brk-Int, thanks for educating me about the parking pawl, which I had never heard of. I found this:
"Most vehicle manufacturers and auto mechanics do not recommend using the transmission's parking pawl as the sole means of securing a parked vehicle, instead recommending it should only be engaged after first applying the vehicle's parking brake. Constant use of only the parking pawl, especially when parking on a steep incline, means that driveline components, and transmission internals, are kept constantly under stress, and can cause wear and eventual failure of the parking pawl or transmission linkage. The pawl might also fail or break if the vehicle is pushed with sufficient force if the parking brake is not firmly engaged."
I was once awakened by a call from the police at 6:00 a.m. telling me I'd better get outside pronto. My car had rolled down the driveway. It would have crossed the road and gone over the embankment on the other side were it not for the whiskey barrel planter I had just placed at the bottom of the driveway the day before! The car went up over the barrel which stopped it. No damage to the car. This is why I take the steep driveway seriously.
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