[Kathlene]

I live in Four Corners Area of Colorado. Although the Winters aren't near as severe as the New Yorkers, we do get our share of below freezing temps particularly over night and plenty of snow. Pequod, my 2015 F56 (Volcanic Orange!) is a manual 6 speed. Adopted in July. I am of the habit of selecting 1st gear and setting the parking brake whenever I park. My husband says..."Kat don't be setting the parking brake in the Winter because, it's possible if it has brake shoes in a housing and if snow or slush get inside the housing when you're driving about, that (temperatures allowing) it will freeze the brake shoes to the drum housing."
So, anyone out there with more knowledge of the brake system of the F56 please help me out here. What's been your experience and I welcome any suggestions.
Thank you

 

[02fanatic]

I live in Four Corners Area of Colorado. Although the Winters aren't near as severe as the New Yorkers, we do get our share of below freezing temps particularly over night and plenty of snow. Pequod, my 2015 F56 (Volcanic Orange!) is a manual 6 speed. Adopted in July. I am of the habit of selecting 1st gear and setting the parking brake whenever I park. My husband says..."Kat don't be setting the parking brake in the Winter because, it's possible if it has brake shoes in a housing and if snow or slush get inside the housing when you're driving about, that (temperatures allowing) it will freeze the brake shoes to the drum housing."
So, anyone out there with more knowledge of the brake system of the F56 please help me out here. What's been your experience and I welcome any suggestions.
Thank you

That's true for old drum brakes but not disk brakes. If I parked outside, especially on a slope of any kind I'd use the emergency brake. I sometimes do not use the emergency brake in the garage...just put it in 1st gear. I confess that I use it most of the time out of habit though.

I do not use the emergency brake on my older vehicles that have drum brakes for long time storage...that's just asking for trouble with the brake cylinders leaking/locking up.

 

[Angib]

Yes, fathers always recommend not using the hand/emergency brake since they still don't use it from the days when the had cars with ineffective hand/emergency brakes - and obviously if they do it, that's because it's The Right Thing To Do.

It is indeed drum brakes that could have a problem with releasing, though Mini discs corrode so fast that they can 'stick' on a bit, giving a clunk when you drive off. If I had a garage and didn't park on the street, I might not bother using the hand/emergency brake - but then using it is what I am in the habit of doing so it is The Right Thing To Do.

 

[jeremybingham]

I've never left a car with the handbrake not on. Modern disc and drum brakes may slightly rust on in bad weather but pop off as soon as you move. Use it. Far safer.

 

[TheOnlyMTS]

If you are worried about residual water/slush/snow on the rotor causing freeze up, just make sure to come to the final stop (before parking) using the park brake. This should warm it up sufficiently to melt and dry off anything that was there from driving. Just a thought. I have never had an issue with disc brakes and live in Canada. My old e30 BMW used to have issues with e-brake lines freezing up more than the drum brake in the rear.

 

[jeremybingham]

MTS is quite correct; in fact it recommends in the handbook to occasionally come to a stop using the handbrake to clear the discs of any corrosion. My r56 rear discs were terrible-put new ones on due to pitting and scoringthrough lack of use¬!

 

[Kathlene]

Thank you

 

[Angib]

If we are going to get into one of those 'my dad is bigger than your dad' type of bragging competitions, I present one rear disc removed from my R59 at 2.5 years old. The braking was not noticeably bad, which demonstrates how little the rear brakes really do most of the time. The big benefit of replacement (apart from reduced noise!) was that low speed cold braking improved as I have fast road pads on the front to improve high speed braking.

 

[02fanatic]

Another good thing about using the emergency brake is that is takes the load off the transmission, as long as you set it before removing your foot off the brake pedal (especially the case for an auto trans). But, even with the manual trans, like on an incline, the emergency brake will ease the stress on the transmission when the car is parked.

 

[TheOnlyMTS]

If we are going to get into one of those 'my dad is bigger than your dad' type of bragging competitions, I present one rear disc removed from my R59 at 2.5 years old. The braking was not noticeably bad, which demonstrates how little the rear brakes really do most of the time. The big benefit of replacement (apart from reduced noise!) was that low speed cold braking improved as I have fast road pads on the front to improve high speed braking.

I am sure that was ignorant to remove...

 

[Angib]

I am sure that was ignorant to remove...

Yes, where all the disc surface was still present, the disc was above minimum thickness. But as you can see, that wasn't entirely true over all the braking surface.......

 

[jeremybingham]

Good pic angib. Just what I was trying to describe. I too didn't notice much difference it creeps up but handbrake was noticeably better after new discs.