Occasional trouble stopping on snow and ice

I have a 2007 sr5 V6 and at times while rolling up to a stop sign it keeps going like the brake system isn't braking like I'd expect. It's in 2H, brake pedal feels normal I press harder to no effect. The next thing I know I'm out in intersection or turning to avoid something.

I grew up in Minnesota and am familiar with driving on snow and ice. It makes me want to approach intersections slower than other vehicles on the same snow ice and its got 234,000 miles and otherwise seems fine.

So I'm wondering which way to go with it, is a system causing trouble like ATRAC or VSC or maybe just settings? Thanks

 

Maybe just the tires

 

As said above, how are the tires? Does this happen when there isn’t ice or snow? Are jamming on your brakes, which I doubt as you say you have experience driving in winter weather.

 

The tires are Toyo HT Open Country 265 /75 16s. They are 44 psi tires and I'm running them at 42 psi. Thanks for the responses. Here's a picture of one, they are pretty good for tread depth. I haven't noticed a problem on dirt or loose snow.

I've been googling this and starting to wonder if this is a limitation of the ABS system for "icy road condition" where stopping distance increases to er on the side of turning. And pumping the brake can help especially if the tires have found better traction. Does the ABS thing sound familiar in this case?

 

I run lower psi, drop down to 37 at least, I like 34/35. I haven’t driven the runner in any snow at this point, so I can’t say much to this, but I’d think it will be fine. What’s the mileage on those tires? Im not a fan of them for winter.

 

I know this thread has been up for a while, but i just had a bad experience with my 2021 4Runner Nightshade. Driving in Snow and Ice conditions and seemed like the anti-lock braking system was not working at all. At slow to very slow speeds on the snow and icy roads, the truck just slid when i tried to stop. Never pulsed the pedal or heard any clicking sounds, or other indication that it was working. The truck has 40K miles on it.

Anyone experienced something similar in the ice and snow?

Also, during this drive, the truck got snow and ice all over the front end, causing parking assist alarms, and causing the crash detection system to act up, by alarming when not close to another car, and also switching off when the sensor got iced over.

thanks,
Dan

 

Welcome. Running a dedicated snow tire will help with the sliding issues. Also, you have to learn to adjust your driving habits with these heavy bricks. The 5th gen 4Rs have a really good 4-piston caliper on the front brakes that apply very even brake pressure. Too much brake pedal and it will slide with ease.

 

Ya my Toyo open country AT2’s on my Tacoma suck in the snow. Great tire otherwise. I would suspect it’s all tires and air pressure.

 

What do you mean by this? Just because a tire is rated to run at a given PSI doesn’t mean that’s the tire manufacturer’s recommended pressure. Any tire is intended to be run at the vehicle manufacturer’s specified pressure. This reminds me of when I decided to wait to air down until I crossed the sand a bit at Cape Hatteras. Quickly learned I was going nowhere fast at the normal tire pressure. The difference between that and 17-18 PSI on sand was startling. You might reduce to 32-35 PSI and see if that helps.

 

I agree 37 PSI seems better for normal road driving with these tires. I commonly run higher pressures on the back of my F250 with an equipment trailer connected. It's more stable and the tires run cooler.

I agree 42 PSI was to much and 37 seems better for those tires. But I've always messed with air pressure. Like in the car I'd lower pressure for more launch or increase PSI to burn rubber. I normally run more in the rears of a pickup if loaded or pulling the trailer.

Does anyone run higher PSI for a road trip to save a little gas? These big suv tires handle better when they're not so spongy, I can feel it the corners. Low tires get hot as well.
All of that said I won't argue on staying with the decals PSI rating