Escaping death with good Brakes! - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

Calvin327 · 04-02-2005, 09:42 PM

Today I was driving on 580 East heading towards hayward traveling about 68 MPH and all of the this fucker in a Buick Regal cuts right in front of me going 40MPH I hit the brakes hard and came as close as half a cm of hitting him. I must have burnt a little over 78 FT of tread on the freeway. Anyhow I avoided hitting the guy and everything, but then my steering wheel started to shake like crazy and while I was driving I felt like my tire caught something cause it felt bumpy. I pulled over and looked at all of them and they seemed to be okay, but I took precautions and went to the nearest tire shop to get a 4 wheel balance. The shaking of the steering wheel seemed to have stopped but then again I still feel that bump on the tires, I dunno if this makes any sense. I would like to find out how to get rid of this problem. If worse comes to worse I might just change all 4 tires and hopefully that will correct the problem.

P.S. I am glad I got brembo rotors and Axxis Deluxe Brake Pads!

Thanks in advance,
Calvin

whocares04 · 04-02-2005, 09:56 PM

i would slowly turn your tires and look at the tread b/c for 78ft. from 60mph, only one part of the front tires was having the rubber burnt, get what i'm saying?

unlike burning out/peeling out, which burns rubber/tread all around the tire, almost evenly, b/c the tires' r spinning, ur tires weren't spinning while the rubber was burn so only the section that had contact w/the road. which, if severe enuf, could make your tires and "uneven circle."

the other possibility that i can think of is b/c u were so concentrated on not colliding that maybe u hit a bump just perfectly to make something go whack.

wait for a couple more ideas then get an alignment and possibly brake check

mescalito · 04-02-2005, 09:59 PM

yeah a flat spot in the tires was created because of the lock-up

just drive regular and it SHOULD eventually wear even - or just do an auto-x course a couple of times.

whocares04 · 04-02-2005, 10:15 PM

thanks mescalito, you said what i wanted to in my post but couldnt think of the words so i just rambled

***RningOnFumes*** · 04-02-2005, 10:22 PM

I'm glad you avoided someone elses' stupid mistake ! And especially that you're okay.

I had an experience where I was driving to the local Cal State for classes. On a three lane road at an intersection, as I was changing lanes to get ahead of a car in the fast lane, another car decided to turn onto the road. Nothing happened but the burning..literally burning up the two front tires because the wheels locked up. So after the full stop and when all the smoke cleared up, I started up again..." ba bump ..ba bump" from the front tires. So I had to get a quick fix and get a couple of used tires for the front from the local shope. (This was my 96 tacoma back then. )

And the tire change worked. I assume you did the balance but maybe you need to run your hands over the tread to see if there are any indentations?

Hope this Noobie ( what does that mean?) helped.

Dave

95camguy · 04-02-2005, 10:54 PM

you could just wait. if your tires are still new then just drive until the flat spot goes away. on my last car i used to use the ebrake all the time. one time i got too aggressive and flat spotted my tires. it was thumping for like a month before the tire finally evened itself out.

Calvin327 · 04-03-2005, 12:43 AM

Thanks guys, I appreciate the feedback and advice. The only real thing I was worried about was the steering wheel keep shaking like crazy after. But I had the feeling it was the tires being unbalanced, so I quickly did that. As for the so called "ba bump" I guess I'll drive it off to make the tires even. I hate it when shit like this happens though, we all gotta becareful nowadays.

Calvin

whocares04 · 04-03-2005, 01:15 AM

you can either drive it off OR....speed up the process by doing a proper burnout or just peel out alot...

1kdude · 04-04-2005, 04:41 PM

I flat spotted my yokohamas badly in an emergency stop from 80mph on the 405 freeway in LA, I love great brakes and handling (that magic moment was in a Supra). I used it an an excuse to get even stickier tires for the next emergency situation. I'm thinking of TRD race pads and stainless steel lines for my Camry. It amazes me how most drivers have no clue what great handling and brakes can do for you......

kman10587 · 04-04-2005, 05:23 PM

Quote:

you can either drive it off OR....speed up the process by doing a proper burnout or just peel out alot...

Yeah, if you've got a V6 Camry, you can do some decent burn-outs until it evens out.

a94autoCamry · 04-04-2005, 07:38 PM

sorry to hear what happened to you calvin but yea, i'm glad you didnt get into an accident.... did ur brakes lock up or anything?

karugs · 04-04-2005, 08:45 PM

Glad you're ok. Good reflexes. Damn those lane cutters to hell! Same thing happened to me, I was switching lanes and this guy switched into the lane I was going into. Steered back to my original lane--I knew nobody was there, I overtook him, and floored it until smoke came out of my rear (gotta love my diesel)

Yeah, you got a flat spot (like others have said). Just keep an eye on your alignment, it could have been nudged a bit (pray it's not).

onehotcamry · 04-04-2005, 09:07 PM

yeah, that uneven spot will go away in no time.

we took this girls civic out when at a party at her house and locked the ebrake up, among other things. It was a uneven ride back, but they fixed themselves eventually