Hand brake sticking

[simonpolly]

I know this has been discussed before but I could not find it when I searched, any way my car spends a lot of the time left parked on the drive with the hand brake on, the drive is on a slight incline and if its been left for a few days or more when I use it the handbrake is stuck on.

Obviously it’s worse if I have washed the car before but it is happening quite a lot, today when the handbrake was released and I finally managed to get it to release when I braked at slow speed there was a knocking noise from the driver’s side rear wheel, this cleared after a few miles of braking I cannot see any problems/damage in the brake/wheel area.

How can I prevent this? And what do we think the knocking might have been? 

I probably am not using the car enough.

[WILLS]

The knocking noise will have just been a patch of rust where the pads had fused to the disc so every time the pads went over it you would here a slight scrub, Theres nothing you can do to prevent it apart from don't put your handbrake on just leave it in gear and chock the wheels if your worried about it moving 

[simonpolly]

i leave it in gear and turn the wheels so they lock but its abit annoying when the brakes lock on,i think its just surface rust after they get wet and the handbrake is left on for a few days,it was just the knocking at slow speeds only when i was breaking that worried me slighty as its the first time its done that.All seems ok now.

[WILLS]

Yeah i wouldn't worry every car does it, you'd only hear the knocking, scrubbing sound at slow speeds when the disc is turning relatively slowly. Nothing a bit of hard braking won't cure! 

[RedHP]

I had this in my previous car and found that it was the caliber which was sticking. If this is the same problem then make sure that you move very slowly at first, but check your oil/fluid levels

Red

[simonpolly]

I had this in my previous car and found that it was the caliber which was sticking. If this is the same problem then make sure that you move very slowly at first, but check your oil/fluid levels

Red

oil and fluid levels as in engine oil and coolant or brake fluid ?,im pretty sure its the pads sticking, if i poor water on them they will release.Am i right in assuming the handbrake uses the rear pads and discs via cables ??

[am1w]

oil and fluid levels as in engine oil and coolant or brake fluid ?,im pretty sure its the pads sticking, if i poour water on them they will release.Am i right in assuming the handbrake uses the rear pads and discs via cables ??

I nice little story to answer your question.

I read somewhere an interesting case where a motorist stopped his car with ease on an icy road to afford some help to another motorist or to assist a pregnant cow. The car could have even been 4WD or not and could have even been an R or not. (I'm too lazy to investigate where I read this). Suffice to say, he activated his handbrake and got out to help. His car had been stopped on an incline. Low and behold it started sliding backwards. You know why? Because the handbrake only worked on his rear wheels. More importantly, handbrakes work only on two wheels on the same axle, unless things have changed in the last seventy five years or so.

Maybe it was Car I read this in or maybe not. Anyway, the gist of this story is true.

[RedHP]

I had this in my previous car and found that it was the caliber which was sticking. If this is the same problem then make sure that you move very slowly at first, but check your oil/fluid levels

Red

oil and fluid levels as in engine oil and coolant or brake fluid ?,im pretty sure its the pads sticking, if i poor water on them they will release.Am i right in assuming the handbrake uses the rear pads and discs via cables ??

I was thinking brake fluid, but I'm not an expert unlike a lot the other chaps/chapesses on here. If so, maybe pump the brake pedal to getthe oil going at first, but you're righ this should not be happening !

[flc1962]

Don't use the handbrake for parking outside the house (nice and flat).

My old DAD God bless his cotton socks had 2 bits of wood in the gaurage one for the back wheels to tell him to stop and one to chock the front wheel to stop the car moving must have done that for 30years, mind you I don't suppose the Model T had a good handbrake anyway.....

[WILLS]

When stationary pump the brake pedal several times fairly hard and this will/should adjust any discrepancies in the braking system.