I have always set my parking brake when I park to protect the transmission. I had an electronic one in my old 2015 Fusion and it set the pressure by itself. I had no control over it. My current car is a 2021 Camry and the parking brake is manual. How hard should I press it when I park? Does it matter the pressure?
Hard enough!
I usually set it so that the vehicle doesn’t roll off in neutral. Then shift to park.
Obviously then, I pull harder when parking on an incline than when compared to, on flat ground.
Come to a rest on a slight hill and put the car in neutral, pull the lever until it stops rolling. That will give you a good idea on how far to pull. You can generally feel the tension in the cable as the pads grab the rotor, and it will be hard to pull past a certain point.
Your owner's manual will tell you how many clicks the parking break is supposed to be adjusted to. As far as setting it, I always leave the vehicle in gear (manual trans) and set the parking brake to the upper end of clicks as recommended by the manufacturer.
