2012 Era Foot Operated Parking Brake - Hand Control Options?
Discussion
Weird one! We're looking for a new daily and found a 2012 C-Class estate that fits the bill perfectly for our requirements which are a little non-standard! My wife will be using the car mostly and has MS so uses hand controls for acceleration/braking which is fine for most cars out there - steering column adaptation easily fitted that allows a little lever to be fitted for forward = accelerate / backward = brake. The problem is the foot activated parking brake. She struggled to get her foot onto it to push it down. Speaking with the local company who adapt vehicles, they reckon that it can be solved but its a 2 grand thing, a 5th of the cost of the car!
So is there a more heath robinson/more inventive solution anyone has come across thats better than my suggestion of pushing it with a stick
Other than that, the car is brilliant.
So is there a more heath robinson/more inventive solution anyone has come across thats better than my suggestion of pushing it with a stick
Other than that, the car is brilliant.
As I read your post I was thinking of a stick but see you have already discounted that.
I rarely use the foot operated parking brake on my E class. I tend to just leave it in Park (although I rarely park on steep hills).
Thinking about it, some form of cable off the back of the pedal, going round a pulley on the firewall and up to a handle secured to the side of the centre console would maybe be possible but it would need a lot of force to pull.
(Off to try and operate the foot parking brake in my car using a walking stick, I will report back)
Edit: applying the parking brake using a walking stick is not too bad. I cannot easily apply the brake as hard as I can using my foot, this could be solved by extending the pedal downwards to get more leverage. A ‘cup’ type extension would be ideal, so the ‘stick’ would fit into it.
A walking stick is a bit too long so something shorter would be better, if it was shorter it would also fit down the side of the seat next to the centre console.
As I type this I am thinking something along the lines of a yacht tiller extension attached to the bottom of the pedal would be ideal and would just fold down alongside the seat.
I rarely use the foot operated parking brake on my E class. I tend to just leave it in Park (although I rarely park on steep hills).
Thinking about it, some form of cable off the back of the pedal, going round a pulley on the firewall and up to a handle secured to the side of the centre console would maybe be possible but it would need a lot of force to pull.
(Off to try and operate the foot parking brake in my car using a walking stick, I will report back)
Edit: applying the parking brake using a walking stick is not too bad. I cannot easily apply the brake as hard as I can using my foot, this could be solved by extending the pedal downwards to get more leverage. A ‘cup’ type extension would be ideal, so the ‘stick’ would fit into it.
A walking stick is a bit too long so something shorter would be better, if it was shorter it would also fit down the side of the seat next to the centre console.
As I type this I am thinking something along the lines of a yacht tiller extension attached to the bottom of the pedal would be ideal and would just fold down alongside the seat.
Edited by Scrump on Thursday 5th May 10:17
DaveyBoyWonder said:
She struggled to get her foot onto it to push it down.
Is it the height of the hand/foot brake pedal that is the issue (I probably do have to lift my knee a bit to get my foot on the pedal in my car), rather than not having the necessary force to push it into the on position? If so, could you modify the pedal so that it sat a bit lower in the footwell? This might, however, get in the way of resting her left foot on the footrest.P.S. Have you had the rear subframe inspected on the S204 C Class?
On the post facelift W204 I had it was possible to use the normal brakes like a hand brake. I can't remember the precise details on how to activate it, but as I recall a sharp press and release when stationary and the car would hold the brakes on (indicator on the dash lit to confirm it was active). You could then just drive off when ready, worked well with the engine stop-start.
Great you have the car, before you spend any money try not using the hand/foot brake. We have several auto Vitos at work that have the same foot operated system and I can't remember the last time I got in one and found someone had used it. Put the car in park and leave it, if you're pulling away come off the brake gently and the torque converter should kick in and hold it.
I rarely use the handbrake. Only if on a significant hill.
If you need to prevent the car rolling while driving, left foot brake or push the brakes *hard* when stopped. You should see “HOLD” on the dash, and the car will leave the brakes applied.
(Edit; that’s on the E - I presume a C of similar vintage goes the same thing)
If you need to prevent the car rolling while driving, left foot brake or push the brakes *hard* when stopped. You should see “HOLD” on the dash, and the car will leave the brakes applied.
(Edit; that’s on the E - I presume a C of similar vintage goes the same thing)
Mr E said:
I rarely use the handbrake. Only if on a significant hill.
If you need to prevent the car rolling while driving, left foot brake or push the brakes *hard* when stopped. You should see “HOLD” on the dash, and the car will leave the brakes applied.
(Edit; that’s on the E - I presume a C of similar vintage goes the same thing)
Yes that's the feature I was trying to describe. If you need to prevent the car rolling while driving, left foot brake or push the brakes *hard* when stopped. You should see “HOLD” on the dash, and the car will leave the brakes applied.
(Edit; that’s on the E - I presume a C of similar vintage goes the same thing)
Quick update, not really about the parking brake (I'm fine with it - hand controls for the wife being fitted tomorrow).
Its our first Mercedes after owning a lot of VAG stuff and modern'ish Minis (we love Minis) as well as the odd Jap car and BMW thrown in. First impressions - build quality. Don't recall ever being in such a well built car. Yes, its 11 years old but its only done 50k miles and theres not a squeak or creak anywhere when driving. Its silent. 60 on a NSL road and it just glides along, zero effort and zero noise. Everything works as it should (as far as I've found!).
The ride is absolutely amazing. The roads where we live are pretty poor in places and the old Minis used to pick up every single bump but the Merc just glides over everything as if its a glass smooth surface.
Boot, massive. Power tailgate, brilliant. Seats dead comfy.
So far, well happy with our purchase.
Its our first Mercedes after owning a lot of VAG stuff and modern'ish Minis (we love Minis) as well as the odd Jap car and BMW thrown in. First impressions - build quality. Don't recall ever being in such a well built car. Yes, its 11 years old but its only done 50k miles and theres not a squeak or creak anywhere when driving. Its silent. 60 on a NSL road and it just glides along, zero effort and zero noise. Everything works as it should (as far as I've found!).
The ride is absolutely amazing. The roads where we live are pretty poor in places and the old Minis used to pick up every single bump but the Merc just glides over everything as if its a glass smooth surface.
Boot, massive. Power tailgate, brilliant. Seats dead comfy.
So far, well happy with our purchase.
Cooper1999 said:
ETA be careful if you choose not to use the foot brake. The mechanism can seize.
Yah. I use it occasionally (once a week) and also have been known to drag it car on the parking brake for 20 yards now and again. It did seize a few years back. Trying to reverse a car off a drive with nearly 400 bhp, no LSD and one rear wheel locked on was interesting…
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