Lost my Brakes Yesterday

[Verbal]

Wow.. that is scary. Glad to hear you're OK.

So did you piss someone off recently that might have a personal vendetta against you?

[Bill]

I've lost brakes a couple times in my life- it's an extremely scary experience.

There's a trick that will stop most vehicles, better than the parking brake, which isn't strong enough to really stop a vehicle that has any momentum.

Reach down, turn the key, and shut the engine off, leaving the car in gear.

The mechanical resistance of the engine is the strongest force you can apply to a moving car when you have lost the brakes.

I learned this the first time I lost brakes- I was 17, lost them on a busy road, and was lucky enough to weave in and out of cars, on the side of the road and into oncoming traffic, untill i was able to pull into a parking lot where I was just able to dump enough momentum to stop by bumping lightly into a building.

When I talked to a mechanic, he suggested the 'turning the engine off" trick, and I drove from there to the garage, braking by shutting off the engine at lights and stop signs.

That'll put hair on your chest...

[pornrex]

Originally Posted by Bill

That'll put hair on your chest...

Yeah..unfortunately, its enough to make you lighter on top of the scalp too!

[dareutwo]

Originally Posted by Bill

There's a trick that will stop most vehicles, better than the parking brake, which isn't strong enough to really stop a vehicle that has any momentum.

Reach down, turn the key, and shut the engine off, leaving the car in gear.

The mechanical resistance of the engine is the strongest force you can apply to a moving car when you have lost the brakes.

Been there, done that.
Unfortunately, this also kills your power steering pump. Good luck steering if your vehicle is over 2k lbs.

Still suggesting you use the parking brake. However, Bill is correct on using the engine, downshift 3 2 1 in addition to the parking brake.

Not exactly sure as to what I did, it was on instinct as I flew through an intersection at about 40 mph.

[Jim]

Originally Posted by dareutwo

Been there, done that.
Unfortunately, this also kills your power steering pump. Good luck steering if your vehicle is over 2k lbs.

Still suggesting you use the parking brake. However, Bill is correct on using the engine, downshift 3 2 1 in addition to the parking brake.

Not exactly sure as to what I did, it was on instinct as I flew through an intersection at about 40 mph.

My truck weighs 12k pounds. The disk breaks are the size of garbage can lids. There really isn't any trick to stop it.

[MrYum]

Originally Posted by Jim

My truck weighs 12k pounds. The disk breaks are the size of garbage can lids. There really isn't any trick to stop it.

Egads Jim! I thought my truck was a heavy beast!

What the heck are you driving...and does it say Peterbilt on the side of it??? lol

[Useless]

Originally Posted by Verbal

So did you piss someone off recently that might have a personal vendetta against you?

I told that cocksucker to not park in front of my house.

Glad to hear you didn't scratch that big truck running over anyone's bones, Jim. My father once drove into a bridge embankment intentionally when he lost his brakes. Totalled his car, his nose and a couple of ribs. The bridge was fine though.