Tacoma brakes: Panic stops?

I had to do a panic stop last month coming down Monarch Pass in Colorado on Highway 50. Three deer were standing in the middle of the road in a blind curve. Truck was loaded with three passengers and a week's worth of luggage for everyone. I felt just a touch of the ABS system kick in, but it stopped just in time. The deer were just as shocked as we were. I probably could have jumped out and tackled the closest one.

 

Agreed , the brakes are spongy feeling until you really have to stamp on it and it seems to stop fine in an emergency situation , I've had a couple near misses with deer and another vehicle

 

Just last month, I had to lay on the breaks for an idiot who ran a red light (by like 10 seconds!) and I came a couple feet from t-boning the jackass. The only thing I noticed was when I slammed on the breaks is that I veered slightly to the right. But I put the f'ing pedal on the floor so I'm just glad I stopped.

 

70 KPH ... isn't that like 30 mph?

Seriously, I jest. Were the brakes not "doing their job," or were the people you were passing hitting their brakes too, making it seem like you couldn't slow/get over? If you were passing me, I might tap my brakes so you coudl cut over in front of me in that situation.

I agree - my 09 has shitty feeling brakes. Haven't nailed anyone yet though. Might do the brake "upgrades" when it's time.

Nice thread-errection too.

 

You know what? I've noticed that a few times but I can't honestly say it happened at that time, but could have. Still I had to put alot more LEG into the brakes for that event. Still didn't like it!

Can't really say if the inside driver did that, maybe, but still shouldn't a vehicle stopping at speed have more of an agressive feel to it like the reaction of your body going forward against the seat belt if you put your leg into doing a panic stop? That didn't happen!

 

Myself I've noticed in panic stops the brakes grab really well. I'm pretty sure there's some kind of sensor in there that detects the driver freaking out.

 

X2 drum breaks are just as good for stopping power in most situations. rear disks are to help from break fade. Reason why all sports cars come with 4 wheel disk brakes.

 

Wow... I love the brakes in my Taco.. obviously they aren't as good as the ones in our BMW's... but who cares, they work perfectly, and I've never felt like I couldn't stop in time for something...

And to all the people complaining about having drums.. frankly I was dissappointed at first.. but upon further research, I kinda like em..

I know most of my breaking is done by the front brakes.

The main diff between drums and disks is that a disk has more control over the braking power while a drum is more of an all or nothing type thing.. that being said,

I really only care about the performance of my rear brakes if i'm in an urgent stop situation and frankly, if I'm in a urgent stop situation, i want all the break I can get and so the drum is perfect...

 

My 2010 brakes felt very touchy and takes very little effort to stop, so not sure about all the spongy comments? Drove a 2011 the other day and the brakes seemed to take more pressure to stop than the 2010. It took a while to get used to after coming out of a Dakota. The Taco brakes are a huge improvement of the Dakota!!!

 

Keep this in mind gents & ladies remember your .....engine braking!!
I have found my self in some situations mentioned here but I just "down shift to a lower gear" and it really helps me when I need that EXTRA stopping power!! When I do that it reminds me of back in the day when I had my Mustang I would just kick in a lower gear to help me stop!! I know, I know you might throw out your clutch or do damage to your transmission, but hey it's the trans or my family....and THAT is not going to happen. Besides I can always get a new trans not my family members!! Good Day!

 

I have never noticed the spongy feel? Now, it will probably bother me!

 

Agreed. I've got a 335 that I usually drive, and I feel my Tacoma's brakes are fine. A little spongy, but it's a truck. The few times I've had to do emergency stops, I've been more than happy with it.

 

What's with the spongy brakes mine are fine rock solid they work great and stop as well as any truck I have ever driven. Panic stops with a 3,000LB camper no issues there if you are used to a 2,000 pound cracker box yeah they don't seems as good they certainly are as good as my Jetta with ABS and 4 wheel disks.

 

My feeling is that the whole truck works better when there's a bit of a load in it. It seems smoother, rides better, less vibration from the drivetrain, and the brakes feel more solid.

As for the drums vs. disc thing, the biggest advantage in discs for me is that they work better than drums when wet. The shoes in drum brakes "hydroplane" on the drum when there's a film of water on the shoes. The pucks on disc brakes seem to just scrape the water off.

That being said, expect your rear brakes to be about 50% as effective if you ever drive through a flooded road. Of course having front discs you'll only lose about 10% of your total braking power when the brakes are soaked, but stability could be affected, as well as the ATRAC action.

 

I have yet to make a panic stop in my 2011, but in my '07 I had to several times and it stopped quick.

Fink

 

I just had a moron throw a u turn across three lanes right in front of me. I was going 45 mph along with the three hundred other people going 45 mph. I just happened to be out front. I hammered the brake pedal to the floor and was amazed at how fast I stopped. I dont know about other years but the brakes on my 2011 are great. I have been road racing for many years and am used to fantastic Porsche brakes. Toyota has done a good job with these IMO.

 

Have made a few panic stops for deer. Brakes work great in my opinion !

 

x2.

I dislike the mushy brakes under normal braking, but stomp on the pedal and your truck for sure will stop.

I have a few stories:

Story 1: I was driving home and it had rained, some mud/dirt had ended up collecting near the curb and I was braking like I normally would, I didn't realize there was mud there (or something causing wheel lockup/slip) till A.) I was taking a little longer to stop, which led me to pushing the brakes harder and B.) My pedal was pulsating hard. Still stopped in time before I ended up on the street, but still scared the living hell out of me.

Story 2: Well this damn squirrel ran on to the road, but I was only going about 40MPH, hard press on the brake pedal and stopped almost instantly.

Story 3: This time a DOG ran onto the road, but the speed limit was 50, so I stomped on the brakes and Once again I stopped almost instantly and the dog ran away just fine .

I seem to have terrible luck with Animals...Anyways, I thought Brake Assist and Electronic Brake Force Distribution was standard even with out the star safety system? I could swear the window sticker said I had those two on my truck and it's an 08.

 

I engine brake all the time with my automatic. Works wonders for that little bit extra deceleration.

 

Overall, I have no problems with the brakes. The ABS does kick in a bit too early (OK, way too early when the roads are slick). My main problem is with the auto tranny kicking down a couple of gears when I'm lightly braking. Without me doing anything I've got 2 (or 4) wheels sliding when the conditions are less than perfect. Does this bother anyone else?