Tacoma brakes: Panic stops?

I like the brake on my taco, the work well and do the job. Yea they feel spongy, but they DO work. Aren't they like 4 piston calipers? I could be wrong, most vehicles have 2 or just one really big one. As far as the drum brakes go, yea I was a little dissapointed but they work great! I was coming down a hill pucker factor came in and I slammed the brakes, no luck. ABDS sucks going down hill, went for the parking brake and I actually stopped with my rear brakes only. Mind you this was on a sandy hill. After that noob experience, I learned that 4lo and a low gear work well slowing you down. And I did the ABS mod that disables it so now I won't have that annoying groan and pulsation when I freaking offroad. My .02

 

I did notice that most of the 09 Tacomas I test drove, which had generally been on the lot from one to six months (back in April) had brakes that felt soft in normal driving. My truck was built in the first or second week of July, and has 600 miles on it now--and the brakes feel much firmer overall.

Maybe they changed something?

 

the brakes are spongey in normal conditons, i like it so you arnt getting jerked around but when they need to be on the floor it stops nicely

 

Bold #1- Because for high performance/race cars- Disc brakes on all four corners is better...but for a daily driver it doesn't really matter. Discs aren't going to make your everyday stop and go stuff soo much better
Bold #2- The pilot has every opportunity to override that computer and pilots still make mistakes. You've got just as much chance of getting a stupid pilot no matter what airframe you fly.
Bold #3- That is a "No Shit" comment...Going from my 5 speed-I4 two door scion to my 6 speed V6 AC Taco is a culture shock. I do it enuf that it's not a huge deal- but I do find myself looking for 6th in the scion sometimes. Any time you make a major change between vehicles it takes adjustment.

I've panic stopped my Taco twice because of actual situations on the road and several times in parking lots and off road areas to feel how the truck reacts. I have been VERY pleased with the stopping distances and control feel- they were not measured ever- but they kept me from impacting the cars in front of me and I felt in control the entire time in the real situations. In the "practice" stops I felt in control and didn't see any evidence of skidding or lockups.

 

Thanks for the replies folks.

My Tacoma is going in for it's 12 month service at the end of the month, and I'm definately going to complain about the spongy feel.

It sounds common enough that at least they've probably heard these complaints before, and I'm wondering that, if it is a characteristic of the Toyota ABS/VTRAC/BA/Whatever system, does this happen on the other vehicles in the lineup?

Also, I did consider that a fluid change might help. Does the '09 use siliconized brake fluid? I've been using Valvoline synthetic brake fluid in my bike, and I really like it, but of course you can't mix the two.

Finally, I also considered installing stainless or Kevlar brake hoses, and I know they will definately change the "feel" of the brakes, but my question is: will they feel different to the computer too? ...and will this affect the way the computer will respond in an adverse manner?

 

I was towing a 1985 Mercury Capri on a car dolly that had no brakes. A bus blew a red light I had to hit it hard, I really thought I was gonna get pushed into the intersection by the load I was hauling. Well It stopped perfect, and the bus avoided me. Yea it was dry and probably took a little longer to stop vs. unloaded but for no brakes on the dolly I really couldn't have asked for more.

 

hey bro , i know what you mean about the soft brakes.i have had a couple of panic stops with no load in the back and they did the job awesome.no skid or squeal

 

I HATE ABS with a passion

 

I used to hate abs but now I don't mind. Especially in my truck. I had an altima and an s-10 before my taco, neither had abs. And yes you stop faster if you don't have it, but if your brakes lock up, you have no control. You could always do the ABS MOD if you're really against it. I did, but only for when I offroad, otherwise ABS and drum brakes get the job done

 

They say one car length for every 10 mph. If I did that on my way to work I'd have 7 A holes switch lanes to get in front of me.

 

The only thing I like about the ABS system is I keep hoping that one day I will be driving along a snow covered road and the little fuk engineer that designed that piece of crap system is standing in the road and I get to run over his little fuk ass cause I can't stop

 

I agree that the stock brake feel is incredibly spongy. I couldn't stand it. Within a week of buying the truck I switched to more aggressive pads, which helped the pedal feel (more aggressive pads are able to brake harder with less pedal pressure.) Chances are I'll end up tossing on a set of SS lines, too.

 

Told the dealer on 1st oil change (free) and they told me after test drive that they felt normal, I was like to who???? They may work well in a panic stop but I don't make panic stops at every stop sign, red light ect. W/ the money I paid for this truck theese brakes are drivin me crazy, that and drum rears WTF. A close second is the engine noise and 3rd would be the ugly ass orange lights..

 

This is a stated feature in the user's manual of my 09...panic stop modulation.

 

yep....in bham there's no way in hell you could have a 7 car gap - they did that 2 car squeeze in where you're so close to the 3 cars in front of you, you feel like a train car. Traffic goes from 70-0 in just a few sec in rush hour so I try to keep a car length or two in front but obviously that's just me letting in everyone else on the road

 

Mine are fine. People in SC drive like shit and it's compounded by this being a tourist area so you KNOW I've had plenty of "panic stops". I don't see a problem with them at all.

When it's time to replace pads/rotors, I'm going with Powerslot in the front and also installing SS brake lines. I did all of this with my Altima and it made quite a difference so hopefully it will do the same this time.

Apples to oranges. Drums are generally considered better for towing.

 

OK, but that's what I thought the pulsing ABS did: modulation.

 

As I understand it, the computer analyzes your braking pattern and assists as is supposedly appropriate...i.e. smooth, linearly increasing pedal pressure = controlled stop for a red light you see from a 1/4mi away, no assist needed. No pedal pressure followed by pedal denting the floorboard = unsupervised toddler chasing a puppy into the road, brake assist kicks on.

Anyone feel free to correct anything I may have gotten wrong.

 

Last month I had the shit scared out of me on the Hwy! Being behind a string of traffic doing 70KPH on a 2 lane we were behind a couple of cars and a RV holding traffic back. When we finally got to a passing section I decided it was long and clear enough to try a pass of the slow vehicles. As I was overtaking the cars I built speed to 140KPH and just as I was going to try for the RV a truck appeared over the rise ahead. My judgement told me we couldn't make it so I slammed on the brakes to get back in line but I had to go back one car to do it. I nearly shit my pants cause it seemed the brakes were doing nothing and taking a very long time to slow us down. Almost like the front wasn't doing it's job! I just made it in when the truck went by and said HOLY FACK, these brakes are useless.
I may trade this truck in on something else as this is F"n horrible for stopping power. Worst I've ever had!!!!

 

There is another thing I've noticed.

I have size 12+ shoes. If I put my foot higher on the pedal than normal, the toe of my shoe/boot will hit the brake pedal lever. If I then try to tip my foot forward to brake, it feels like I have DRAMATICALLY reduced braking power, because my toe is pushing a few inches higher than the end of the pedal -- greatly reducing the mechanical advantage of the pedal system.

I wonder how often this happens, such as the above poster -- perhaps he went to jam on the brakes, and his foot went higher on the pedal than normal, and he was pressing on the lever arm instead of the pedal pad?