Re: [ihc] About those parking brakes .....

[Steven Stegmann <steve.stegmann@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

John,

Glad you're ok.  I think all of us have done something
just as dumb whether we admit it out loud or not.

Take care,

Steve

--- John Hofstetter <hofs@domain.elided> wrote:

> On Sep 23, 2004, at 9:44 AM, Urvig, Chad A wrote:
> 
> > Yeah, that's what I meant....it's a parking brake,
> not a driving brake
> > :)  Yes, I can over come it with the 8.2L in my
> bus, but I have also
> > driven my Scout with the e-brake on and not
> noticed right away.  I 
> > think
> > in something smaller than a 28,000 lb bus it
> should be a pretty
> > effective parking brake (as long as you are not
> trying to drive with it
> > on).  Something like that would be nice to have on
> my Scout....my
> > e-brakes have never worked that well, especially
> after going through
> > mud.
> >
> > Chad
> 
> I had an interesting parking brake incident this
> morning. In fact that 
> whole damn morning was more interesting than I
> needed.
> 
> Earlier this morning, I loaded my propane tanks into
> the Terra which 
> needed some miles to check out my tranny fluid
> change, the coolant 
> fluid change, the bright lights kit, the MAD diode
> addition on the 
> alternator, and went "up the hill" to get the tanks
> filled. Got up 
> there OK, but sitting in front of the propane
> filling station, the 
> Scout wouldn't start. Looked at the fuel pressure
> gauge and it said 0.  
> So, sitting there interfering with their business, I
> get under the 
> Scout and change out the Holley fuel pump. Only
> trouble is that I got 
> down OK, under OK, but getting back up was proving
> next to impossible. 
> Coarse sand on black top was letting my feet slip
> out from under me as 
> I tried to get some leverage to get up. Finally took
> off my sweat shirt 
> and swept an area large enough to get enough
> traction to get back up. 
> New pump worked great, so came home to check fluid
> levels.
> 
> I'm up on my nearly level apron in front of my shop
> and following 
> accepted protocol, I run the tranny through all the
> gears, put it into 
> N, put on the parking brake, and get up on my milk
> carton to check the 
> tranny fluid level. I, of all the people who have
> ever driven a truck 
> ought to know how worthless our parking brakes are
> in keeping our 
> trucks from rolling backwards. So, I'm up on the
> milk carton, leaning 
> over trying to get that damn dip stick back into its
> hole, and I feel 
> something moving. The Scout is backing down the hill
> with me soon 
> holding on to the heater stub with one hand and my
> other hand dragging 
> the concrete trying to stop the truck, scared to let
> go because of 
> maybe being pulled under the front wheel. Wanda, who
> had come out to 
> ask me a question is screaming in her most helpful
> way, but fortunately 
> for me a friend of my son was there in the yard and
> ran and put on the 
> brake. I was fine except the skin on my fingers of
> the concrete 
> dragging hand is pretty much gone. A lot of blood
> but not much real 
> damage.
> 
> Who knows better than I that Scout parking brakes
> are useless, 
> especially on backwards grades?  No one, but knowing
> it best still 
> doesn't count for too much when it comes to being
> stupid.
> 
> John
> 
> John Hofstetter
> Ol' Saline
> www.goldrush.com/~hofs