Lockup under fairly moderate braking - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

AndyN · 07-31-2005, 01:23 AM

Hello. This is my first post on this forum. We've has our 2004 Corolla S for a little over a month, and my wife recently had a scary experience with it that I'd like to get some input on. As she was preparing to stop at an intersection, she noticed the car in front of her was stopping rather than going through the yellow as my wife had expected, so she had to apply the braked a little harder than she had planned, though it wasn't a "panic stop" (she extimates she was going maybe 20 mph at the time). To her amazement, the tires then lost all grip, causing the car to skip uncontrollably, with the tires smoking and screeching loudly enough to scare the crap out of her and our 8-year old daughter. She narrowly missed the car in front of her. The road was dry. The car has about 17K miles, and has the original Goodyear Integrity tires. I checked their pressures, and they were all close to 32 psi.

I had originally misunderstood her, thinking the above experience was on a wet road, so I tried applying the brakes moderate abruptly on a wet road (it's been raining off an on here in Austin), and I was able to easily repeat her experience; the tires lost all grip in what was not a particularly sudden application of the brakes.

Is this behavior normal for these cars? I find this hard to believe, as Consumer Reports would have called for the bombing of Toyota headquarters if they had experienced anything resembling this performance in one of their tests. My hunch is that it's the tires; they didn't get very good reviews at tirerack.com. Has anybody experienced anything like this? Any suggestions? Thanks!

rolla-XRS · 07-31-2005, 08:41 AM

Sorry to hear about your close call.

I'd get the car into the dealership asap. I thought that all the 2003+ Corolla's has anti-lock brakes and that doesn't sound like they're working.

I know that the 2005's also have ABS. Have you checked your owners manual to see what features your 2004 S came with?

FYI - the OEM Goodyear tires aren't the greatest. I presume they're in good condition? Lots of tread, etc? Every company tends to put the cheepest tire brand on their cars and rarely will you find something really good unless it's performance related...and then much more expensive. I remember my old 95 Civic and it's Goodyears...that car would slide around the road like crazy on wet or damp roads. Changed to Michelin MX4 series and it drove like it was on rails. Tires DO make a difference.

adsaba1969 · 07-31-2005, 08:52 AM

i drive an 04 S and don't think i have ABS. The tires are crap though and i changed them ASAP. At 20 mph though there should not be enough speed to cause the car to skid uncontrolably regardless of the shit tires the car comes with. To me it sounds like either the tires or the driving or both

karugs · 07-31-2005, 12:51 PM

I was in a parking lot and this guy backs out suddenly. I stomp on the brakes and this was a mere 10mph. My tires locked...

ABS works above a certain speed. Check your car's specs usually it's in the manual.

AndyN · 07-31-2005, 01:39 PM

Since posting the thread, I went back to tirerack.com to look more thoroughly through the reviews of the Goodyear Integrity's, and found that while some reviewers found the tires to be OK, most people said thay are junk, displaying the same symptoms I've observed: very poor traction in wet or dry conditions, very noisy, poor tread wear, etc. My Corolla doesn't have abs, but in any other car I've owned with abs, I don't think the abs would have even engaged in the relatively moderate braking situations that we've found to cause the Corolla to skid. I'm pretty convinced the problem is with the tires. My wife has Michelin Hydroedge's on the Chrysler minivan, and she loves them, so we'll probably be replacing the Integrity's with these soon. Also, when it's time to replace the brake pads, I'll use top-of-the-line ones. Thanks for the inputs.

NRM · 07-31-2005, 02:10 PM

I have an 05 Rolla S. No ABS.

PhantomS · 07-31-2005, 03:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NRM

I have an 05 Rolla S. No ABS.

Same here....'05 S, no ABS - it was in another "package" which I didn't care to pay that much for. I don't particularly care for ABS, anyways - well, at least the ABS on GM cars I've had experiences with....GM sucks SOOOO bad, it's amazing they're still in business !!!

adsaba1969 · 07-31-2005, 04:47 PM

shit...if you're gonna replace the tires might as well throw some 17" TRD's on there

Flashmn · 07-31-2005, 05:12 PM

Quote:

(she extimates she was going maybe 20 mph at the time). To her amazement, the tires then lost all grip, causing the car to skip uncontrollably, with the tires smoking and screeching loudly enough to scare the crap out of her and our 8-year old daughter. She narrowly missed the car in front of her.

Doesnt sound like 20mph to me