You Know You Are Old When

[lman]

I still have an F350 with a manual transmission. I never trusted the parking brake and when parking I usually shut the engine off and shift to reverse or low. My parking brake works fine it just doesn't have much holding power.

 

[masscity]

My 2018 Silverado parking brake still works, because I press and release it often.

I liked the floor vents on my 1969 and 1970 Corvettes, lot of air. Plus no AC on the cars.

Of course the T-tops and removeable back window on the 1970, 1969 was convertible, which I didn't like, too noisy.

 

[LouNY]

I still have an F350 with a manual transmission. I never trusted the parking brake and when parking I usually shut the engine off and shift to reverse or low. My parking brake works fine it just doesn't have much holding power.

I used the one on my Dakota and the old Scout II frequently on my steep drive, stopping to remove branches or rocks I did turn the front wheels to have the safer run out if it failed.
I see an 1850 Oliver on your tractor listing, in a similar vein I had the brake lock on my 1550 come off while I was hooking up a chain to a tree to pull. I was in front of her with the chain hooked to the bucket and suddenly the chain was too short, looked back and saw the tractor moving, by the time I comprehended what was happening it was too late to step in front of that rear tire and mount her. So I stood there and watched her go down the hill over the bank and drive the loader bucket into the ground hard enough to lift the rear high in the air. Folded back the loader arms, bowed the bucket a bit, blow out a steel steering line and flattened a front rim. She took out a few small trees on her trip, but she backed back up the driveway to the shop using the brakes to turn with and was back in service in a few days.

 

[Jstpssng]

I still use my e-brake when parking on a hill. Those pawls do sometimes fail when you put the transmission in park. The last thing I want is to have the truck start rolling while I'm behind it, using the tailgate for a work bench.

 

[WinterDeere]

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.

We use ours daily, on every vehicle. We live in a hilly area, and it'd be hell on transmissions, if you didn't use it. I've bought used cars where the e-brake was seized from lack of use, but I've honestly never had one seize that was used regularly, as the friction of regular use seems to keep the cables and mechanism clean. That includes some very old and very rusty vehicles I've owned, over the years.

When I have the "drum-in-disc" off the rear of any vehicle, I do lube the moving parts of the e-brake shoe pivots and actuator with a little high-temp anti-seize or brake pad grease. I'm not sure how much that helps, but it makes me feel better, when looking at all that surrounding surface rust.

 

[WinterDeere]

Speaking of parking brakes, my gripe is that most mechanics don't seem to know how to adjust them, anymore. Even the dealership screwed up the adjustment on my last RAM... twice!

Had the truck fail for rear discs when I was in for inspection, and told them to just put on new discs while they had it. Manual trans truck, and when I went to pick it up, it started rolling as soon as I pushed the clutch to start it. I thought they just hadn't set the brake, but then realized the pedal had been pushed clean to the floor mat... and was doing nothing. They took it back in, and adjusted it so damn tight that you could barely get an inch of pedal travel, and the truck smelled of burning brake pad after a mile.

Adjusting the drum-in-disc rigs takes a little bit of developed feel, sensing the applied drag and getting both sides roughly equal, but it's not rocket science. It should be well within the capability of any mechanic. In the case of that former truck, I just adjusted them on my own, when I got it home.

 

[WinterDeere]

Mine were on the shifter.

Yep, definitely more common. The first car on which I installed them had an original leather 5-speed shifter knob, custom-fitted over a B&M Pro Stick, with the lever lock and two-hand reverse lock-out key. No good way to fit a button on that rig, and I didn't want to deal with the telephone cord rig dangling around in a car I drove on the street.

So, I decided to put the button in the "highway peg" left foot rest on that car, and then got used to that. I really think it's a better position, since few cars have both clutch and line locks.

 

[Oaktree]

Yeah! The old vehicles were so much better.

Never said those vehicles were better, just that I liked the floor vents.

 

[BravoXray]

In a different vein, you know you're old when the guy in front of you in a line has his long hair wadded up in a "man bun" on top of his head, and all you can think of is that you wish you had a pair of scissors to cut it off. Seemed like a nice guy when he talked to the counter lady, just has bad taste in hair fashion.
My question is, why not leave it down, or at least in a pony tail rather than wad it up on your head so it looks like you have a large hairy tumor growing out of you skull.

 

[Jstpssng]

In a different vein, you know you're old when the guy in front of you in a line has his long hair wadded up in a "man bun" on top of his head, and all you can think of is that you wish you had a pair of scissors to cut it off. Seemed like a nice guy when he talked to the counter lady, just has bad taste in hair fashion.
My question is, why not leave it down, or at least in a pony tail rather than wad it up on your head so it looks like you have a large hairy tumor growing out of you skull.

I would bet your father and/or grandfather wouldn't understand why you would let it grow long enough to have a pony tail... and probably wanted to take a pair of scissors to cut it off.