2004 Dodge Ram 3500 Pickup Owner's Manual - Page 230

230 STARTING AND OPERATING WARNING! • Always fully apply the parking brake when leaving your vehicle, or it may roll and cause damage or injury. Also be certain to leave an automatic transmission in Park, a manual transmission in Reverse or first gear. Failure to do so may allow the vehicle to roll and cause damage or injury. • Leaving children in a vehicle unattended is dangerous for a number of reasons. A child or others could be injured. Children should be warned not to touch the parking brake or the gear selector lever. Don't leave the keys in the ignition. A child could operate power windows, other controls, or move the vehicle. • Be sure the parking brake is fully disengaged before driving, failure to do so can lead to brake problems due to excessive heating of the rear brakes. When parking on a hill, turn the front wheels toward the curb on a downhill grade and away from the curb on an uphill grade. The parking brake should always be applied whenever the driver is not in the vehicle. BRAKE SYSTEM If power assist is lost for any reason (for example, repeated brake applications with the engine off), the brakes will still function. However, you will experience a substantial increase in braking effort to stop the vehicle. If either the front or rear hydraulic systems lose normal capability, the remaining system will still function with some loss of overall braking effectiveness. This will be evident by increased pedal travel during application, greater pedal force required to slow or stop, and activation of the BRAKE warning lamp and the ABS lamp (if equipped) during brake use.