Put it in park. You are heating the transmission up by having it hold the truck on the hill. Far more damage than putting it in park. But why don’t you get an electric gate opener??? For a few hundred dollars you can just stay in your truck and push a button.
I tried oblivion’s suggestion tonight - it worked well with no “stress on the components”.
The gate is for horses, it’s a lot more than a couple of hundred $, but the truck only leaves the property once a week or so.
thanks all
I do this all of the time with my tractor and SUV when parked on a hill when moving boats and other heavy loads as we only have grades around here it seems. The owners’ manual is quite explicit about what to safely do for all vehicles and it is in a agreement with everyone here. It always pays to have tire blocks laying around where you might be as well for added security if that thirty second job takes much longer. I would have a couple sitting next to the gate. You just never know when an emergency might occur at the most in opportune having nothing to do with the truck and you must leave it unattended. Most large commercial vehicles carry them with them as a matter of fact and an F350 probably should as well. Your first thought should be what is safest for everyone and not what appears “easiest” on the truck and I don’t trust parking brakes and transmissions to hold heavy loads very long.
Icehorse, perhaps I can help with an explanation.
The device that allows the engine to idle while the truck is stationary is called a “torque converter”. It’s a fluid coupling device. It’s made sort of like a bagel sliced, hollowed out, and with vanes in both halves. The hollowed and vaned bagel is partially filled with fluid, such that when the engine turns beyond a certain speed (above idle) the fluid gets dragged along by the front half and the fluid drags the second half, which turns the tranny input shaft. When you have the vehicle in D, the energy being transmitted from the engine is simply dissipated in the fluid as heat energy and released via the tranny cooling system. That fluid CAN allow the vehicle to roll backwards while the engine still runs forward when the vehicle is stopped. The tranny cannNOT be relied upon to hold the truck stationary.
So, if your parking brakes go out of adjustment (and they do), you’ll have NOTHING mechanical to prevent the truck from rolling backwards. You’ll have a bit of fluid turbulance to offset the desire of the truck to succolm to gravity, but that’s nowhere near enough to be safe.
In “P” you have a mechanical device that engages the tranny shaft and mechanically locks the rear wheels. It’s called a “parking pawl”. You should put the tranny in P as well as engaging the parking brake.
Hope that explanation helps. It is impossible to be too safe, but very easy not to be safe enough. A simple shortcut like the one you describe can and does cost lives.
This is a no brainer.
Never leave a vehicle in gear when getting out. I do not mean to be disrespectful but its just common sense.
If the engine quits an automatic transmission disconnects the engine from the rest of the drive train, i.e. the internal clutches disengage and the torque converter converts zero torque in to zero torque out. In your case the truck will roll backward as if you shifted to neutral.
What bothers me most about leaving a car with an automatic in gear while you are out of the driver’s seat, is that if the engine should do an “uncommanded acceleration”, you will have no chance to stop it or steer it away from harm.
So far, I have never done it while exiting the car with the engine running in Park. When getting back into the driver’s seat one could accidently flatten the accelerator causing the driver to be thrown from the car and risking being run over by the rear tire. Not to mention going through the back of the attached garage into the house.
Researcher, the internal clutches in an automatic aren’t connected when the vehicle is idling. The only connection between the engine and the drivetrain is through the fluid in the torque converter, and that’s designed to provide as little conection as possible in order to save gas. The system is designed to disconnect the engine from the drivetrain to allow the engine to idle without turning the driveshaft.
These guys are telling you the facts. However, you should set the park brake firmly, before you put it in park. That will keep the stress off the parking pawl.
There are several things at work here. One is how the truck feels according to OP. This has nothing to do with safety which is paramount. Secondly, one mention of an F350 conjures up weight which on a grade, needs special attention, often beyond what is provided in a car as options. Lastly, the truck is 13 years old and regardless of how little it’s used now, it could be an accident waiting to happen as the parking brake could be insufficient and the tansmission parking pawl could be weakened.
All of this puts a need for special attention on leaving this vehicle, not less. Accidents happen more in situations with more stress ( heavier weights) older vehicles and poor execution. All three are in play here and I for one would not want to be behind.
WARNING, I know this isnt smart, but I have done it and im still here. I used to have an old jeep and we used to take it out in a field and put in first gear in low range and I used to drive it by walking aside it, on the hood, ghost ride it, we used to jump out and switch drivers, all while it was moving.
We also used to scare people by pulling up to a house with it in third gear, shut off the ignition and hop out while it was still moving at a clip.
This was all done in the sticks, if something went wrong the jeep would have continued on into a field and eventually trees would have stopped it.
Kids still “ghostride” there is a rap song about it and many youtube videos.
That being said, put the parking brake on, then the truck in park.
I have seen a 30k bucket truck start sliding in an ice storm when we put the outriggers down, wheel chocks only help so much in some situations.