had an oh crap moment today.

Might as well merge this thread with the other ABS thread now

 

Another member of the club.

 

I had this type of thing happen to me with my wife and daughter with me in my now gone FJ. We were headed up a mountain type pass where the two lane is very narrow, the oncoming lane has nothing but a 500 foot straight drop into the river and I had a vertical wall to my right. Coming up to a right hand turn at approx. 25-30 mph, keep in mind all I can see is the long way down straight in front of me due to the turn, an expedition decides to come around the corner in my lane. I mashed the brakes, the abs activated making a ton of noise which I know is normal. The expedition and I missed each other by inches, the FJ hardly slowed down and continued to roll toward the straight drop off and would not let me steer to make the curve. I ended up quickly letting off and reapplying them repeatedly fast enough to regain control. Luckily there was no more traffic or I wouldn't be posting. I can't understand why they would allow a computer that knows not what is actually happening to completely control a vehicle. So, I completely believe you OP

 

I've had plenty of time in these trucks in snow and ice and haven't experienced anything like that. Not saying it didn't happen, but every time abs has kicked in for me in slippery conditions it went back to normal as soon as the tires had grip again.

My driveway is pretty steep and usually turns to a sheet of ice. I've slid all the way down it a few times lol.

 

ok, so I have to do a mod to shut off the possibly dangerous abs on my $30,000 truck? Thank you for the laugh.

 

OK,

Trade it on a RAM, Ford, Chevy, Colorado..... Prius.

 

This hasn't happened to me so therefore this obviously hasn't happened to you . I'm not saying it couldn't happen , I'm just saying it didn't .

 

Ok, lets not dicker over qualifications. We have a home in NH about 40 miles from Boston, so yea, I've been out of state before.

And you may or may not have experienced hot asphalt oil lift, mixed with water, on cold race rubber, under competition before. Pretty similar to ice. No, I don't have that kind of tire on the truck, nor do I drive that way in the street. But 2/3 of the scenario can be replicated, and the OE tires I'm still on aren't all that grippy ..........

Anyway, I understand you might have needed to have your head out the window to answer my question. But your description was specific, so I thought maybe somehow you actually knew. But apparently not?

So, would you be willing to try and replicate the problem in an empty lot somewhere? Nothing around that could create damage for you, just like learning how to drive on ice/snow. Or at least that's the way Dad started me off. You could have some friends out of vehicle spotting the wheels to see what is physically happening with them. Locked or rolling.

At least that would be another bit of info related to the issue that could prove helpful.

 

X2

 

yes I would try to replicate It. I did several brake tests on my snow covered street a few hours ago. It did fine.

 

Just a thought man. In the time you've spent on this thread, you could have done the mod already, which costs about 10 bucks. Oh yeah, it's also completely reversible.

 

Its good practice in those conditions. Its just hard on the clutch.

 

.... and you come up here in the dead of winter from Florida for 4 months and drive around on snow/ice roads?

 

thank you. . I have noticed a pattern that most of the naysayers do not live in the snowbelt, hence they wouldnt have a damn clue

 

Just curious, what tires do you have? In the other thread theres a theory that only certain models have this problem but I also wonder how much the ties contribute?

 

stock bfg a/t

 

I know the feeling/sensation of the crappy ABS on our trucks.

My most recent was when I applied the brakes before a turn 2 weeks ago and it felt like it the brakes released on me for a fraction of a second and let me coast through.

I'm confident the ABS system on your truck works flawlessly for it's design, but under the right conditions (about your oh crap moment) of traction, inertia, speed and weight, applying the brakes can feel like the ABS brake system will ignore you *sometimes*.

Does anyone from Clearwater Florida want to challenge me on that?

 

Clearwater Bill

Anyway, I understand you might have needed to have your head out the window to answer my question. But your description was specific, so I thought maybe somehow you actually knew. But apparently not?

So, would you be willing to try and replicate the problem in an empty lot somewhere? Nothing around that could create damage for you, just like learning how to drive on ice/snow. Or at least that's the way Dad started me off. You could have some friends out of vehicle spotting the wheels to see what is physically happening with them. Locked or rolling.


You sir sound willing to consider the possibillity of an ABS issue.

I have personally had the ABS act up to the point that yes I can duplicate it with multiple tires.

It is by far more sensitive with light sidewalls and/or hgwy tires. All that seems to be required is cornering, decelleration due to braking and un-even ground with uneven texture such as slush. A prime example is the end of my driveway at the county rd. Have to turn on a gravel road and slow down for traffic - if I time it all right (or wrong!) ABS will kick in and we'll roll right on thru.

How do I know I'm rolling you ask? Easy - I can still steer. Lock-ed up tires don't tend to steer well ... Pumping the brakes like the ABS is supposed to do doesn't help - seems like there is a time lag where the brakes are rendered impotent. But I can flip the switch, stop easily with never a tire locked and stop - all I have to do is look at the tracks to verify they were not locked.

We have had BFG's, Michellin lt 2's, Hankook mt, and currently some sort michellin winter studs (great traction for snow/ice by the way) - ABS may act up, or may not.... with any and all.

I followed oz-t's advice and put in a switch; when on slushy rds, rotten snow pack or gravel I turn the ABS off. When in wet, ice, or normal rds I leave it on. As long as the surface is consistent ABS has performed very well for me - but in any inconsistent slippery surfaces I can easily stop in half the distance with ABS off - I don't care if one tire doesn't want to grab - the other 3 still work great!

kingston73

It is my personal theory that there are 3 parts to this ranked in order of importance: 1) Un-even, inconsistent surface of roadway, 2) vehicle is lifted, 3) tires.

I can drive so that it will never ever happen. But I really have to be aware of road surface conditions for each individual tire to pull that off - or stay off the roads!

Nope, that ain't gonna happen ... so put in a switch and move on!

 

Personally, I have never had the problem. Just my opinion, but suspect that the lousy OEM tires are really the cause. I had an issue with traction in all conditions with the OEM BF Goodrich and once I switched to better tires the loss of control went away.

If I am wrong and it is neither lousy tires or lack of snow driving experience than this is the kind of issue that should be reported to NHTSA. If it is a mechanical design or software issue it should be impacting all vehicles and needs a Toyota fix.