Cybertruck has no Parking Pawl in its Tranmission. Lightning does.

[RickKeen]

Learned on the CT forum that it doesn't have an actual mechanical parking mechanism in its transmission. Turns out this is important for parking on hills with big trailers.

Ford got another pickup truck thing right and Tesla skipped it.

In the Munro video where they tear down the Lightning motor/axle/differential, they make a big deal about how Ford told them a true parking pawl is needed when parking on hills with a heavy trailer.

Sponsored

 

[Heliian]

Turns out this is important for parking on hills with big trailers.

Hmmm, this is kind of a fallacy.

You should never rely on the transmission to hold a vehicle on a hill. It's an added layer of safety but proper wheel angle, parking brake and chocks should be used, especially with a heavy trailer.

 

[MountainAlive]

This is interesting thanks for sharing. I know we’re all hard on Ford for the software aspects but the engineering behind the Lightning and the motors they built are truly impressive.

 

[Firn]

Yeah, this seems backwards. A solid setting of the parking brake is always the recomended approach to parking on a hill, especially with a trailer. The little lock when shifting into park was always just a quick and easy convenience thing, not a heavy load thing.

 

[Shawnson]

Put on your parking brake anyways.

 

[Maybe Going EV]

I've never cared too much what a vehicle looks like.
That being said, I wouldn't buy a cyber truck, because while looks aren't overly important, it is so horribly ugly, that I couldn't. Parking dog, or 20 of them, how does anyone get past that look.

 

[Effonefiddy Lightning]

I've never cared too much what a vehicle looks like.
That being said, I wouldn't buy a cyber truck, because while looks aren't overly important, it is so horribly ugly, that I couldn't. Parking dog, or 20 of them, how does anyone get past that look.

Dude, you think its ugly others don't, why is that a mystery to you?

 

[Runaway Tractor]

Learned on the CT forum that it doesn't have an actual mechanical parking mechanism in its transmission. Turns out this is im

Says a bunch of people who have never towed a trailer apparently.

Gosh I don't know how every manual transmission truck on the planet towing trailers have survived! Everyone has been doing it wrong for a hundred years!

 

[RickKeen]

Says a bunch of people who have never towed a trailer apparently.

Gosh I don't know how every manual transmission truck on the planet towing trailers have survived! Everyone has been doing it wrong for a hundred years!

When you park with a manual transmission, don't you leave the transmission in gear to help prevent a roll away? I always do that even in my manual sports car that never tows.

 

[Firn]

When you park with a manual transmission, don't you leave the transmission in gear to help prevent a roll away? I always do that even in my manual sports car that never tows.

You put it in gear on flat ground, with a manual you should always set the brake if there is any incline.

 

[StevenC56]

Dude, you think its ugly others don't, why is that a mystery to you?

Take a survey. I have yet to hear a single person that doesn't already have one saying "Man, that's a great looking truck".

 

[dww]

Maybe it’s me but I find it annoying that Ford can’t set the electronic brake when I put the truck in Park. If I forget or am slow pulling the electronic brake the truck rocks back and forth or rolls forward an inch. It’s sloppy. There are tons of these things. If you haven’t owned a Telsa you don’t know to be annoyed.

 

[StevenC56]

Maybe it’s me but I find it annoying that Ford can’t set the electronic brake when I put the truck in Park. If I forget or am slow pulling the electronic brake the truck rocks back and forth or rolls forward an inch. It’s sloppy. There are tons of these things. If you haven’t owned a Telsa you don’t know to be annoyed.

Found out early on that the auto emergency brake setting only works on an incline, and even then it's not 100%. So I've trained myself to put the shifter in park and apply the park brake while keeping my foot on the brake pedal every time. Then when you start the next time keep your foot on the brake pedal, shift to reverse or drive, then release the park brake.

 

[RickKeen]

You put it in gear on flat ground, with a manual you should always set the brake if there is any incline.

Yes, you set the brake AND leave in gear is what I was taught and always do.

With the Lightning, you can put it in park and set the parking brake (or it sets itself automatically in many cases).

With the CT, it only has the parking brake. No transmission "Park" pawl.

Note that the parking brake is clamping on the regular brake rotor using the regular brake pads. It can only clamp with some maximum amount of force and above that, the brake slips. Its probably designed to be something close to the tire traction. But it can fail in all the ways the brakes can fail: rotors can get contaminated, pads can get glazed, pads and rotors can get worn down, etc.

The parking pawl engages a hard interlock on a shaft in the differential. Overcoming it would require shearing off the parking pawl, the tooth on the dog it engages, or the splines on the shafts involved, twisting the axle half shafts apart, etc. With all those parts likely made of hard steel we are probably talking 10,000's of lbs of force before failure. It is also probably designed to handle torques up to the tires skidding with maximum load on them plus some margin. Its completely independent of the regular brakes and its failure modes are differing and redundant.

 

[Runaway Tractor]

Does anyone complaining have any evidence the CTs brakes can't hold the truck and trailer on an incline? Do you think all the engineers at Tesla forgot that hills exist and you alone are the genius that found their fatal flaw?

As for putting a manual transmission in gear, that is hardly the same as a fixed park gear. Ask anyone who's ever pop started a stick shift. On a hill, the brakes are holding the vehicle, not the transmission being in gear.

As for the CT's looks and appearance, that has nothing to do with the topic. A truck looking pretty is not what holds it on a hill.

Sponsored