e-brake problems...

[mobomelter]

i was driving my 3 around the other day and decided to test out my e-brake. when i pulled it the car slowed down... a little. i used to own a focus and when i pulled the e-brake the back tires locked up. i was under the assumption that all e-brakes locked the back tires up. is the 3 exempt or does my e-brake need to be looked at?

 

[PeteyBoy3K]

probably better tires, better weight distribution, and the fact that you are using a tiny drum-in-disc brake as opposed to the large rear drum brake the focus has (unless you had an SVT or somethin with rear disc brakes)

The parking brake in this car was designed to hold the car on a hill, not really slow it down in case of brake failure. And even then, I'd try to turn a tire into the curb and leave it in park/gear on a steep hill

really, you only need to get the parking brake looked at if the cable is all stretched out.

 

[cbcbd]

If you want to make it tighter I'm sure there's some sort of adjustment somewhere like there is on the Proteges. But it's like Peteboy said...
It takes a lot of hydraulic pressure to lock up your wheels with your foot brake as it is, think of how much manual pressure you'd need.

Trust me, if you yank it very hard it will probably lock. And if you yank it real hard and cut the wheel I'm sure you'll have an easier time making them lock

And what are you doing trying to lock up your rear wheels while in motion anyway? You don't want to end up with a flat spot on your tires.

 

[mobomelter]

eh i used to have fun with my focus making the back end slide. also my focus e-brake saved me from a crash. (old brake pads couldn't stop the car) probably shouldn't do it anyways. it holds the car in place so i guess i shouldn't worry about it.