Here's How To Park A Car On Incline

Sometimes when it comes to parking, there are no other choices but to stop it on an inclined road. In a few places, people have to do it regularly because they either live or work there. Occasional parking on an inclined slope may not harm your vehicle, but regular and continued parking on an incline may have detrimental effects on some parts.

The first thing that can happen when you regularly park on an inclined slope is that your fluid readings will be inaccurate. Fluids like fuel, oil, and engine fluids like transmission, brake, and clutch will be affected. This is why when checking the fluid levels of your vehicle, make sure to measure it on a level surface. Another part that will suffer is the parking or handbrake as using it all the time will accelerate the wear and tear on the brake pads and cables. This will be exaggerated if you use the parking brake to hold your vehicle upon an inclined slope.

To ensure that your vehicle doesn’t roll away when parked on an inclined slope, you can use this technique if your vehicle is pointed uphill. You should turn your front wheels away from the curb, then slowly reverse your vehicle in so that the rear-end of the vehicle comes into slight contact with the curb. Put your transmission in first gear or park before engaging the parking brake and turning off the engine.

The reason for using this technique is that you’ll have three things keeping your vehicle from rolling away – your transmission, parking brake, and the tyres. If the transmission and parking brake end up failing, the vehicles front tyres will roll towards the curb of instead straight on.

If you’re parking your vehicle on a hill with your vehicle pointing downhill, it is a similar process except you should turn your front wheels towards the curb and slowly move forward until the tyres touch the curb. Slot your transmission on first or park, engage the parking brake and turn off the engine.

Only relying on your transmission and the parking brake is not enough as both of them could fail. Setting your front wheel towards the curb will ensure the vehicle doesn’t roll downhill by itself and helps prevent and unwanted accident. Do note that apart from extra wear and tear on the parking brake and inaccurate fluid reading, parking on an incline should be fine if you use the tip.