You Know You Are Old When

[sixdogs]

When I had rear brakes done on a 1997 F250 recently, the mechanic said that while he was at it he freed up my emergency brake. He felt pretty good about it. What?

Am I that old? I haven't used a foot pedal emergency brake in many decades over fear it would push down and just lock on from rust. I don't know of anyone in the olden days that trusted a foot pedal emergency brake to release on command.

With his confidence I did push down that pedal and yes, it popped back up. I felt a little naughty about it but it's kind of nice to have.

 

[Oaktree]

Ah, fresh air

I miss those old floor vents in vehicles. Yeah, I know everything's air conditioned now, but personally I prefer the vents.

 

[Oaktree]

When I had rear brakes done on a 1997 F250 recently, the mechanic said that while he was at it he freed up my emergency brake. He felt pretty good about it. What?

Am I that old? I haven't used a foot pedal emergency brake in many decades over fear it would push down and just lock on from rust. I don't know of anyone in the olden days that trusted a foot pedal emergency brake to release on command.

With his confidence I did push down that pedal and yes, it popped back up. I felt a little naughty about it but it's kind of nice to have.

Emergency brakes always seemed to rust/seize up no matter how they were operated, pedal or lever. Haven't had a manual transmission vehicle in probably 20 years, but even when I did and used the e-brake regularly the cables wouldn't go more than 4-5 years without needing to be replaced.

 

[sixdogs]

Emergency brakes always seemed to rust/seize up no matter how they were operated, pedal or lever. Haven't had a manual transmission vehicle in probably 20 years, but even when I did and used the e-brake regularly the cables wouldn't go more than 4-5 years without needing to be replaced.

When I was a kid in the olden days I drove a road-call service truck for a shop and many of the the calls were for frozen e-brake cables. We had to try to get them loose with oil and persuasion and then get it back to the station.

Back then it was heat, oil, white grease on the cables or just replace if needed. Whatever you did, they still froze up again. Really, until recently, the last time I stepped on an e-brake foot pedal was the late 70's. That's how bad they were.

 

[jyoutz]

I miss those old floor vents in vehicles. Yeah, I know everything's air conditioned now, but personally I prefer the vents.

All vehicles I have driven still have fresh air venting. They just operate from a switch on the dashboard.

 

[scootr]

You know you are old when the doctor starts freeze burn things off of you
Also the e brake problems above are non existent in the dry SW

 

[masseyrider]

I miss those old floor vents in vehicles. Yeah, I know everything's air conditioned now, but personally I prefer the vents.

My old man had a mid 60s pickup that rotted out way before it should have.
You couldn't crank down the windows because the whole mechanism was rotted out and the window would drop all the way down.
The only way to get them back up was to take an inner door panel off and lift the window back.
A real pain in the seat.
Going somewhere with Pa it was hot so I decided to open the floor vent on my side.
Even worse.
The collection of rust, dirt and chunks of crap that hit me in the legs was unbelieveable.
He tried to rivet some metal over it later and couldn't get to any metal that would hold a rivet.
Yeah! The old vehicles were so much better.

 

[jyoutz]

You know you are old when the doctor starts freeze burn things off of you
Also the e brake problems above are non existent in the dry SW

I think it’s not so much dry or wet. It’s salt or no salt.

 

[LouNY]

Some of my cars have had a switch added in that location, but momentary contact, for line locks.

Mine were on the shifter.

 

[LouNY]

When I had rear brakes done on a 1997 F250 recently, the mechanic said that while he was at it he freed up my emergency brake. He felt pretty good about it. What?

Am I that old? I haven't used a foot pedal emergency brake in many decades over fear it would push down and just lock on from rust. I don't know of anyone in the olden days that trusted a foot pedal emergency brake to release on command.

With his confidence I did push down that pedal and yes, it popped back up. I felt a little naughty about it but it's kind of nice to have.

Emergency brakes always seemed to rust/seize up no matter how they were operated, pedal or lever. Haven't had a manual transmission vehicle in probably 20 years, but even when I did and used the e-brake regularly the cables wouldn't go more than 4-5 years without needing to be replaced.

When I was a kid in the olden days I drove a road-call service truck for a shop and many of the the calls were for frozen e-brake cables. We had to try to get them loose with oil and persuasion and then get it back to the station.

Back then it was heat, oil, white grease on the cables or just replace if needed. Whatever you did, they still froze up again. Really, until recently, the last time I stepped on an e-brake foot pedal was the late 70's. That's how bad they were.

I think it’s not so much dry or wet. It’s salt or no salt.

I had much better luck with mine, driving standard transmission vehicles most of the time I found that when used everyday they tended to work fairly well with minimal maintenance. In the winter I got in the habit of applying and releasing it a couple of times when I parked. My 2002 Dodge Dakota racked up 213,000 miles and was a daily driver till 2012 when it got dropped to weekend use and spare vehicle till 2015 when I gave it to one of my daughters. Because I got my 2015 RAM, that pickup as well as my 2019 RAM and my wifes 2018 Jeep have a setting in the vehicle menu to automatically apply the parking brake every time it's placed in park which is how they are configured. With constant continual use they don't give near as much problems as they do for people that don't use them frequently and then expect them to work when needed.