parking in 1st gear

[CUMMINS4U]

truck rolled back 15 ft yesterday when parked on SLIGHT incline in 1st gear without the e-brakes on (no extra weight or trailer on truck).



is that a sign of bigger problems to come... or is this not uncommon with diesel engines with manual transmissions?



2003 3500 4x4 shortbed with nv5600 6spd manual



thanks for any comments or information.



sean

 

[RHildreth]

Sounds normal to me. I once had a Ford pick-up that rolled out of a parking lot and bumped a car across the street when I accidently left it in second instead of reverse. Luckily it came up hill a little just before contact with the other car. Didn't do any damage. I think any forward gear will roll. Reverse doesn't seem to. I do hit my emergency brake now though just to make sure.

 

[nickleinonen]

if the grade is enough, the truck will roll when in gear. . parking brake is there for a reason...

 

[JasonCzerak]

CUMMINS4U is right about the parking break. tho on the cummin's I never tried parking in gear. I got out of the habbit just for that reason that I might wanna get a remote-starter.



In my 93xj, the jeep NEVER rolled back in 1st or reverse, parking break sucked (crappy drum breaks!). so it was always parked in thoses gears. But this was (detroit area) Michigan, no real inclines other then a driveway.



One day I did park the jeep in 3rd, after about an hour she rolling back to the street and stopped. I re-parked the xj in 3rd again and pushed, REAL EASY to push.



I would imageing the same would apply for the cummin, expecically in creaper. it would be difficult to move. but real easy in 6th.

 

[CUMMINS4U]

thanks for your comments...



again... i was just really surprised that it rolled backwards in 1st gear. reason is that although this is my first cummins with manual... i have never had any problems with gas manuals rolling at all.



guess i'll have to get used to applying the e-brakes.



regarding parking in reverse gear... . never heard of it before. does it really work?



thanks again.

 

[Scrappy]

the lower the gear= harder to turn engine thru drivetrain. that is why if you try to pull start a manual in 1st, you usually just drag the tires but if you put it in a higher gear like 3rd it will turn the engine. are you 100% positive it was completely in gear? there is no way the truck should have rolled in 1st, it is as low as reverse.

 

[Tomeygun]

the lower the gear= harder to turn engine thru drivetrain. that is why if you try to pull start a manual in 1st, you usually just drag the tires but if you put it in a higher gear like 3rd it will turn the engine. are you 100% positive it was completely in gear? there is no way the truck should have rolled in 1st, it is as low as reverse.

Thats what I though too... I bet I would drap tire before I turned over a 16:1 engine with just gravity.



I use 2nd or R because I fear the shift falling down out of first

 

[GFritsch]

Never had either of my trucks 94 and 04 trucks roll when in first gear even when parked on a hill. How long did it take to move that 15 feet? I would imagine it must have taken a while as cylinder air slowly leaked past rings and or valves. I makes sense that this could happen. Interesting post.



Greg

 

[Mhannink]

i don't see how it could happen one the compression is so high and 2 the gears are very low ive never heard of a truck of any kind rolling in first or reverse no matter what the hill was just my . 02

 

[EEdmondson]

Put it in 4LO and 1st or reverse, if it moves open the hood and make sure you don't have a Briggs and Stratton in there. :-laf

 

[CUMMINS4U]

Never had either of my trucks 94 and 04 trucks roll when in first gear even when parked on a hill. How long did it take to move that 15 feet? I would imagine it must have taken a while as cylinder air slowly leaked past rings and or valves. I makes sense that this could happen. Interesting post.



Greg

okay... now I'm starting to worry. I am absolutely positive it was in first gear. The incline is small(my drive way)... but enough so that if it was not in gear, it would roll right away. It rolled about 15 ft backwards in about a 2-3 hours time.



:{

 

[DHayden]

I have a 2nd Gen but a NV5600 and my truck won't go anywhere in 1st even on a very steep hill (my truck is 8100lbs unloaded). One of my driveways is steep enough I can back up to it from the street with the tailgate down and load wheeled vehicles straight on. As for the advice on the parking brake, I agree you should always set it but mine is worthless. I don't know if they got better on the 3rd gens but the 2nd gens provide no comfort factor whatsoever.

 

[Mark.Smith]

I park on an incline every day and the truck is in reverse. Never had a problem. Now watch, tomorrow I'll go out and the truck will be gone... ... ... ...

 

[fox]

I find it tough to believe it was in 1st. Maybe 4th-5th.

We have an old bread truck with the 4BT ans a 4 speed. It weighs 11,000 lbs's + and won't roll in 1st.

My employees complained the P brake will not hold it.

I told them for 2 years to use 1st. Finally I was with them when it rolled! They had it in 4th. I told them they only had to try 1st, but no they were smarter. ( as sharp as a billboard ).

 

[67guzzler]

Slipping Clutch?

 

[rbattelle]

the lower the gear= harder to turn engine thru drivetrain. that is why if you try to pull start a manual in 1st, you usually just drag the tires but if you put it in a higher gear like 3rd it will turn the engine. are you 100% positive it was completely in gear? there is no way the truck should have rolled in 1st, it is as low as reverse.

I agree. In fact, I was taught to use reverse unless on a very steep hill, in which case use 1st instead. But with 1st and reverse the same ratio they should have the same holding power.



Something sounds kinda fishy.



-Ryan

 

[jwduke]

When I had my 2nd gen. w/ a NP4500, I always dropper er in reverse. Never rolled away.

 

[MMeier]

if the grade is enough, the truck will roll when in gear. . parking brake is there for a reason...

Ditto that ! Any of you guys hear of "torque lock"?

 

[cojhl2]

It is not compression that holds the vehicle when parked. It is friction. If left in high a gear then you can observe compression leakoff as the engine rotates. CI/SI has has nothing to do with it.



You should always park in such a way that the vehicle will not roll period.



However, that not always being possible then you should pick the lowest gear in the direction of possilbe roll. ie: if the slope is backward then use Reverse, if the slope is fwd then use 1st.



This is to keep the engine always rotating in its corrrect direction.



This is what chocks are for.

 

[rbattelle]

This is to keep the engine always rotating in its corrrect direction.

Let's be honest here: if your truck rolls away in gear whether the engine was rotating in the correct direction or not is the absolute least of your worries. :-laf



-Ryan