Touchy Grabby Brakes

[wmgcrowell]

The brakes on my 2014 4Runner are abnormally sensitive and occasionally will lock up if I step on them quickly, say when the stop light changes. When I took the rig in for its 5000 mile service I reported this. The service people said they checked the brakes and could find nothing amiss. Any suggestions on what might be going on and what should be done?

 

[mace.]

Check the stickies for the alternate search method and start there. Lots of info has been covered on brakes.

 

[Kennyr44]

When my wife and I got ours the brake pedal sensitivity was very evident to both of us. It only took a couple days and we got used to it.

 

[cjacob316]

The brakes on my 2014 4Runner are abnormally sensitive and occasionally will lock up if I step on them quickly, say when the stop light changes. When I took the rig in for its 5000 mile service I reported this. The service people said they checked the brakes and could find nothing amiss. Any suggestions on what might be going on and what should be done?

It's sensing a panic brake and applies the brakes harder so you stop in time, the simple (only) solution is not not slam on your brakes or move from the accelerator to the brake so quickly.

 

[wmgcrowell]

Thanks for the responses. The 4Runner is apparently more sensitive than either my Subaru, Nissan, or previous Toyotas. Does it have some sort of ABS override?

 

[cjacob316]

Thanks for the responses. The 4Runner is apparently more sensitive than either my Subaru, Nissan, or previous Toyotas. Does it have some sort of ABS override?

They aren't that sensitive, it's a safety feature and it's doing what it's supposed to do. It's really just your braking habit that it causing it to go off.

 

[BlackWorksInc]

No real brake override unfortunately. My working theory is that they tune this to anemic little old Asian ladies when they think of braking force required. That combined with the very soft feeling pedal from the hydraulically assisted booster make it extremely easy to engage the panic stop feature. It takes a bit of getting used to.

 

[Lexusbstrdchild]

Wife's 07 V6 Accord is wayyyy more sensitive to pedal pressure, not even panic breaking either. It will snap your neck if not applied slowly!

 

[Speedy Gomez]

It will snap your neck if not applied slowly!

 

[Cheers!]

I almost face planted into my steering wheel of my 4runner after driving a friend's 1971 Porsche 911. What a beautiful car. Amazing steering feel and feedback. Manual everything. Including no vac assist brake booster. Which means you are using almost your full length strength to go from full throttle 4th gear speed, to 2nd gear while rev match downshifting for the corner...

for the guys who live in NorCal, I was going from San Jose to Livermore via Mount Hamilton on the 130 then to Mines Road.

It was driving bliss... Then I got back into my 4runner to head home across town and couldn't believe how night and day different my 2015 4runner is to my friend's 1971 Porsche 911. I thought my 2007 Honda S2000 vs my 2015 4runner was night and day.

Welcome to the world of over compensated, too safe, too watered down driving that require assist everything. Thankfully the 4runner is not laden with useless garbage like lane departure warning, blindspot blah blah blah, speed adapting garbage.

 

[NoDak]

lol try driving my 2012 Tacoma. those brakes are touchy compared to the 4runner.

 

[Stimulant]

My 2014 SR5 is the same way. I got use to the brakes, but did have an instance or two where the brakes caught and locked-up.

 

[Jernik]

The brakes on my 2014 4Runner are abnormally sensitive and occasionally will lock up if I step on them quickly, say when the stop light changes. When I took the rig in for its 5000 mile service I reported this. The service people said they checked the brakes and could find nothing amiss. Any suggestions on what might be going on and what should be done?

Next time the light changes, try hitting the gas instead! :lookout:

 

[philsey]

Wife's 07 V6 Accord is wayyyy more sensitive to pedal pressure, not even panic breaking either. It will snap your neck if not applied slowly!

Ditto. My wife's '14 Accord is the same way. I embarrass myself every time I drive it.

Toyota sure must have changed the brakes - my 2010's are far from sensitive ... in fact many complaints were written re the early 5Gs brakes.

@OP Just wait 'til your first panic stop!

 

[wmgcrowell]

Perhaps it is my "braking habit," but in 55 years of driving everything from a 1948 Dodge fluid drive to a 2015 Fiat 500 and from an MG Midget to a White Freightliner Cabover (from which I learned to stop quickly without the load shifting), I have never experienced anything like this, the exception being the Dodge when I crossed a stream and got water in the brakes. There is of course a difference between quickly stopping (as when the light suddenly changes) and a panic stop (e.g., when a child runs into the street).

If, as suggested, the 4Runner was sensing a 'panic stop" and locked up, that would seem to violate the principle of the ABS, which is to prevent a lockup in order to avoid a skid. In one or two instances, had I been on snow or ice I would surely have done so. It's been awhile since I did any brake work and am certainly not current about developments. If there is an override feature that causes the brakes to lock up in what the car perceives as a "panic stop" owners should be made aware of that. I don't find any mention in the manual, but then there is a lot I can't find there. The service folks I spoke with at my Toyota dealer agreed with my assessment, though as I said they could not find any problem with my 4Runner.

As for the sensitivity, my wife and I had also adjusted to it. But then we were away for 8 months driving rental Fiats and Lancias to which we became accustomed. When we returned, we had to adjust again to the sensitivity. The brake-grabbing incidents made me wonder whether they were related. A friend has suggested the sensitivity is a function of the large disk brakes. My concern was also piqued by the recent spate of recalls and revelations of manufacturers not revealing defects. Might there be something we don't know?

As for the suggestion to hit the gas when the light changes, I'll pass and I hope we never meet at the same intersection. Too many times have I been nearly creamed by some fool who saw the light while it was still yellow and thought that gave him/her the right to power through even though he/she was half a block or more away. I now look before proceeding.

Thanks again for all the comments and anecdotes. Very instructive, all of them.

 

[Firenailer]

I agree with you WM. I picked up my 1st 4Runner a month or so ago and after 2500 miles I'm still getting used to these brakes! It's an adjustment and I'm trying, but I've still managed to lock them up a few times.

I've been driving cars and bikes and Fire Trucks for 45 years and had 5 Tacomas before I bought this Runner, so I can't chalk it up to a Toyota thing - but they're damn sensitive to pressure!

 

[vicpick58]

The "brake assist" has been and continues to be my biggest complaint about my 4Runner. It took me several months after buying the vehicle to even figure out what this feature was.

I have learned to live with it, but still hate it. I have come to the conclusion that it has to do with how fast you take your foot off the gas pedal and touch the brake pedal, not how much force you apply to the brake.

There has been many times that I have just wanted to slow down a little, but it nose dives, throws stuff from the back to the front and nearly gets me rear ended.

I don't do it as much now after three and a half years and 128,000 miles, but every once in a while it still happens just to keep me on my toes.

I think it could save me sometime, but most times it is just an annoyance.

You have to learn not to hit the brake pedal too fast, which could be a bad habit to acquire.

 

[bloodninja]

If you think these brakes are sensitive, you definitely wouldn't like Infiniti sedans. By far the most sensitive brakes of any vehicle I've driven.

 

[Bimmer-Bob]

Ditto. My wife's '14 Accord is the same way. I embarrass myself every time I drive it.

Toyota sure must have changed the brakes - my 2010's are far from sensitive ... in fact many complaints were written re the early 5Gs brakes.

@OP Just wait 'til your first panic stop!

There was a change to the brake lines during the '14 refresh, I believe to improve feel.

I agree that the brakes can feel touchy at first, and bite very aggressively if coaxed, but it's really just a matter of learning to modulate them correctly, same as the throttle (which seemed to have the opposite problem to me at first). Anyway, I find that many cars drive quite differently and it's just a matter of getting used to what sort of inputs are required for a particular vehicle. No biggie.

 

[KB Voodoo]

It was the same way on my 2013 Tacoma...

You get used to it and start to like it.