Handbrake too close to "door" trim.

[daventess]

I have a RHD Fiat Ducato based MH (Fleurette Wincenser), 2020 model, and my handbrake is so close to the side trim that it genuinely hurts my knuckles to use it.

I'll get a picture of it tomorrow, but is this something anyone else has suffered from? Can't find any mention of it here, so I'm guessing I might have something wrong with mine. I only know one other person with this MH (daveclare ) and he says his is fine.

The problem is there's a curved bit of trim designed, I imagine, to give a human hand space to operate the brake, but it's so tight you'd have to be a "certain ex-president" to get your hands in there comfortably.

("door" is in quotes because there is no actual door there, but in any other type of vehicle there probably would have been).

 

[stuartholmes]

Don't leave in P only when parked on hills (or your ramps) it puts unnecessary strain on the gearbox

Glad somebody said that - I was always taught to leave the gearbox in neutral when parked so if somebody whacks into you at least the cogs in the gearbox won't get stripped. Handbrakes being generally cheaper to fix than gearboxes.
Maybe things have changed, but suppose we're talking about my classic neo-vintage vehicle...

 

[DavidG58]

Don't leave in P only when parked on hills (or your ramps) it puts unnecessary strain on the gearbox

Glad somebody said that - I was always taught to leave the gearbox in neutral when parked so if somebody whacks into you at least the cogs in the gearbox won't get stripped. Handbrakes being generally cheaper to fix than gearboxes.
Maybe things have changed, but suppose we're talking about my classic neo-vintage vehicle...

Going to have to hope you are both wrong or I have just been lucky

40 years driving auto cars, until electric hand brakes came along I very rarely used my hand brake

Can’t see me breaking that habit now

 

[stuartholmes]

Going to have to hope you are both wrong or I have just been lucky

40 years driving auto cars, until electric hand brakes came along I very rarely used my hand brake

Can’t see me breaking that habit now

Wow, do you live somewhere like Norfolk or Lincolnshire?

 

[DavidG58]

Wow, do you live somewhere like Norfolk or Lincolnshire?

Derbyshire

I will have a look into possible negative effects of relying on P alone when parked, but never crossed my mind to use the hand brake

Even with my E&P deployed I only pull the hand brake on one notch to allow them to work

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[MichaelT]

Glad somebody said that - I was always taught to leave the gearbox in neutral when parked so if somebody whacks into you at least the cogs in the gearbox won't get stripped. Handbrakes being generally cheaper to fix than gearboxes.
Maybe things have changed, but suppose we're talking about my classic neo-vintage vehicle...

But that's what P is for on an auto box PARK, on the conformatic you get a loud beeping noise if you leave it in N and on our VW you get a warning on the dash and a beeping noise if you open the door and its not in P.

 

[stuartholmes]

Derbyshire

I will have a look into possible negative effects of relying on P alone when parked, but never crossed my mind to use the hand brake

Even with my E&P deployed I only pull the hand brake on one notch to allow them to work

''E&P'' ???

Something the young people say?

 

[stuartholmes]

But that's what P is for on an auto box PARK, on the conformatic you get a loud beeping noise if you leave it in N and on our VW you get a warning on the dash and a beeping noise if you open the door and its not in P.

I got the 'P for Park' thing long ago but presumed it was some sort of 'resting' position that effectively disengaged everything in the gearbox, a bit like pulling out the 3 pin plug instead of just turning off the switch, not an alternative to the handbrake.
So was that wrong?

The Comfortmatic beeping drives me crazy, had the vehicle a year now & still can't get in the habit of whatever is required to prevent it..

 

[tonyidle]

Going to have to hope you are both wrong or I have just been lucky

40 years driving auto cars, until electric hand brakes came along I very rarely used my hand brake

Can’t see me breaking that habit now

Me neither. The P locking pawl in an autobox is designed to slip at very high load to prevent damage (for example by engagement while in motion). It holds my 5.4 tonne vehicle on a 1:4 slope with no problems although I'd use the handbrake as well in those circumstances.

 

[tonyidle]

I got the 'P for Park' thing long ago but presumed it was some sort of 'resting' position that effectively disengaged everything in the gearbox, a bit like pulling out the 3 pin plug instead of just turning off the switch, not an alternative to the handbrake.
So was that wrong?

The Comfortmatic beeping drives me crazy, had the vehicle a year now & still can't get in the habit of whatever is required to prevent it..

P doesn't disengage any thing. It pushes a steel pawl into a special gear to lock the transmission,

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[MichaelT]

The Comfortmatic beeping drives me crazy, had the vehicle a year now & still can't get in the habit of whatever is required to prevent it..

You have to leave it in A/M or R not N

 

[Emmit]

I presume you have a manual gearbox? If it’s an auto just stick it in park and ignore handbrake if it’s manual , hope you find a simple fix

Except that the 'Comfortmatic' gearbox used on many motorhomes, doesn't have a 'Park' option.
(I see others have joined in on this!)

 

[MichaelT]

Except that the 'Comfortmatic' gearbox used on many motorhomes, doesn't have a 'Park' option.
(I see others have joined in on this!)

When in doubt RTFM

 

[stuartholmes]

When in doubt RTFM

Thank you, it's handy to have the FM on the A32 but my challenge isn't knowing it's habituating, epecially when the habit required is dfferent from the one I spent 50 yrs practicing!
Maybe I'll go back to the 207D.

 

[stuartholmes]

Me neither. The P locking pawl in an autobox is designed to slip at very high load to prevent damage (for example by engagement while in motion). It holds my 5.4 tonne vehicle on a 1:4 slope with no problems although I'd use the handbrake as well in those circumstances.

That kind of make sense, but I think I'd struggle to not use the handbrake on a 1:1 slope!!

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[tonyidle]

That kind of make sense, but I think I'd struggle to not use the handbrake on a 1:1 slope!!

Me too. And wheel chocks. Fortunately I've never come across one

 

[stuartholmes]

Me too. And wheel chocks. Fortunately I've never come across one

I did of course mean. 0:1 to be technically correct but what's an inch or two between friends?

 

[adej]

I have seen the hand brake lever be bent by it being caught in clothing as you exit the door and drop down to the ground.
Obviously you don’t have the exit door but that’s not to say it wasn’t bent before the body was fitted.
They can be straightened with a large adjustable spanner and plenty of grunting! Just don’t ask how I know!

I’ve just done this very thing - caught my shorts on hand brake on leaving vehicle and have bent the hand brake lever.
Is there any advice you could offer on straightening it ? I have my adjustable spanner to hand and ready to grunt !!

 

[philann]

Mine didn't rip, so I was left hanging!

Done that a few times

 

[1967bowesj]

I’ve just done this very thing - caught my shorts on hand brake on leaving vehicle and have bent the hand brake lever.
Is there any advice you could offer on straightening it ? I have my adjustable spanner to hand and ready to grunt !!

Take the cover off and you will see how it is mounted, big adjustable on the bracket and push up, if possible pull handbrake fully up and get second person to push on that as added grunt.

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[David and Sally]

I shall look into the extender. Once I get over my gout I will take a proper look at it. So far I've only had a "moany look", which was just enough to half see what's happening and then feel justified to moan about it

Have you tried Allopurinol for the gout?

 

[Guigsy]

My RHD Geist A-class has a left cab door. But there's plenty of room for the handbrake as there's a large recess under the dashboard extension/drivers arm rest. Probably more room than my old panel van. It is bit of a detritus trap though. Dropped my keys down there once and it took several minutes to fish them out!

The handbrake recess is a thoughtful design touch. Pity they didn't move the mirror controls from the left door, or give the driver any way of raising the powered window on the left side.

 

[cossie303]

I presume you have a manual gearbox? If it’s an auto just stick it in park and ignore handbrake if it’s manual , hope you find a simple fix

You should always use the handbrake first when parking then put the vehicle in to park. When in park it engages a locking pin to lock the gearbox which will put strain on the box if used without the handbrake, if the pin breaks, the vehicle can roll freely. Not sure if this applies to a comfortmatic box.

 

[MichaelT]

. Not sure if this applies to a comfortmatic box.

No as it's a robotised manual so you should just leave it in gear or you get a warning.

 

[Guigsy]

You should always use the handbrake first when parking then put the vehicle in to park. When in park it engages a locking pin to lock the gearbox which will put strain on the box if used without the handbrake, if the pin breaks, the vehicle can roll freely. Not sure if this applies to a comfortmatic box.

Pretty much every driver in 'merica exclusively only uses Park on their auto box when they leave the vehicle. They don't use the "emergency brake" to the point it's seized up on many cars.

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[Barriesimpson]

But that's what P is for on an auto box PARK, on the conformatic you get a loud beeping noise if you leave it in N and on our VW you get a warning on the dash and a beeping noise if you open the door and its not in P.

My Jaguar will automatically put itself in P if I don't. It will also put the handbrake on if I were to forget.

 

[MichaelT]

My Jaguar will automatically put itself in P if I don't. It will also put the handbrake on if I were to forget.

I expect my VW does too.

 

[Barriesimpson]

I expect my VW does too.

I'm sure it does.

 

[DavidG58]

You should always use the handbrake first when parking then put the vehicle in to park. When in park it engages a locking pin to lock the gearbox which will put strain on the box if used without the handbrake, if the pin breaks, the vehicle can roll freely. Not sure if this applies to a comfortmatic box.

Not sure about this , been driving autos for years never bothered with hand brake except a couple of Audis with electric hand brakes that self activate in P

I have though stuck mostly to proper autos in Mercs mainly , might be different for the comfortmatic type

 

[Bustup15]

I really don't understand why anyone would buy a RHD drive A Class just doesn't make sense to me.

I eealise it's an old thread but did make me smile Lenny HB

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[Bustup15]

I’ve just done this very thing - caught my shorts on hand brake on leaving vehicle and have bent the hand brake lever.
Is there any advice you could offer on straightening it ? I have my adjustable spanner to hand and ready to grunt !!

Hook your shorts on lever and clamber back in at speed