Brakes question

Hi, I wanted your opinions on whats goin on with my brakes. They all function and make no noise, but do seem relatively soft to me. If the terrain is snowy or slippery and I lock up the brakes, ABS does not come on rather the pedal pulses/pushes back at me and I can here a mechanical groan in the front end. One more thing is that if I pump my brakes while coming up to a stop, they will get stiffer, but then get soft again. Any solutions to stiffen it or fix ABS?

Thanks,
MT

 

Mushy brakes were always an indicator of air in the lines as ^ indicated.

However--

"ABS does not come on rather the pedal pulses/pushes back at me and I can here a mechanical groan in the front end."

I'm not sure I've ever seen an ABS light come on during normal function, but I went from an 04' to a '14. Those are the classic ABS functions, though--using mechanical pulses to apply the brakes milliseconds apart.

 

If you have drums in the rear they may be out of adjustment. A rapid pump will bring the pedal up because the springs can't retract the shoes fast enough so you fill the cylinder and get more pedal. If the parking brake goes far down it would clearly indicate they're loose. Otherwise it's likely air in the lines or maybe a leak, but you'd be loosing fluid.

 

The pulsing is your ABS at work.... like it or not!! My brakes a wicked sensetive and the parking brake will lock right up if pulled hard and fast.

 

Hmm, ok thanks for the info. Would ABS act differently on snow vs. dry pavement? in that I mean feel different, I've locked it up on dry pavement and it was a steady mechanical pulse in seconds, but on snow now it just groans and doesn't seem to pulse quickly

 

If your pedal is pulsing that is the ABS applying the brake on and off so they wont lock up. Toyotas ABS is more sensitive that it needs to be. The soft pedal feel is just typical of Tacomas and just another typical piece of crappy Toyota engineering.


You can cheat it a bit and break loose the nut on the rod coming off the pedal and screw out the rod a bit putting more pressure on the master cyl. but do it in small increments because you don't want so much pressure that pads keep constant contact with the rotor.


You can also tighten the back drums by putting your truck in reverse, give it a little gas and stabbing the brake. Do this a few times and that will tighten the backs.

 

Alright, thanks again

 

The ABS will feel different because it takes much less pressure to lock on slippery surfaces and the time it takes for the wheel to regain speed is different as well. As far as mushy being normal, no. Compared to a Ferrari yes, but they shouldn't be mushier than any most 'normal' vehicles. Being that you live in a snow area your rear adjusters could be stuck and not working. I'd pull the drums and check them.

 

Ok, I plan on checking all and bleeding with a friend when it warms a bit.

 

Pretty sure the ABS light is only an indicator of a fault. So if you get an ABS light to come on then the truck needs diagnosing.

Pulsing pedal is your ABS at work.

Soft pedal on mine was cured when I bled the brakes all the way around. I too did the 1,2 pump when I was getting ready to stop so I could have better brakes.

Not anymore.

 

If it's an 05 and you haven't changed your brakes, they're probably soft because there's very little pad there. So it has to move more distance before the pad actually grabs the rotor. Secondly; yes, compared to other vehicles (Namely full sized trucks) the brakes are pretty soft like a car's. However, if you panic stop with these trucks they will lock up fast on you. The groaning and pulsing is the ABS kicking in.

 

Where you get that he has never changed his brakes? Yes it can be the problem but didn't see him mention he is on original 9 year old pads.

 

Good point, but I actually couldn't tell you if they've been changed or not - I'm the third owner technically and not sure what the last guy did. I recall he said new brakes, but not sure if drums were done also. I'll check either way.

 

As brake pads wear the caliper piston travels further out and stays there, the gap should never increase so that won't cause a soft pedal. On drum brakes a mechanical adjuster has to take up the slack to maintain the position and they do wear out over time and can also get stuck. If it's the rears out of adjustment the parking brake will also be pretty loose so that's an easy check you can do without disassembly.

 

I just did my drums at a 122k and they still had plenty of life in them. Fronts I have change 3 times in that same amount if mileage.

 

Hmm, it didn't look too bad at quick glance, but I really need to compare to good fluid and do a good check

 

Mushy brakes are a well known issue with these. It has been brought up many times and I've been asked about them many times at my shop. Mostly it comes from someone being used to another vehicle and they get into a Taco and are like WTF? I think most just get used to it over time. I have to be very careful when transitioning to my Lightning, or Mustangs because there is a very noticeable difference.

 

Just a little extra info. Brakes should be bled quite often. Brake fluid attracts moisture, which in turn corrodes the inner brake lines and components. This will cause brake issues and eventual failure. If the fluid in the reservoir is anything but perfectly clear, (not foggy or grimy) then it needs flushed. It's common to forget about flushing the brakes. People don't usually think about it. But the brake hydraulic system is one of the most important parts of any vehicle. It's a good idea to flush every 30-40k miles to be safe.