Brake Pads Stopping Methods... - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

RICO8458 · 05-02-2007, 03:31 PM

Hello Mates:

Is there any studying done on the various and different styles and methods of braking your car to slow it down and stop it, and that actions relation to the life span of the brake pads. for example, you are on the highway doing 80 miles per hour, you see congestion ahead and start to slow down your car, there are various ways to do this, but for argument sake, you either hit the brakes and hold them down in order to slowly bring the car to a stop, or you can pump the brakes, intermittenly, stoping, slowing down, release them, cruise, then hit them again to again slow down the car. Question is, which method will put more wear and tear on the pads and rotors?

thanks dudes.

***lammydi*** · 05-02-2007, 06:34 PM

My wild guess is since most of us agreed that it is better for a car that we accelerate smoothly then when it comes to slow down and/or stopping a car the same principal would be smoothly or in your own words it would be "hit the brakes and hold them down in order to slowly bring the car to a stop".
The only exception is when you go over those speed bump. I usually slow the car down and when it comes to the bump I release the brake pad so the tires would roll-over the bump. I have seen many drivers would continue to hold the brake as they slowly go over the bump...I think that would be bad for the brake. Don't you?

PhantomZX · 05-02-2007, 06:41 PM

I don't think any of those methods make much difference on brake wear. What would really save brakes would be to downshift and engine brake, let off the gas much earlier and let the wind resistance slow you down more, and/or lock your brakes so you wear out the tires instead of the pads.

w203 · 05-02-2007, 07:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhantomZX

I don't think any of those methods make much difference on brake wear. What would really save brakes would be to downshift and engine brake, let off the gas much earlier and let the wind resistance slow you down more, and/or lock your brakes so you wear out the tires instead of the pads.

Brake pads are cheap.

When engine braking (which I don't often do) you waste gas as well as risk tranny problems if going into wrong gear (in severe cases).

Locking up the tires would cause more issues then help it. What if the person behind you don't have a fast reaction? What if your tires fail and won't stop? Your putting more strain on the car by slamming on the brakes or stopping short.

To the OT, don't ride the brakes and it should be fine. There is always the option of going with better brake pads with longer life.

touringcamry · 05-03-2007, 02:15 AM

I think which every braking method requires you to dissipate the energy in the least time would wear the brakes more. If you threshold brake, the brakes have to absorb a lot more energy in a shorter time than if you slow down gradually. The rotors heat up more and you need to press the brake harder meaning you put more pressure on the brake lines, pads, and rotors.

***
Engine braking saves gas... It's not like I can really avoid engine braking in the first place. If I am coasting in gear and the engine is turning over 1200 RPM, the ECU goes into fuel cut. Once the car has slowed enough to bring the RPMs to 1200 the ECU resume fuel to idle the engine.

I fail to see how engine brake puts any more wear on the engine than accelerating the car from a stop since engine braking is negative acceleration of the car without fuel.

w203 · 05-03-2007, 03:55 AM

^^ I assume you have/or talking about an automatic correct?

I was referring to the manual trannies since they have more of a control on which gears are chosen. For an automatic you can't really do much or control the way the engine brakes. But for a manual you can. High rpm = more gas, shifting from a high gear to a low gear will raise the rpm. Unless the speed difference downshifting from one gear to the next isn't a lot then its not going to effect the fuel efficiency as much. I've done engine braking and I've noticed a drop (not by a whole lot but noticible), feel free to test my theory.

touringcamry · 05-03-2007, 04:05 AM

On my Camry 5MT, the engine will go into fuel cut if the car is coasting in gear and the RPMs are above 1200 RPM, the ECU will cut fuel because the rotation of the wheels will turn the engine. On an automatic, the ECU will never go into fuel cut. It needs to idle the engine because the engine cannot be driven by the wheels.

If I'm descending a hill 3rd gear 30 MPH, foot off the gas, the RPMs will be at 2000. If the car slows to just under about 17-18 MPH, the RPMs will be at 1200 or so and the ECU will resume fuel.

To test this, while coasting, turn the key from ON to ACC. If the engine did not cut fuel, you would suddenly have engine braking. When coasting 30 MPH in 3rd, 2000 RPMs, foot off the gas and the key is turned from ON to ACC nothing happens. Don't try this in an automatic.

geoff5093 · 05-03-2007, 08:51 AM

The Gen6 downshifts automatically anyways to help with the braking, but its not as severe as manually downshifting with a manual. But with the Gen6 V6's, you can downshift just like you can in a manual.

marc780 · 05-05-2007, 05:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhantomZX

I don't think any of those methods make much difference on brake wear. What would really save brakes would be to downshift and engine brake, let off the gas much earlier and let the wind resistance slow you down more, and/or lock your brakes so you wear out the tires instead of the pads.

Yeah downshift WOULD help the brakes a lil bit but then the question becomes do you want your brake pads or your transmission to wear out first? Downshifting is bad for it, strains the parts, you can feel it.

I think the key answer to the question, if you have time to pump the brakes maybe they will not get so hot so fast and this might be better, but who knows just how much better? Obviously if you are in panic stop you are going to jam on the brakes with all your might and let ABS do its thing. But it seems to me that increased pedal effort = increased pressure on brake pads = more wear. So light braking with pumping would in my quess, be the best answer to the question. Of course, there's absolutely no way to prove my idea...so i will just change the brakes when they need it and i dont think i will think about this question too much.

RICO8458 · 05-05-2007, 08:32 PM

Yeah, that is what i do. when i am on the highway doing 80 mph, and the traffic ahead comes up quickly, i start to hit the brakes, and then let up off them, then hit them again , and repeat like 3 or 4 times slowly slowing down the car, instead of hitting the brakes and holding them down since i tend to hear the rotors taking the pressure. i mean it is not raining, but i use the same sort of technique to slow my car down since i do have time before i see the bumber of the car in front of me. lol