Jerking brakes / low speeds

T

Traveler74

New member
I have other more important issues to deal with before I look at my brake system but I do have a small issue with the brakes.

At very, very low speeds, like at a stop sign when there are many cars in front of me, the brakes "grab", Is that the right word? When coasting forward to wait for my turn to get passed the stop sign, I press very lightly on the brake pedal, BUT it FEELS like I have JAMMED ON THE BRAKES. In others words NO SMOOTH STOP AT VERY LOW SPEEDS. This only happens at stop and inch forward, stop and inch forward traffic. The T4R jerks to a stop.

I never encountered anything remotely like this with any of my previous 4 runners.

Any thoughts ?
 
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Likely you have abused your brakes to the point of warping your rotors. Easier to do when your pads are getting warn. But typically just abusing brakes is the cause. Plan your stops better. Probably in for at a minimum turning the rotors, but will happen easier next time due to thinner rotors. Might need new rotors. Look into better quality rotors next time.
 
Oldmanb777 said:
Likely you have abused your brakes to the point of warping your rotors. Easier to do when your pads are getting warn. But typically just abusing brakes is the cause. Plan your stops better. Probably in for at a minimum turning the rotors, but will happen easier next time due to thinner rotors. Might need new rotors. Look into better quality rotors next time.
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Just bought the 1996 T4R. I have no history on it.
 
Ok the previous owner abused the brakes. Anyway, your probably in for a brake job. Sucks if you just bought it. But look at the bright side. You get to choose your brakes, and make sure you get the best. Probably the most important single part of the car, being able to stop well.
 
Oldmanb777 said:
Ok the previous owner abused the brakes. Anyway, your probably in for a brake job. Sucks if you just bought it. But look at the bright side. You get to choose your brakes, and make sure you get the best. Probably the most important single part of the car, being able to stop well.
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When you say that the previous owner ABUSED the brakes, are you referring to someone who was "riding" the brakes ?

Also, if you had to replace the front pads, would you choose ceramic or metallic ??
 
Riding the brakes maybe. Not planning your stops with enough space to stop. Or hard braking all the time. It becomes a bad habit. Brakes take motion energy (the spinning of the wheels) and turns that into heat, then the heat energy is dissipated into the air. They can only dissipate so much heat until they become over heated and fade. If you constantly use them to that extent when not needed, that's not good. Anyway when the rotors become over heated they can warp. As pads get warn, they cannont dissipate heat as well. So they don;t perform as well. This can add to warping rotors. In mountain driving we see lots of this. People using the brakes too much instead of down shifting on hills. Modern brakes are very good. A few years back they weren't. You had to learn how to avoid over heating them, and thus not having any brakes. Anyway get good quality brake parts. At a minimum OEM quality. Pads are formulated for the driving. So a race car will have a different compound than a street car. Since they want to be able to abuse them. But those same brake pads will not be nice to you on the streets. They make noise, they are abrupt. So you can use metallic or ceramic, your choice. Big tires take lots of brake energy, so go with better. I would probably choose ceramic, but both are good.
 
Instead of chasing an electrical sensor problem, could I just remove the ABS fuse ? What would be wrong with having just plain old fashion power brakes? heck, I got along just fine driving for 50 years with NO power brakes.
 
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Traveler74 said:
Instead of chasing an electrical sensor problem, could I just remove the ABS fuse ? What would be wrong with having just plain old fashion power brakes? heck, I got along just fine driving for 50 years with NO power brakes.
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Not a good idea to try and do away with the power assist part of the braking system, modern brakes are not designed to work well without that power assistance, the master cylinder has a much smaller piston than old school non power brakes, at least half the size piston, you will have a very hard time applying enough pressure to stop a heavy T4R then you could imagine!!!

Just ask some who have had the electric motor on the booster system go out and how they felt when they try to stop!!
 
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AuSeeker said:
Not a good idea to try and do away with the power assist part of the braking system, moderns brake are not designed to work well without that power assistance, the master cylinder has a much smaller piston than old school non power brakes, at least half the size piston, you will have a very hard time applying enough pressure to stop a heavy T4R then you could imagine!!!

Just ask some who have had the electric motor on the booster system go out and how they felt when they try to stop!!
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I was not suggesting by-passing the power assist, only the anti-lock brake portion. Unless you are saying that the ABS AND the power assist are part and parcel of the same thing.
 
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