cranny

I was thinking about dropping more weight out of the car and was considering removing the entire parking brake assembly from the lever all the way back to the cables and shoes.

Any of you guys do this and just lock it in gear when parked? Anyone have any issues with this?

Ocala93TA

iTrader: (9)

I would not do this , I just think its a very bad idea . Just not worth the little bit of weight you would save , just my 2 cents .

cranny

Locked in 4th gear would hold pretty tight I would think. And as long as it's not parked on any radical incline it should be ok don't you think?

97_ek

iTrader: (5)

I bought my Camaro without the ebrake in it, and I just got all my parts to put the stock brakes back on. It hasnt been a problem driving it every day without the ebrake, but I just like the idea of having one. The Aerospace brakes that I have on the car do not have ABS capability either, and thats the main reason I'm swapping back to the stock setup.

Anyways, to answer your question...Yes you can drive around without your parking brake on a daily driver. As long as you park on pretty level surfaces it's not a problem. However, you will only drop about 10 lbs by losing your parking brake set-up, so unless this is a straight up race car I don't think it will be worth it. Hope this helps.

stereojnky

iTrader: (19)

What he said. I daily drove an '86 Iroc with a T5 for 6 years with an inoperative parking brake. Never had any problems, even parking on hills. But I always had it in the back of my head that it might fail one day. It never did but I could never just let my car idle while I worked on something or just let it warm up without using a chock. Major pain.
Bottom line is you can get away with it, but it's not worth the trouble unless it's a drag only car. Even then, I would find the weight savings somewhere else.

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

+1. Not driving around with fat chicks in the car will do more than dropping 10 lb. for the brake.

You gotta think that there's a reason why every car since 1905 has had a parking brake installed. I recall that putting a static load on the transmission (by not using the parking brake) is a bad thing. If I didn't have a parking brake, I'd make sure I at least had these in the car:

... but that would negate any weight savings. ... and someone might steal them.

studderin

iTrader: (28)

no parking brake hear just leave it in gear. running drag brakes.
I posted up the weights, the handle and lines I think were 7-8, and you can drill the spot welds and get the plate under the DS tunnel off, cut the handle moute off the concel metal. And get even more. The stuff on the rear end, the end brakets, the P loops that go on the cover, plus all the brake on the backing plates. makes the car alot easier to work on. I bet the whole stock system is 12-15pounds maybe more?

Zmg00camaross

iTrader: (11)

^^^ no ebrake either. Drag brakes

Ferocity02

iTrader: (60)

The trans/engine won't hold if you're on enough of an incline. It this isn't a concern of yours then hell, remove it! I've been in more than a few situations where mine wouldn't hold with it just in gear and I had to block a tire because the parking brake wasn't working.

reinhardt02

In the state I live in a ebrake is required to pass state inspection. I wouldn't remove the ebrake unless the car was a dedicated track car.

SWeiser31

iTrader: (9)

I've thought about this for when I put drag brakes on the rear. One solution I came up with is plumbing in a hand brake like this, http://secure.chassisshop.com/partlist/6139/ , and making something to hook onto it to hold it tight when you pull it. Might be a pain in the *** but I think it could work.

studderin

iTrader: (28)

Ive never parked my car on some crazy hill that was so steep it turned the engine over. I'm not doing some 3rd world, south american cliff trucking

ncfastls1

iTrader: (1)

Your car will fail inspection if you don't have a parking brake. So unless it's a drag car, I would not even bother with the miniscule amount of weight you would save.

SWeiser31

iTrader: (9)

Pretty much ANY car can pass a state inspection. Just gotta know the right guy..

Ocala93TA

iTrader: (9)

Car inspections whats that ? lol those must suck !

cranny

Thanks for that info studderin. 12-15 is a good amount. Every little bit adds up.

No state inspection here to worry about. Plus I live in the Midwest where everything is straight and flat.