Our brakes don't suck

[duhtroll]

This was close. This morning on my way to work a little before 7:00 AM (20 minutes or so before dawn so still pretty dark) I was on a major access road (Greenhill for those in the area) that is a 4-lane with a speed limit of 45.

I was doing, er, 45 with a Chevy Silverado 1500 pickup in the lane to my right. We were exactly even (not racing, just trying to paint the picture) and both doing about the speed limit.

I barely am able to see not one but THREE deer run directly in front of both of us from the field along the road. They came from the left across two lanes of road so I guess it was darker than I thought.

And I was just yesterday thinking "I've never had a panic stop so I've never had to really test the brakes."

I managed to see them and barely missed all three, the last of which I swear its tail brushed my headlamp.

The antilocks work. I stayed very straight and could even swerve to the left while braking with lots of control.

The pickup was less fortunate - at least two of the three deer went flying for several feet and a rainshower of plastic appeared in front of me. I stopped so it didn't land on my car, but I did have to roll over some of it.

I pulled in front of the pickup and two dead deer - didn't see the third - and stopped to see if the driver was OK. She was already out of her truck and on a cell phone (wonder if she was on the phone while this took place . . .).

She assured me she was fine and didn't need me to stay, and that she was calling her husband. She asked me if I had hit any of them, and I replied without thinking "no, just some pieces of your truck." I wasn't trying to make her feel worse.

The front end of her truck was all radiator - no plastic left on the front at all - no headlights, etc. and the bumper was pretty bent up but it was driveable once the sun came up.

So I continued on my way. Anyway, my OEM brakes seem to work fine. Now to see if I warped them when I go home today.

-A

[RoyLPita]

My brakes work fine, too. I had a close call with snowbird 2 days ago. I driving south on a 4 lane street in the left lane and out comes dark blue Chrysler from a complex. He didn't stop until I hit my brakes and yanked the wheel to the left. Thank goodness the street had no cement medians. After all that, I ended up with a headache that lasted for a good 3 hours (with meds). My ABS worked well and kept my MM in control.

[StevenJ]

This is why deer hunting is a must for the midwest. It is needed for population control. My brakes work well too but they screech a lot unlessed pressed a certain way. Then again, I have slotted brakes and I'm not sure what the material of the brake pads are. They were changed by the original owner. I went to a Ford dealer about them two thousand miles ago and they checked out perfect. Can't be too bad then!

[duhtroll]

Just heard on the radio after the incident - Iowa's deer season for 2005 almost reached its goal of 25% of the herd. They estimate we took care of 212,000 or something like that.




This is why deer hunting is a must for the midwest. It is needed for population control. My brakes work well too but they screech a lot unlessed pressed a certain way. Then again, I have slotted brakes and I'm not sure what the material of the brake pads are. They were changed by the original owner. I went to a Ford dealer about them two thousand miles ago and they checked out perfect. Can't be too bad then!

[Hotrauder]

I have 21K on mine and I have not been able to detect any pulsing or other problem. I would like a little more stopping power but the big brake options don't at this point seem to be holding up as well as the OEM brakes over time without warping or other problems. Waiting, waiting for some more feedback on the latest options as my OEM are still holding up just fine. I suspect wider wheels and larger tires will tax the OEM's more than they are now and push me to replace them sooner than necessary. Dennis :)

Glad you missed the venison slaughter! Upstate New York and State of Maine all my life. Hunted for years and managed to bag more with motor whicles that with firearms. Bummer.

[TooManyFords]

Wow! Glad you cam through it ok. Another Marauder down would not be good here.

Whew...

John

[Bluerauder]

This was close. ... I barely am able to see not one but THREE deer run directly in front of both of us from the field along the road. They came from the left across two lanes of road so I guess it was darker than I thought. ... I managed to see them and barely missed all three, the last of which I swear its tail brushed my headlamp.

-A
I just love happy endings. Glad you were able to avoid a near catastrophe. Glad the driver of the pickup truck was OK as well despite the "flying plastic" damges. Ya'll be careful out there Andrew. :D

Haulin' it in from 45-0 MPH and from 75+ -0 MPH are different problems. :rolleyes:

[DEFYANT]

Haulin' it in from 45-0 MPH and from 75+ -0 MPH are different problems. :rolleyes:

Agreed.

I can not explain it. Perhaps one of our resident experts can chime in. With more horsepower come the need for more brake power.

My OEM brakes got me out of a few tight spots. Like this incident. Man, that was a close one too. (http://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/showthread.php?t=15728&highlight=belt)I was not supercharged during this incident. Lately I noticed my car was not stopping fast enough. This combined with an awsome offer I found on the Baer Claw big brakes was all I needed.

http://www.mercurymarauder.net/showcase/files/2/6/4/4/bigbrakes1.jpg

Now The Defyant Marauder stops on a dime. I mean, you-hang-in-your-seatbelt, gravity-has-changed-direction, oh-crap-I-scratched-the-front-bumper, stopping power. :D

[ckadiddle]

I have a certain couple of nasty intersections I travel through nearly every day. This is turning onto a very heavily trafficked major artery through town. Frequent red light runners. Probably every other week someone runs through the light oblivious to it's existence in front of me. It's a scary free brake test every once in a while.

I got clobbered at one of these intersections once, a while back in my previous car, an 01 CVLX. CV was driveable, Ranger pickup was probably totalled, had to go away on flatbed. I am very leery of these particular intersections nowadays due to the high incidence of redrunners. There is talk afoot of installing redligh runner cameras - I hope they go ahead and do it. Maybe it will make people a bit more aware.

[DEFYANT]

There is talk afoot of installing redligh runner cameras - I hope they go ahead and do it. Maybe it will make people a bit more aware.

If they do, watch out. The yellow lights tend to be very quick so people who are familure with the light tend to hit the brakes sooner and harder.

I'm done hijacking now, thanks.

[TripleTransAm]

I too am of the opinion that we have decent brakes, but then again it's a matter of driving below the limits of what the hardware can provide... (ie. if I'm able to get the ABS to kick in, that means the tire is now the weakest link between my chassis and the road surface, for that particular tire)

My MM#1 sits at 44000 miles with the original pads and rotors without any trace of warping, but that's because I avoided "putting it away wet" (if I'm using the expression properly)... after sessions of hard stopping, I'd avoid maintaining hard pressure on the pedal (ie. just enough pedal pressure to keep the car from moving), I'd try not to keep the pads in the same spot (ie. I'd roll forward a half-revolution or so every 10-20 seconds to hopefully distribute the heat), and I'd make sure not to park the car immediately after some hard stopping, allowing for some cooldown miles (sometimes just a gently cruise around the block).

MM#2, on the other hand, was already warped at 15000 miles when I bought it. Not badly, as it appears to be improving somewhat the more I drive it (which seems to imply that a portion of the pulsating sensation was maybe due to some localized pad material deposits?).

Of course, I am silly anal about lug nut torque too.

[gpfarrell]

Good brakes will stop you very quickly once.

Great brakes will stop you very quickly again and again, no matter how hot they get.

I think the Marauder stops fine for ordinary emergencies, but for the horsepower induced events I can better binders would add an extra margin of safety.

[snowbird]

My brakes work fine, too. I had a close call with snowbird 2 days ago. I driving south on a 4 lane street in the left lane and out comes dark blue Chrysler from a complex. He didn't stop until I hit my brakes and yanked the wheel to the left. Thank goodness the street had no cement medians. After all that, I ended up with a headache that lasted for a good 3 hours (with meds). My ABS worked well and kept my MM in control.

Well, i must respectfully disagree on this one !! I am still in the North !! :D

[Bluerauder]

:laugh: :laugh:

Well, i must respectfully disagree on this one !! I am still in the North !! :D

Yeah, we believe you. Probably got rid of that Blue Chrysler evidence too. :rofl:

[RVT04]

after we did a full day at motorsport ranch pounding the crap out of our cars on a short twisty off camber 1.7 mile course my pads were glazed and required mucho pressure to haul my mm down from speed. so when i talked to dr i went with the kvr carbon fiber pads and the difference is night and day, now after the blasting they took at tws last weekend they still feel just like the day i put them on, a little more money than oem but well worth it imho.