Emergency STOP! Only the Front Brakes Locked. ?????

[MR VENOM]

Cruising along about 50 MPH, a dog came out from the sidewalk, and being the pet lover that I am, and no traffic behind me, I saved his life and the front end of my car (which is more important is up for debate). I changed to EBC greens about 6 months ago, and had Kumhos put on the back. I have the original Michelin Pilot's on the front (1995, 9K miles). When I stomped on the brakes, the "blue smoke" and "skid marks" were left from the front. The rears did not "lock up". If they had, I probably would have stopped sooner. Is there some sort of adjustment I am missing, or should the "older & harder" front tires be changed out?

 

[Bugeater]

You have front-biased gen I brakes. You have crappy front tires relative to your rears.

You could remove the proportioning valve, assuming gen I cars have them.

Front lock-ups are not uncommon on gen I/II's pre-2001.

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

Jeeze man, your front tires are nine years old and they weren't the best to begin with. Dump them.

Not sure but I don't think rears ever lock up. That would lead to disaster.

 

[Tomer]

I would change out those old hard fronts...I did this on my 96 about a year and a half ago...As noted, front lock ups are not uncommon, I am sure you know that brake modulation is what is required (they teach that at Skip Barber for example)...It is hard to actually do it during panic stops...

So with your non-abs car, probably the best adjustment you can make is with your right foot!

Tomer

 

[Magicboy2]

Keep in mind that your front wheels do the majority of the braking for you, as the weight transfers to the front on a hard stop. Therefore, you were asking more of your old, hard tires.

Swap them for new ones lest a more serious emergency stop situation come up in the future.

 

[Tom F&L GoR]

Been there, done that, fixed it.

 

[DarcShadow]

all the above post are good but I want to clarify your initial statement that you think you would of stopped faster if your rears had also locked up. Not true. It's hard to accept but rolling friction is greater then sliding friction. If you take the same car and lock up all four wheels you will slide further then if you were able to take the same car at the same speed and apply the brakes as hard as possible with out locking the wheels. This is one of the big advantages of ABS, it makes it much easier for a novice to get maxium possible breaking.

 

[MR VENOM]

Thanks to all for the useful information.