ABS has its advantage for the MAJORITY of drivers. Quite frankly, its designed for many who DON'T KNOW HOW TO DRIVE in variety of diversed conditions. ABS biggest benefit is to allow one to drive AROUND obstacles, its well know they don't. People panic and focus on the object in front of them and well, you know the rest, thats what they hit. ABS really does not benefit those, you need to still have the ability to look for another avenue to by pass the danager. Easy to say, many times difficult to do, my wife will attest to this!!!!!

Long before ABS, the expereniced drivers in conditons mentioned, have been doing what ABS now does, . With the ADDED safety factor of adjusting to conditions, ABS will not allow.

Another issue not mentioned with ABS. I and another guy (Ford/Gm product) , and a few hear says, lost all braking, none, zich. Through a red light I go, lucky, lucky (wonder what the attorneys would say). Problem, faulty ABS, no light, untill after the fact. Mechanic, indicated this was not unusual!!!!!!!

They need to do a couple of things (1) make ABS switchable, on\off. (2) allow new and old drivers to attend a driving course with a vechicle out of control situation. Doublful that will ever happen. I took my daughters on a large (did i say large) frozen pond (safe) and let them slide around before they got their license, wisest thing I ever done. To this day they thank me, when winter arrives.

By the way, why all the threats about law suits, are these assumptions or in fact legal advice????? Would that mean, If I burn down my engine due to CHIP, purchased on a site, I could sue??????

 

Long stopping distances on snow and ice sound similar to complaints about the crummy 4wd on Dodge trucks, where both are related to traction. I live on a hill, the city shuts down some of the streets when it snows as they're too steep, but so far I don't have problems stopping except on water covered ice, where I need to chain up. I run studded snow tires in the winter though, which provides better traction on snow and ice, so the ABS and 4wd, when needed, seem to work fine.

 

Please PM me the info from dealer for disabling the ABS as well! Thanks I appreciate it!

 

Like most people probably do, I also run with some weight in the bed during the winter, two to three sand tubes and a couple of bags of 'real' chains, along with the canopy, seats in the bed, etc. I may start carrying a sand tube and the chains year around as the truck seems less likely to wiggle the rear end in marginal traction situations, and the chains would work in bad mud too.

I can chirp the tires in the rain in the lower gears when braking if I'm downshifting and engine braking too, so engine braking might be one way to help in breaking thru the deeper snow and gravel mentioned. When going down snow and ice covered hills around here I'm usually engine braking.

Disabling ABS would be dumb for most as most seem to run marginal or crummy winter tires, no weight in the bed and have a limited slip, so the rear end breaks loose easily and comes around. Awhile back one brother talked to an Alaskan state trooper that was doing a survey of winter accidents where vehicle ended off the road, and he said that pickups were usually bassackwards. If the limited slip kicks the rear end out and you stomp on the brakes without ABS, you just lock up the wheels and keep coming around.

 

JohninNH please pm those instuctions as I'm curios if they will work on my 2nd gen.

Thanks Jed

 

I know for a fact that pulling the fuse works on 2nd gens. - for offroad purposes of course.

 

Waitng for that PM??

 

Me too........

 

A few days later it dawned on me, yes I'm slow :^), that ABS has nothing to do with engine braking. That being the case, why are so many people complaining about not being able to stop in snow and gravel, when all that you have to do is to use some engine braking ?

 

That would work only if you are in 4 wheel drive, otherwise if you drop a gear and let the clutch out on ice, the back end will pass you right away.

 

If you're on ice you should be in 4wd, but the main problem with the rear end kicking around seems to be with a limited slip. The primary concern was about ABS on snow and gravel, where again if traction bad enough to complain about the effect of ABS one should be in 4wd, for traction as well as braking.

 

My ABS Doesn't work, has never worked, and I have never missed it!

 

has it dawned on you that these engines don't really offer much engine braking?

I love the people trying to convince the guy not to disable his ABS when they have never experienced the conditions he's talking about...

 

The highway I travel to and from work on everyday (250kms+) almost always has icy areas in winter, and I'm not going to travel in 4wd all the time.

Anyway, just take my word that a disabled ABS system would benefit me in some of the conditions I drive in instead of trying to tell me that I am driving wrong. I am not some 16 year old kid that just got his licence. I live and drive everday on the most dangerous highway in Alberta, in conditions that could be considered very dangerous most of the time.

Cut me a break here. (This post being said in frustation, not anger.)

 

"has it dawned on you that these engines don't really offer much engine braking?"

I use engine braking all the time, and depending upon speed and gear downshifting to these engines can provide LOTS of braking.

I've been on glaze ice on the Intersate when people were doing 360s in front of me, people in the ditches facing all directions, some upside down. I've had to chip ice from a door to get it open so that I could get a heater in, to help in removing the over 2 inches of ice on the truck so that I could run some errands. I've been on water covered ice on back roads, idling while waiting for someone to get pulled out of a ditch, when the truck started sliding towards the edge of the road, even though I had studded severe snow rated tires on all wheels. Snow is 'good' traction, unless it's on top of the ice.

People are obviously free to do what they want, but physics are physics, and poor braking on ice is first of all a problem of inadequate tire traction. In this case ABS or the lack of it just determines if you're going to slow down pointing straight ahead or sideways. On snow and gravel downshifting can be used to counter some of the perceived problems with ABS. A switch to turn ABS on and off makes sense, but disabling seems to be asking for more problems than you your solving.