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Anybody Widebodies having braking problems?

7K views 29 replies 15 participants last post by  SIXGUN 
#1 ·
I picked up my 2019 Widebody Hellcat Redeye a few days ago in Washington state. On the drive home to Florida over the past few day under hard braking, the car almost fishtail. Not sure if it is an alignment issue or what. Everything seems tight in the suspension, but my 2016 SRT 392 stops straight no matter what. The Redeye is a little unnerving when braking hard from higher speeds. Thanks.
 
#2 ·
Couple of things. One be sure the tires are properly inflated. Often dealers let the new cars go off the lot with the tires inflated to their maximum pressure (45psi or thereabouts).

Or a tire can be low. In another car I got into some kind of "race" with a motorcycle and then I put the brakes on pretty hard. The car pulled severely. Really was out of character. Pulled off the highway and at a nearby gas station found a rear tire was low. (This before TMPS.) The tire had picked up some metal and had a slow leak. Not super low but I think the recommended inflation pressure was 44psi (this for the rear tires; front tires required 36psi) but the tire was down to 36psi or thereabouts.

Also, keep in mind new tires are kind of "greasy". Some attribute this to the tire mold release chemical used. Used to watch a guy recap tires and I don't remember anything being applied to help the tire release from the mold. The tire tread after being cooked just had a slightly greasy feel to it.

Regardless new tires need a hundred or so miles to "break in" and lose that greasiness whatever its source/cause.

Last but not least have you bedded in the brakes? You might have one brake that has a bit more bite than the others. Bedding in the brakes can help equalize the braking action of all the brakes.
 
#4 ·
Yes, tire pressures correct all around, picked up the car with just under 1300 miles on the clock (first owner decided he needed his dually back). Car still had the nubs on the tires so had not been driven hard in those first miles. I drove it about 3200 miles home so now about 4500 miles on it, so tires were broken in, does it colder outside or in the 60s. Brakes didn't seem to be bedded in, so I worked on that on the trip and now good braking power, just seems like the proportioning is off a bit or maybe an alignment issue. Nothing sounds loose in the steering or suspension. Thanks.
 
#5 ·
With that many miles for sure the tires are broken in.

How does tire wear look? How do the tire tread faces feel? Any signs of feathering of the tread blocks? Any signs of scrubbing?

Have to point out the brakes can supply a lot of braking action. Enough to overwhelm the tires. Under "hard" braking and if the road surface is not that good the car can manifest some bit of squirrelly behavior. That is often I encounter roads that are heavily used and have developed slight depressions where the majority of the vehicle tires run. A wide tire (one of my previous cars had 11" wide rear tires) can be affected by this uneven road surface especially under braking.

Or just driving. More than once with my other cars with pretty wide tires the car got so squirrelly I'd pull off and check for a low tire. Tire pressures were fine. Just the wide tire and the horrible road surface.
 
#6 ·
I regularly take the Challenger and absolutely press my brakes to failure both on the street and at the track (road course). Testing and actual severe braking. You should not have it go "squirrelly". When any of the tires are overwhelmed (usually the fronts) the anti-lock kicks in, but it remains straight. Squirrelly without anti-lock intervention sounds like a lack of road friction to me and not the fault of the car.
 
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#15 ·
Update- dealer checked and realigned. Surprisingly, they didn't rotate the tires which were a little feather edged from bei g out of alignment, which I thought was a little poor. Anyway, car brakes in a fairly straight line now...and won the Hemi Shootout at NMCA Bradenton this past weekend, so all good.
 
#28 ·
So I bought the car used with 1254 miles on it, but the car was in Washington state. So I could've shipped it, but where's the fun in that?? These cars have so many electronic options, pages, buttons, I figured since I already had a plane ticket to Vegas for SEMA, I'd just delay the pickup of the car and drive it home, which would give me time to get used to driving it and some open road time to learn about the pages. I was concerned about the P Zero summer tires throwing trash and beating up the flares, so I sent Swaim rock guards to Lithia Dodge and had them installed before I rolled. The car also had a $4100 Expel package and ceramic coating installed by the original owner. I picked it up and drove it home over 3 full days of driving. I made a few stops along the way to visit friends and family, which was part of the plan. Didn't do any sight seeing per say, but it was an enjoyable trip. And only about 3500 miles added to the odometer! I know...preserve the car, sell it with no miles...hey, I'm not that guy. These cars are built to enjoy. The first owner hopefully enjoyed it for 1254 miles, but the $25k discount off the sticker was perfect for me! And I got to drop the hammer (on a closed course, of course) and go 187mph on the way home, also part of the plan. Actually, I hoped to see top speed for the car, but I lifted as there was a corner coming up and I wasn't wearing a helmet.. It is kind of difficult to judge rate of closure when you are not used to travelling that speed on the ground. In retrospect, I should have spent a little more time checking out something closer to top speed. Hopefully will have a chance to check it out in the future. Good stuff!
 

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#29 ·
Not the issues you are having but yes.....

 
#30 ·
So, an update to close the loop. This was not a braking problem but an alignment problem. After dealer aligned, so more going squirrely on hard braking, no more tread feathering, except on outside of front tires after an HLDE weekend at Sebring International Raceway. I will say the OEM Brembo pads are not up to the task of track driving. Brakes faded after a couple hot laps, but we are talking hauling it down from 146+ and 125mph plus other speeds each lap. About 30 min per session, and after 8 sessions for the weekend my brake pads smelled (and were) burnt, like burned in a fire. I was using 600° DOT 4 brake fluid, but these pads are street pads, not track pads. Now I know! So, now have new aftermarket rotors and Z26s for the street (no more brake dust) and HAWK 70s for the track. Going to Sebring 27-28 FEB 2021 for HPDE with NASA, so should be good! Have fun out there!
 
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