The closest I came to death on the highway was when...

I was minding my own business on the two-lane highway (ie, one lane in each direction) going 65MPH (105 km/h) when I got this sneaking suspicion that the oncoming car was going to swerve into my lane. (My Jedi instincts, I tell you.) Sure enough, about a second later, he swerved directly toward me about a car's length away. (I'm sure it was farther away than that, but when you are traveling toward each other it seems like a much shorter distance...)

Of course, I couldn't stay in my lane. Nor could I swerve to the shoulder on my right, because that is where he was quickly heading. So I had to swerve into his lane, under the assumption that the semi truck behind him would take his shoulder. And fortunately (I suppose) he did, and for a brief time, we converted the two lane highway into a three lane one with alternating traffic.

Yeah, but they probably are all driving armored vehicles with the windshields removed.

I don't think you realize the mechanics involved in the story I just told. Brakes didn't save me. Steering and my reaction time did.

True, true.

This is what I think happened (and some one may have already said this, I didn't read all the post):

You probably have really low brake fluid level in your master cylinder/resevoir so when you were screwing around in the parking lot you got a bunch of air in the lines from the brake fluid sloshing around. And when you pumped the brakes you bled the air out of the lines.

When I was poor I used to drive a little toyota truck with leaky brake cylinders in the rear, and whenever the brakes got mushy I knew it was time to add some brake fluid, and if I forgot I'd use the hand brake. And then when I did add fluid I'd have to pump them for a while.

That sounds likely to me. The air compresses whereas the brake fluid doesn't (to any significant degree). Adding more fluid can displace the air if it's right there in the master cylinder. Another thing is if you have water in the brake fluid in the wheel cylinders/calipers and do hard braking, the water will boil into steam which will compress just like air, when it cools back to water it'll work normally again. Water will rust stuff though, and it's a good idea to totally flush the old brake fluid out every year or two for just that reason. Especially if you have ABS (1500 US dollars maybe to replace the ABS things). If you have cheapo brake shoes/pads and you really get them hot, the resin that holds the brake lining together can melt and lubricate the brakes so they don't work well (brake fade) but usually with that you won't have the pedal drop to the floor. If you have a fluid leak, you might find it by driving onto a clean section of a parking lot and pump the brakes hard with the engine running and look for dripping. If it's in the wheel cylinders it might not drip where you can see it right off, but then the inner facing sidewalls of the tires should look greasy. If it's the master cylinder, there may be a wet stain running down from the master cylinder down onto the booster resevoir (the big pill shaped thing) and will usually peel the paint from it too. There are certain leaks in a master cylinder where it just leaks back to the resevoir internally, (you can't see any leaking fluid outside) so if you can't see any leaks and have bled the brake lines until you get nice clear fluid, I'd try a new master cylinder.

Perhaps you won't be saying that after you've rammed a car from behind, killing all the passengers.

Actually, thinking about it, you can't possibly die from being rammed in America, given they all drive 25ft, 16ton, 7litre engined monsters

I think the finnish expression 'amis' suits you perfectly.

What? You have only slicks in the states? You're not fucked in rain if you know how to drive and have good tires. They should teach you these things in driving school. Or don't they teach you guys how to brake by pumping the pedal (essential skill in the winter around here)? If your tires climb onto the water then obviosly you have too worn tires and/or are going too fast.

My mama can drive in the rain and she don't think much of it.

What difference does it make? Unless you know the tricks of the trade you're going to be slower with a manual anyway. In fact, you're always going to be slower with a manual. Now semiautomatic aka. sequential, that's a whole another case...

My mama can drive manual. She has, however, not a clue on how to operate an automatic gearbox. It's all about what you're used to.

Actually it does engine brake just fine. Just not as efficiently and to as low rpm's as possible on manual. The torque converter works both ways.

... unless you're missing a check ball!

anyway... rig up a switch for torque converter lockup override?

[edit]
We used to have a switch in our van for torque converter lockup because it wouldnt do it automatically for some reason... but then my dad fixed that..

The first time I drove an automatic gearbox, I put it into 'D' and then forgot about it. Worked fine until I slammed the brake with both feet.

For DeathWish, every street is "one way". HIS WAY.

DeathWish hates gripping the road!