Brakes are super touchy after getting wet

So i washed my truck the other day, got in it to move it out of the drive way, backed up, hit the brakes and it just about broke my neck, pull up hit the brakes same thing, abs kicks in. Messed with it a couple times, kept doing it, drove it down the road a piece, and it was gone. Then yesterday it rained on it all day and night. Got in it this morning to move it for my wife to park, same thing! Anybody everhad thos happen? Had the truck for a year, dont hardly drive it since i have to drive a service most of the time. Its a 07 prerunner trd off road.

 

This is normal in my experience. Once the water squeezes off your brakes (usually after using the brakes once) you'll be fine. Every car I've owned had overly aggressive braking if the rotors were really wet from washing or heavy rains.

Now, if you keep having this problem ongoing I'd have it looked at though!

 

There's a 'yo momma' joke somewhere in that thread title.

 

Didn't you read the manual for your drivers license? I guarantee no matter what state you tested in somewhere in the book it mentioned what to do when the brakes get wet.

Now granted you might notice the effect more in a heavier vechile compared to a lighter one.

 

Brakes in the these trucks are just touchy (and noisy). Shit, my pedal makes a "squish" sound when you step on it! Dealer said it's normal (of course they did...)

 

I noticed this phenomenon right away with my '14. Never noticed it in the dozen or so trucks/cars I've owned previous. Everytime I run the Taco through a car wash, the first stop is kind of sketchy and noisy afterwards. Whatever. I know it's coming. Not worth trying to figure out in my opinion.

 

It's not the ABS...

 

Pretty sure it is the abs kicking in, pedal pulses to keep the brakes from locking up when their trying to lock up, smh. Anyways just thought it seemed weird, figured id ask, thought maybe a wheel speed might have acting weird when i got wet or something. Thanks

 

ABS is disengaged below 12mph. Were you moving faster than that in your drive?

Pedal pulsation can come from other things.

 

Mine is super touchy too, all the time not just wet. Push...squish noise... then WHAM, the brakes kick in. It's like it isn't linear from start to finish. You go in about an inch or two before it takes, then almost like it makes up for the travel lost and applies it all at once.

I went to the dealer too.... "It's normal"

 

That's the first time I've ever heard ABS is disengaged below any speed on these trucks. Where did you get that information from?

There are lots of people in the "ABS is dangerous" thread saying that it has kicked in well below 12mph for them, causing them to not be able to stop at very low speeds in snow or wet conditions.

 

Google will get you many ABS function descriptions. I'll reference NHTSA, which does say 'generally' 10mph. I found 12 in several other places.

I doubt that Toyota operates at lower parameters than general industry standards, but if someone has an OE manual that shows otherwise, I'll be happy to stand corrected.

The reader should also note, just like it says in the owners manual, that the purpose of ABS is not to shorten stopping distances. It's to allow maximum control under hard braking. And in wet/slippery conditions, distances may even be longer.

So what's up with the maximum control deal? Tires only have 100% grip. If you use all the grip to brake, you can't steer. ABS working allows steering. Which may or may not be helpful in a hydroplane condition.

 

it's the booster and the brake computer together

for a given brake pedal input and decel speed, if you aren't slowing down enough
(wet brakes) the booster -really- boosts. really noticeable at crawl speeds like coming
out of carwash and trying to get back to the road

get used to it, tacoma has the best brakes and shortest stopping distance of
mid-sized pickups, despite the 'abs tried to kill me' naysayers


the booster is on overkill setting.
the guy who aligned my truck (not the dealer) said hey yer brakes
are pretty touchy better have it looked at.

no one at the dealer while servicing it or doing either of
the 2 tsb's have anything to say about the brakes other than those are normal tacoma brakes

 

From all the comments on this site about our ABS; it certainly does seem like the ABS is not disabled below certain speeds, as there are numerous complaints about ABS kicking on around 5mph and causing the person to coast into an intersection or take 3x longer to stop inside of a parking lot.

The entire concern in the "ABS is Dangerous" thread; is that the ABS doesn't appear to be disabled at any low speed on these trucks, and when you would expect to hit the brakes and come to a stop at 5mph or under the ABS kicks on and prevents you from stopping or even slowing down in a lot of cases. That can be a very dangerous situation in a gas station parking lot, or any small parking lot and has caused low speed accidents according to several posters.

We have already established the fact many times that ABS is not designed to stop in shorter distances but rather give you more steering control and prevent high speed rollovers.

 

I have noticed it seems abs is disabled at slow speeds. at slow speeds I can lock up the fronts in snow and build a little snowpile...a bit faster and abs kicks in. probably intentional for slow offroad decents w/o downhill assist

 

I don't know, maybe ABS is supposed to be disabled below certain speeds but isn't always getting disabled. That could by why so many people have experienced ABS issues at low speeds in the ABS is Dangerous thread. It would also explain why the low speed ABS issue is almost always impossible to reproduce, for people that it has happened to.

Here are 6 quick examples from different people in the "ABS is Dangerous" thread, and I'm sure I could easily pull out at least a dozen more if I wanted to search through all 99 pages of that thread:

Post #912: As I said before, I've personally experienced the SLOW speed ABS "ice pucker". On a hill, accelerating, with the brakes doing their own thing...

Post #1444: Yesterday i had this braking issue, slow speed, under 10mph, in heavy snowing conditions.

Post #1516: The last time my ABS in my 13' acted up I was entering an unplowed turning lane last weekend at 2 - 3mph (consciously going extra slow because I was worried about the ABS issue), applied brakes and my truck continued to slide at the same rate of speed right past the turn.

Post #1596: Yesterday when pulling into pump at gas station, over sensitive abs locked up and prevented me from turning left into open pump or stopping and took my truck into the car accross from the open pump. It was snowing with a packed/slush mix in parking lot. But nothing that was bad. I was literally doing around 5 mph as I was pulling into pump in a jammed gas station at morning rush. Truck was unresponsive to everything as I did as I aplied brakes and tried to turn left, it continued start right across the bumper of car at other pump. No major damage just some scuffs and deep scratches on her Acura SUV, and minor scratches on my fender flare.

Post #1761: All the times I've had the braking issue happen to me were under 10 MPH and light braking.

Post #1876: When it happened to me I was doing 1 mph approaching the main street getting ready to pull out of a parking lot. My front tires rolled onto some slush and the abs kicked on. My truck rolled right into the main road and cut off traffic with my foot buried into the brake pedal as hard as I could.

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/68167-abs-truck-dangerous.html

 

^^I had all sorts of issues with the shitty stock tires as seen in my sig pic

with michelin ltx at2 my complaints about tacoma brakes (if I had any) ceased

 

Well if you read through all 99 pages of that thread you will find all kinds of different setups with brand new snow tires to the shitty stock tires, that it has happened with. It's definitely not the tires, that has already been established by the number of posts with issues on brand new highly rated winter tires. The shitty stock tires don't help, but definitely not the main cause.

 

I did read that whole thing and have a lower IQ as a result.

 

Do you not find it at least interesting that all the quotes you selected, except one, specifically mention low traction conditions, ie ice/snow/slush?

If traction is broken (vehicle sliding, tires low/no grip) all the brake function can do is prevent the wheels from actually rotating.

Gravity, inertia and physics do the rest. Like the guy sliding on a muddy trail, down hill.

Don't get me wrong. I'd never say that there might not be an underlying problem with a system. You betcha it can happen. And I"ve read and posted in that thread......... but again, it seems the complaints all revolve around low traction conditions.

I tried twice today to activate my ABS on dry 90* pavement with my lousy 5 lug OE Dunflops. Didn't happen. I know I *can* do it, but it will take a lot of effort. Will try the same after our first good rain that generates 'oil float', where blacktop becomes very similar to black ice, just to see what happens. Because I want to know what I'm dealing with.