white97gxe

iTrader: (3)

Im leaving the body shop around 7pm tonight, just had my trunk and spoiler redone and a short throw shifter installed. They didnt paint the whole car since the trunk and spoiler had already good paint on it, but i noticed so i bought it back to them. So back to the story, im leaving the shop, following my cousins 4 runner. Two blocks away from the shop the light turns red so he slows down and I attempt to. Im in third gear and slowly easing the brakes in, i notice that im not slowing down so i paniced and floored the brakes, but the car is still moving. My last thought was to slam on the clutch to disengage the engine but it was too little too late, bam straight into my cousins car. We pull over and observe the damage, first thought that occured to me was wtf did these guys do to my brakes. I call them up and asked them, they showed up within minutes. I took my cousins car back to the shop while the mechanic drove mine, for safety reasons. After i arrived at the shop, the mechanic told me right away that my tires were ****. I said no way, those things are practically brand new, they have about 90% tread left on it. So he said ill show you for myself, we went down the block at around 25mph, 3rd gear as i was. He slammed on the brakes and the wheels locked but the car skid about 30 ft. Lesson learned. Luckly my cousins 4runner wasnt even scratched, i hit his tow bar thing and it left this on my bumper. Dont skimp out on tires!!!!

2 Da Max

iTrader: (2)

ouch bro. that fawken sux

i learned my lesson over the summer as well, took a turn too hard, went right into a curb and destroyed my whole left front end

kcryan

iTrader: (1)

lucky that CF is ok too

wikidminds

tires are ur best friends! thats why i take of them and keep em shiny with wet and black tire shine!

Scooobay

iTrader: (5)

ouchies...learnt my lesson LAST friday...goin down a backstreet , starting sliding sideways...nearly hit a truck O_o...now i need a " Handbrake Boot " as the mechanic says..$45 :-\....Lesson for me? Tires before Head Unit..

99grnmaxgxe

iTrader: (11)

What kind of tires did you have? (brand/size)

white97gxe

iTrader: (3)

Opps sorry forgot to mention the most important detail lol. Fate-O brand tires. Ive looked up these on google and yahoo, they dont even have a website theyre so freaking cheap.

FunLovinMaxima

where the heck did you get "Fate-O" tires from?

white97gxe

iTrader: (3)

Id like to know too

lp

iTrader: (1)

Nice, the recommended tire choice of bodyshops nationwide.

Kazao

Damn that sucks man. You should up grade the brakes and get better tires. That would really help out.

Frank Fontaine

What a strange post. imho there are not enough facts to support the statement in the subject. Guess I should run out an buy Pilot Sport A/S because they cost twice as much.

Armelius

You need pictures of the tires and where you bought them. I have some serious doubts about your claims. A tire company without a website?

Sounbwoy

iTrader: (2)

uhhmmm, if you lock the wheels in a panic stop, the car will slide BECAUSE there's no TRACTION....I see water on the bumber which suggests to me it was wet, and you may have either hit a slick spot, or forgot to push the clutch in??? You DID say that was your "last thought"...so you don't push your clutch in when you come to a red light?? As to the Fate-O brand tires....???

FunLovinMaxima

it took a helluva lot of googling, but i found the website! Apparently Fate O is made in Argentina. http://www.fate.com.ar/esp/frame.asp

white97gxe

iTrader: (3)

I didnt purchase the tires, i would never purchase a brand that i never heard of. The tires came with the car. Yes i do clutch in when i stop at a red light but i usually slow down, clutch, shift to neutral, then stop completely. Thats why clutching in was my last thought.

RockfordMax

iTrader: (2)

that sucks dude. my tires are just as bad, if its anything near wet, they just lock up and lose all traction. ive almost slid off the road twice, one out of stupidity, the other out of just plain crappy tires. they also burnout very nicely, like AWESOME burnouts, but they do it on like a 2500 neutral drop. not good. (if you cant tell im trying to get them bald enough where my dad feels new rims/tires are necessary!)

chenzarino

iTrader: (2)

Clutching in decreases traction, you should have downshifted. Why didn't your brakes work? Or were you sliding and didnt realize it?

white97gxe

iTrader: (3)

That reminds me, when i first purchase the car, the owner was raving about his "new tires". So i looked up the brand on google but i coudlnt find a website. What i did find was comments and reviews on forums and one of them said "Fate-O tires are great, just dont plan on driving if i rained in the past 3 months."

white97gxe

iTrader: (3)

Im not even sure, i could have sworn it was my brakes but then after the mechanic showed me how bad teh tires were, im leaning towards cheap tires. To be honest, it happened so fast i dont even remember what happened. I know for sure i didnt floor gas though, other wise my topspeed muffler would have woke the whole neighborhood.

djdirtyrice

u cant drive man, ive slid before but dam my abs saved me even though my tires are almost bald

dgeesaman

iTrader: (10)

Horse****. A stopping car is a stopping car, regardless of whether the clutch is in. It doesn't matter if the stopping torque is a generated by the engine or the brake rotors - as long as it's enough to stop the wheels or work at that threshold, you'll get max braking.

It seems there is a lot of misinformation here.

Braking on wet surfaces is a function of two things:
1) a functioning ABS system (for control, not so much for braking distance)
2) traction

Traction is a combination of two things:
a) contact patch (proper tire inflation and hydroplaning)
b) rubber.

Brakes are capable of stopping the car in the minimum possible distance if they can lock the wheels. Period. Rotors, calipers, engine braking, suspension, etc are irrelevant in emergency straight-line braking.

Worn tires are usually worse at a) and b) because they are prone to hydroplaning at lower speed due to shallower tread, and because the rubber usually hardens as it ages or get harder the deeper you wear into the tread. Cheap tires do both, earlier and to a worse degree. As well, more traction = shorter life. These are two reasons to never wait until a tire is all the way down to minimum tread depth before replacing them.

Buy some decent tires. Getting your car repainted without knowing exactly how good the rubber on your tires is, is simply idiotic. IMO, $600 is as cheap as tires should be on this car. Anything less is compromising it's so-called 'sports car' characteristics (and I'll debate that, FWIW).

Dave

Geophrum

had a bad experiance with this once befor on my old max.. now i do not put anything but potenzas on my car as i know the brand and i have done alot of research.. true i could get better but there is no way i will get worse.. i want all weather performance and traction and potenzas are rated high according to tire racks customer guides and ratings so i go with those.. spend the money if you want to keep your car and your life... i think tires are more imortant than any other thing i put on the car other than brakes...


lesson learned for you i guess.. sorry for your bumper tho!!

Armelius

Two things.

1. There isn't any tread in the middle part of the tires from the pictures you show.

2. Your brakes are not working. There wouldn't be that much rust on your rotors if it were.

3. You probably need a master cylinder.

4. You bought the car and the tires. Check before you buy.

5. There is no way those Fate-O tires could be crap if they are new and have a DOT rating on it.

6. You can get inexpensive tires even if they are Fate-O's and still be nearly as good as the high priced Pirrellis or whatever. I am running Hankook and Cooper Cobras. Doing fine.

Sounbwoy

iTrader: (2)

Exactly...

southeast_first

iTrader: (3)

his car sat overnight and he almost certainly didn't drive it before taking those pics; last night in brooklyn there was rain and heavy wind. look at your rotors (if they're stock) the next time there's a bad storm down here (maybe in the next day or two!). they'll look the same way. think before you give advice so that you're not just spewing crap.

besides that, do you seriously believe that cheap tires perform as well as expensive, high-performance ones? are you high? with tires, you USUALLY get what you pay for. yes, there are tires that are cheap AND perform well, but $20 walmart tires or whatever DON'T.

Armelius

Ok then, why doesn't he have any brake dust on his rims?

His rims are so clean...even on the inside looks like you could serve dinner on them.

I used to buy my tires from Wal-Mart. What are you trying to say?

I don't even know if the DOT would allow cheap tires on the road, but I heard you could get some retreads if you really tried.

chenzarino

iTrader: (2)

So tell me Einstein, how do you think a car slides on a wet surface? When the wheels lock up.

Read what you just posted please, and I quote "Rotors, calipers, engine braking, suspension, etc are irrelevant in emergency straight-line braking". So what pray tell stops your car? Do you have a hole in the floor and put your feet down? Because i'm dying to know how you stop a car without any of these things being relevant.

konak85

iTrader: (10)

Thats an ironic brand name. Fate-O

Supermax95

iTrader: (2)

lol kinda reminded me of fake....or a rip off of big-o tires.

southeast_first

iTrader: (3)

his rims are painted gunmetal, just like mine. i can't see brake dust on my rims, EVER, and that's why you can't see it on his.

and i'm trying to say that if you spend any less than $200 on four BRAND NEW tires, you shouldn't expect them to reliably perform in any kind of stressful conditions: rain, high speeds, quick stops, or whatever.

the dot probably wouldn't allow tires that were just straight up unsafe in ANY conditions, i.e., they are prone to blowouts at low speeds, their tread pattern is such that they have no wet traction, etc. that's not the case with these tires; if you want to drive around at 20 mph, only in reasonably dry weather, leaving a lot of extra space between you and the car in front of you... they're fine, but for normal or slightly aggressive driving, they're subpar, borderline unsafe, or worse.

i would know: when i bought my car, it had those kind of ****ty tires on it, and it was honestly kind of scary to drive. it always took longer than it felt like it should to stop, and i could barely drive in any kind of rain. luckily, within two weeks i replaced them with the yokohamas i have now (which weren't expensive by any means, about $100 each) and the car felt a lot better.

EDIT: i'm not saying his brakes are necessarily in great shape. but if there's anything wrong with them, you can't tell from the pictures he posted.

lanky2882

A couple things should be said. First of all to the thing about no brake dust. It is possible to have a car without dust ive had my brakes on for 5 months now still no dust. They are aftermarket but still is possible. Other thing how much rubber that is on the road is the biggest thing when it comes to braking. When its wet and u lock up its like driving on ice. Thats why its very important if you dont have abs to learn how to do emergency braking without locking up. It all comes down to driver experience and knowing how to use what you got. If you dont know how to use it properly it doesnt matter how expensive the stuff is that is on your car.

white97gxe

iTrader: (3)

Im going to purchase new rotars, pads and ss brake lines off the gd just to be on the safe side. Anyone know how much it would cost to install all this?

Armelius

You shouldn't have to spend 600 dollars unless you get a new master cylinder. You are coming up on winter so best to have some serious tires going on or some chains handy.

dgeesaman

iTrader: (10)

The rubber and the road are all that matter. In emergency straight line braking, brakes need only to get the wheels stopped (and in the case of ABS, stopped repeatedly). Locked wheels is maximum stopping power, wet or dry surface. I have never seen a passenger car braking system that has trouble locking the wheels. If your braking response is crappy, it's either the rubber or something compromising how the rubber is held to the road (hydroplaning, poor inflation pressure).

If you couldn't stop in time, either something compromised the contact patch or the tires didn't have enough grip. And in both situations, you were following too close (but maybe didn't know it until it was too late).

Got it Einstein?

Dave

lanky2882

maximum stopping power isnt when the wheels locks up it is right before they lock up. ABS isnt only affective for better control its also improved stopping for a less experienced driver.

dgeesaman

iTrader: (10)

And that is a major problem, if it is the case. (Hard to see from the pic) Heavy center wear indicates (generally) that the tires were overinflated through much of their life. This results in a narrower contact patch (less traction) and no tread where you need it most for wet performance. As well, most tires get harder as you wear them down, and hard rubber is worse in wet conditions - so that would completely explain this whole accident.

Cheap tires: bad
Overinflation (narrower contact patch): bad +1
Heavy tread wear: bad + 2
Wearing down to the harder rubber below the tread: bad +3

Correct inflation pressure for a Maxima is 30psi, and usually +2 or +3psi in the front wheels. Never use the 'max pressure' labeled on the tire. 35psi is fine for mostly highway driving, but above 40 will distort the tire and cause problems.

The rust is spotting that developed since it was parked. It only takes about 12 hours for spots to form on a plain steel rotor.

There is no evidence in those pics that the brakes are malfunctioning.

DOT isn't your baby-sitter. While a tire may pass a dry traction test, AFAIK they don't test wet or winter conditions at all.

I wouldn't say 'nearly' as good as a better tire, but yes some tires are a much better value than others. Many expensive tires (Michelin Pilot Sport) wear out 2-3x faster than a cheaper tire, as well as cost 2-3x as much. But when you hit the brakes, they grab hard. There are many decent brands out there. For the price of your insurance deductible (not mentioning the upcoming rate increase), you could have been stopped sooner.

Dave

dgeesaman

iTrader: (10)

The difference is small enough to not matter. The reason why ABS is important is because it gives the driver more control.

I do forget at times that ABS is not common on 4th gen Maximas.

Armelius

Dave, he doesn't even have brake dust on his calipers. My car has been sitting for 12 hours and I drove through the rain and I don't have rust spots like that. It looks to be about three days at least worth of rust.

I run 35 psi. You run 30 and the next day your tire will be 29 psi after 100 miles of driving and slight weather temperature changes. Best to start at 35 psi unless you are driving on sand, snow or rain then drop down to 32. 30 is probably going to wear out your tire very quick and give you around 24 mpg gas mileage compared to 28 or better.

dgeesaman

iTrader: (10)

The rust spots don't always appear, since even on a rainy day, they are quite warm when you stop driving and dry themselves. Unless it's a breezy day, they are sheltered enough to remain dry. I usually notice the rust spots the next morning after washing the car.

As for the brake dust - it depends on what kind of pads you have how quickly dust will accumulate. Plus, it looks like things have been recently cleaned. I can't tell anyway - the pics aren't good enough, and it's nearly impossible to see brake dust on a cast iron caliper, even in person.

In any case, the pictures don't indicate the brakes are having any problems.

For tire pressures, I think 25-40psi are all good working pressures for a Maxima. 40psi may distort a cheaper/lower speed rated tire more than a better tire - such that this tire ballooned at 40psi when the car wasn't heavily loaded.

When I bought my RX-7, the tread on my tires looked fine - when it got to the tire shop for inspection the next day, we found the very inside edge was worn to the cord. (I hadn't taken the wheels off yet - so that wasn't visible). The rest of the tire had 80% tread. Turns out the previous owner hadn't done a thing with the alignment or tires in the 5k miles he owned it, and the guy before that was a national class autocrosser. So his alignment settings and tire choice were, uh, aggressive. Tire wear has a way of sneaking up on you like that.

Dave