dhess

Hey guys a few days ago I got a nail though one of my rear oem s02-s. I wasn't particularly pissed as they were 21000ks long and were slicks.

I purchased a set of Toyo Proxes for the rear only. Tonight when I was cruising I noticed that the front end became very unstable under hard braking.

As long as I don't brake the car handles great.

Is this because I have s02's on the front and toyo's on the rear or is it that one of my front brake pads has coincidently worn down at the same time?

Will having a wheel alignment done help?

Thanks in advance.

marcucci

Normally I'd guess front rotor warpage with vibration under braking. Is it felt primarily as a pedal pulstation (do you feel any?) or as a "shimmy" or vibration in the steering wheel, or just generally the front end of the car? Can you isolate it?

Ordinarily running mismatched tires is a bad idea, but if the car handles good except under braking, I would be inclined to doubt the tires. With a seperating belt or other wheel/driveline issue, you can feel vibration on braking or acceleration but not cruising (sometimes). Since the vibration feels like the front end, I'd be inclined to think a tire change in back isn't at fault.

Have you run through any high water that might have gotten the rotors wet while hot? Wash the wheels while the brakes were still hot, maybe?

To answer your question directly, the pads are probably not at fault; vibration due to braking would usually be caused by a warped rotor, though a warped rotor will usually increase pad wear slightly (depending on mileage pads may need to be changed, too, if the rotors are bad).

dhess

There is no vibration, the front end just seems to drift around.

I didn't go through any water or anything.

My pads have 21000km's and I don't really abuse them. How long should they last?

marcucci

If there's no vibration and the front wants to "drift" under hard braking, I think you're just seeing the effect of really sticky rear tires and slick front ones (comparitively). You should probably go and get new fronts to match the rears to be safe.

Pad wear all depends on the kind of driving you do and how hard it is. If you don't push the car with a lot of hard braking, then it depends on how much driving you do is stop and go. Pads probably wear about 60k miles (100k k's) before getting close to needing changed. If your driving is mostly highway (say, >70%) you could probably get 100 or 120k miles (maybe 200,000 k's). That's rare, though.

With a much of city driving, I'd inspect them at 60,000 km and then again at 80k and 100k km if they look fine. At 21,000 km you should have nothing to worry about unless you drive with the brake pedal pressed halfway down.

dhess

Thanks a lot Marucci!

By the way what kind of dog is that is it a short haired pointer?

I'm looking at getting a dog.

marcucci

He's a mutt. We think he is half black lab and half dalmation, or a "black dalmation" if you will. He's got the personality and color of a lab, but the build and energy of a dalmation. When he was a pup he looked like a lab, but now that he's older he's got a VERY lean build of a dalmation.

Whatever you do, get a dog that matches your lifestyle- if you live alone in an apartment, get a dog that needs little attention (i.e. not a Dalmation or Jack Russell Terrier). If you happen to have a lot of room and kids, labs make great pets. We don't have kids yet, but DO have a lot of room!

jschmidt

Check the air pressure, especially in your rears. Sounds like low air pressure in one rear tire. Maybe this could happen if one is really high too.

warpspeed

Dhess, get Toyos all around and you won't believe the handling of the car! Push it hard in the corners Man, those tires stick! I'm on my 3rd set of rears in 10 months and won't use anything else!

dhess

Thanks for the input guys!

I'm gonna put toyos on the front and get a wheel alignment.

racer-rob

I just have a few ideas. I thought the braking system on the s2000 works in this way..... when you brake the right rear and the left front brake grab at the same time and visa-versa. Just a thought. Dont know if it will help to know( or if you already knew) but just a thought