What to do when the brake fails?

Discussion in 'Mechanical | Automobile | Aeronautics' started by Amith Gupta, Jul 2, 2012.

    Amith Gupta Certified CEan

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    ok, i got this one while watching some random movie. Everytime the brake of some 4 wheeler fails, the person tries to stop it by hitting it onto some object, now, the thing bothering here is that isn't there anyother way to stop it ? well, i thought of 3 probable ways, are these actually valid for a RWD car?
    1. Disengage the clutch fully and allow the vehicle to be freewheeling until the frictional force on the tyres tries slowing it down with small decrease in speed.
    2. Disengage the clutch and shift the passengers of the car to the front, in this way, the total momentum on the driving axle would be more and hence, the load carried by the vehicle increases, this inturn has a greater slowing effect than the previous case.
    3. Put the vehicle on reverse gear and slowly try engaging the clutch at intervals.. and trying to control the speed purely by the friction developing . The anticlockwise rotation here may try to cause some sparking or over heating under the vehicle, but it should be a good try.
    are these things actually valid ?
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    white_hat Addict

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    1.Cannot be used when going downhill, at higher speeds.Not at all safe, I personally would never consider his option.
    2.In case of a rear wheel drive car, for that matter any car, it is not practically possible to shift passengers to front or rear of the car.If i am in a car with no brakes I don't think I'll be in a mood to shift seats...!!
    3.It is not possible to engage reverse gear while vehicle is moving forward.If you try to put into reverse gear then gearteeth will get damaged.The whole gearbox may get compromised.You will be left with no control over the car and even if you manage to stop the car without hitting anything, you will end up with a huge repair budget for the gearbox.
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    According to me the most safe way is to downshift to first gear and then slowly engage the clutch.At very high speeds downshift to a lower gear and engage the clutch , this will reduce the wheel rpm , each time you downshift the engine acts as a brake.Downshift sequentially to reach first gear.
    When you are in first gear the vehicle speed low and will be under control.You can allow engine to stall and it will stop.
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    AbraKaDabra Moderator

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    vikaskumar11233 Enthusiast

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    Yeah,The white hat is suggestions are considerable as it is good to shift the gear down slowly and try to stop the vehicle.Shifting the passengers to front is not a practical solution.

    Amith Gupta Certified CEan

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    yeahh.. these solutions are far better. I was seriously getting fed up watching movies in which the brake fails and they drag the entire movie to find a place where the driver smashes the car to some tree or whatever. Good one though ! @vikaskumar11233 @white_hat @AbraKaDabra :) well.. there must be more solutions possible i guess.. need to dig the brains deeper :-/

    white_hat Addict

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    Nowadays we use tandem master cylinder, this is much more safe than ordinary master cylinders.
    So even if there is any leak in any of the brake lines , at least two of the brakes will work.
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    The villain will have to cut brake lines to both front and rear of the car or maybe rip off the goddamn brake pedal altogether inorder for the car to have no brakes.

    Amith Gupta Certified CEan

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    hah.... and even uproot the handbrakes, the gear lever and the clutch pedal. but still another way might be if he cud throw some nails ahead of him and puncture his own car and somehow control it to slow down .. is that possible ?

    Mahesindai Certified CEan

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    try to control the directions and to slow down or reduce the gear

    white_hat Addict

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    Now that will be suicide ...!!
    How do you think of controlling the car with punctured tyres.?

    Ammar Aziz Enthusiast

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    i think the best way is to first prepare yourself psychologically. think that i m in a problem but i can get rid of it. in my sense collision with a body is the best way to stop the car or 4 wheeler in case of emergency. above suggestions are good but not practical to reasonable extent so try to collide the car with anything in such a way that when you approach the body turn the staring of your car and provide the opportunity to collide by side. so due to increase in contact area and also the decrease in head on collision component the reaction is affordable.

    Amith Gupta Certified CEan

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    yeah.. well that one is a good go on this @Ammar Aziz .. but we were thnking of some non-colliding methods to end it up.. though what you are saying is mostly done cuz no body wants to mess up badly at those times :)

    zaveri Star

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    talking of faulty brakes and malfunctioning autos, here is a hilarious video



    start watching from 1:36

    now talking seriously , the guy in the video says that the engine was fitted with tight piston-rings, but wouldnt that cause the engine to stall, when left idling. how come it behaves so funnily over here ?

    Ammar Aziz Enthusiast

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    yeah you are right Amith Gupta i m searching for it

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