it increases the amount of torque needed to turn the engine.

Thetastycat

Perfect.

Chick-N-Picker

How does this factor into an automatic? My parking brake doesn't work at all.

00t444e

An auto has a parking pawl that locks the output shaft of the transmission, it won't roll in park unless something breaks.

BlueRidgeMark

It may have been designed poorly, but it was designed to be used. It doesn't need thick shoes - it\'s not supposed to slip. No slip, no wear. No problem.

doublechaz

The parking pawl is supposed to lock the output shaft. I got to watch a wrecker pull a neighbors car up a 20 foot cliff after they popped it in park and jumped out without making sure the pawl was seated into a groove by slowly letting off the brake when parking on a hill. It started back quick enough that the pawl kept jumping over each groove. That was some kind of VW, maybe a Jetta or the next one bigger. I never saw that car over there after that so I imagine it was totaled from two trips over the rocks.

bluejeep2001

You never push started a manual...same thing. I think a higher gear works better to hold...thats why it stalls at idle and in 5th gear