ABS and off-roading

[hatched91]

The guy i purchased my explorer from said that the abs was a problem with off-roading. He pulled the fuse and i've left it that way ever since. This kid isn't the brightest, so he could be full of crap. I havn't tried going off-roading with the ABS fuse in. Does anyone else with abs have problems while going off-roading with their brakes?

 

[Con Seann3ry]

Not really, but it's not a bad idea to pull the fuse for offroading. ABS is kind of a pita in snow but I haven't had many problems with it just wheeling. It just gives yourself complete control of your truck, I'd pop it back in though the second you hit main roads.

 

[Rick]

First time I tried to run a dirt road fast in my Explorer I nearly died because of the ABS. I was used to running the road in another truck without ABS. The ABS wouldn't allow the wheels to lock up and build a "wedge" of dirt in front of the tires.

This is from a good article on ABS:

Off-road ABS Some off-roaders turn ABS off to improve braking. Is this reasonable? Not on hard surfaces. But on surfaces with moveable material, e.g. snow, gravel, lose dirt, a locked wheel can build a wedge in front of it and reduce stopping distances. A typical traction coefficient on a lose surface, with ABS modulated wheels, is 0.2 and it can rise up to 0.3 with complete lock.

This is thearticle

 

[SkanlaxJMO]

Just try it I use the ABS on street and then off-road i leave it in beacuse it is connected to my 4wd but when i pulled it it did not make a hudge diffrence for me but i dont off-road in dirt though.

 

[Positive Vibes]

I've pulled the sensors and wires to my abs. Didn't like it locking up on steep down hills.

 

[hiridin]

i was going up a really steep fairly tall incline up lose dirt. this was back when i was stock and ofcourse still had abs. made it to the top but couldn't quite make it all the way over. i slammed on my brakes which ofcourse won't lock up with the abs and i rolled all the ways back down slamming into a rock ledge and ground below. i didn't know what happened at first. just knew the brakes didn't help me. i'd heard abs isn't good offroad but i never knew why. i'm sure i could've handled the situation in a different way (i guess) but i simply relied on my brakes to do the job. after that i ditched my abs.

 

[hatched91]

okay, so abs is bad for off-roading by a unanimous vote. So how do I get that (ABS) light to shut off, and keep the abs from working?

 

[SkanlaxJMO]

the sensors and the wires or if you are lazy like me then the fuse and deal with the light or you can pull the fuse and then go into the gauge cluster and find the bulb for the ABS and kill it or take it out

 

[Positive Vibes]

No way to kill the light, you can cover it up or pull the light itself. At least from what I've heard.

 

[hiridin]

i went into my cluster and pulled the bulb for it. no more light.

 

[hatched91]

pulling the bulb it is!