So back in the days of a single master cylinder, if it leaked out on your car would you yank on that cable operated "parking brake" or say to yourself nope, that's the parking brake
I clearly stated is was
DESIGNED as a parking brake. It was not designed to be an emergency brake, I did not say it hadn't been used as one but if you think the parking brake in the OP's 74 Crew cab truck was designed to be an emergency brake at full GVWR you are wrong.
As for the Nationwide link, I said authoritative source, an insurance company post isn't. Here's paragraph 1.
When should you use the emergency brake? New and experienced drivers often don’t know how the emergency brake works, or how and when to use it. Yet it can increase the safety of a vehicle, not to mention its engine life.
Really? How? The article never tells you. I guess you could just apply the parking brake rather than downshift, saved on engine wear.
Your "emergency brake" is the other circuit of a dual circuit master cylinder setup. If you've gotten to the point that only the parking brake remains as your sole means of stopping you deserve the tree you are about to eat.
