How does Forester Hand Brake work?

It is a parking brake and two wheels have brake drums activated by a cable. It is not much of a brake.

Is there a separate drum brake just for the parking brake or does it activate the disc brake caliper somehow?

the rear brake have a drum and disk in the same part, and 2 diferents sets of pads.

yes, cable operated mini drum brake on inner side of disk rotor

As recently as 50 years ago, what's now called the "parking brake" was called the "emergency brake". Still earlier, before hydraulic brakes became common, and when the service brakes were cable operated, the hand brake's performance would have been comparable to that of the service brakes. Cars went slower in those days, too. Eventually it became clear that the hand brake wasn't actually useful in an emergency, and the introduction of dual braking systems put the coup de gras to any pretense that an emergency brake was needed or useful. So now it's called the parking brake. Personally, I never use it; I leave an automatic transmission in Park and a manual transmission in forward or reverse (depending on which end of the car points down).

(My first car was a 1949 Dodge. Its parking/emergency brake operated by closing pads on the drive shaft. Thus, if one rear wheel was on slick ice, the differential would permit the other wheel to turn. That was even less of a brake than most.)

They come in pretty handy when a brake line snaps off. Ask how I know this...

I would not recommend this as a normal course of action. The parking pawl in automatics is not as strong as you might think, and if an MT car is "bumped", it can "pop out" of gear. In either case, a low-speed bump could end with your vehicle rolling away to where ever.

Unless you expect freezing temps (and a lot of vehicles don't have problems freezing up, either), use the parking brake when parking.

Steve

The reason I was wondering about the one in the Forester is that it's useful for getting started on steer hills with the manual transmission, but not if it can't even hold the weight of the car like many I've owned. Then of course there's the need to yank on it once in a while when you go into a gravel turn with too much understeer :)

For better or worse, that is what the hill holder is for.

Problem is, it doesn't come on the 1999-2000 Forester.

I have a WRX and the parking/emergency brake holds the weight of the car on steep hills. The only thing i need to work on is to slip my clutch better to avoid that stench :)

Leaving your car in gear while parked is unwise. If someone bumps your car, it will likely damage your transmission. Better to turn your wheels into the curb so if the parking brake fails, the roll will be stopped by the curb.

In a number of areas, I have seen police cruisers, when they are parked behind a car on a highway in the breakdown lane, point thier cruisers to the side of the road. When an idiot hits them, the cruiser is pushed into the bushes and doesn't hit the car in front of it, nor the officer and the deliquent.

Al

Which is a reason for *not* turning the steering wheel for a left turn until actually making the turn, so that if hit from behind you're not pushed into oncoming traffic.

I've been driving for 50 years, have habitually left the car either in first or reverse if a manual, or in Park if an automatic, and have never had a problem of the sort you describe. The mechanical advantage imparted by the differential and the low gear make the practice safe short of someone smashing into the car at speed.

I haven't been driving, or even alive that long :), and I'd agree that leaving a standard in 1st is generally the norm, and to think that someone bumping your car would damage the transmission, seems foolish. Imagine the state of the part of the car that got 'bumped' if your transmission is damaged? Now a tired motor losing compression, parked on a hill is another story.....

I drove my last truck (a full size Ford 4x4 with manual) for over 10 years. Before that I drove an Isuzu truck with a manual tranny. I always did the following when I parked: of course use the brake to come to a stop; while holding down the brake pedal and clutch, shift to first; turn off engine (still holding brake and clutch); release clutch (still holding brake); set emergency brake (still holding brake); release brake. Now I drive an automatic and still park the truck and set the emergency brake before releasing the brake pedal. Habits die hard.

My wife has been driving automatics longer than I have and never sets her emergency brake on her Subaru. She just puts it in park. She does the same when she drives my truck, and for some reason that bothers me (doesn't seem to bother me that she does not set the emergency brake on her car).

Charles Perry P.E.

I seldom park on hills, but when I do I always turn the wheels toward the curb and let the car roll until the tire is up against the curb.

If in reverse and bumped from behind it could cause damage to a lot of things, since hand brakes are unreliable and frequently out of adjustment I think leaving it in gear in addition to using the brake is the safest thing to do.

My father has always done that with automatics, and he never has a problem getting it out of park because the car is never resting on the parking pawl of the transmission. Me ont he other hand, I always leave my 4000 pounds of truck resting on it and then pull the brake because I never think about that stupid handle Toyota has buried under the dash until it's too late :)

My mother-in-law had a Dodge (some form of k-car) that was nearly impossible to get out of park if on even a slight grade. My wife drove that car for a couple of years and still never "learned" to set the emergency brake first, hahahaha.

Charles Perry P.E.