Dumb generic question here--

What do y'all do when you're loading the truck with a forklift or dumping material into the bed with a loader? Inevitably, the truck is going to be pushed or bounced around a bit in either case. Do you :

1--leave the tranny in Park only
2--tranny in Park with the footbrake on
3--tranny in Neutral with the footbrake on

I'm thinking #3 would be best for the least potential damage to the pawl in the tranny. What do you folks normally do? Any thoughts otherwise?

 

For me its #3, best bet whatever you're doing. (Parking on a hill, loading, starting on a steep grade, parking with a trailered load on a hill, etc).

 

I park on a hill at my house. I drive up the hill until the front tires are on the top level part. I guess the hill is about 25-30 degree slope. I then place it in neutral and place the e brake on. I then let the e brake take the weight of the truck and put it in park. I'd hate for it to roll down the hill if the e brake failed. I do the same thing at the boat ramp too.

Option #3 is just dangerous if the brake ever failed and the driver was not in the vehicle to use the regular brakes.

 

yep, I do the same thing. I don't like that "bump" when you put it into R or D after parking on a hill...seems like it could cause transmission damage eventually...so I let the e-brake hold the truck and the transmission is the backup

for loading, unless your loader is being extremely rough, just place it in park with the e-brake on.

 

On a hill, you stop the truck with the service brakes and hold the brake pedal down while you put the trans in Park and set the parking brake. This keeps the park pawl free of tension. It's damaging to let the park pawl take the vehicle weight on a hill, and sometimes difficult to get the trans out of Park. The parking brake is even more important for the manual transmission truck. No park pawl to worry about but you have to leave it in Reverse or 1st gear with the brake set and wheel turned into the curb (if any).