ABS on this truck is dangerous...

ABS touched my naughty place.

 

I did the ABS disable switch. Guess I gave into peer pressure after ABS had a shit fit down hill when I was offroading. I didn't lose control but I would of preferred threshold braking in that case. Either way I was going down due to loss of continuous contact patch.

 

I have a serious concern/question. Is the ABS on a 2015 going to be a problem/issue. My driveway is pretty steep & rough, I can't have the ABS giving me fits & letting slide into our road. Especially when my wife would have to drive it to work in Ice & Snow. I need lock-up at times. I was planning to trade, but in all seriousness, this could be a deal breaker. Really need some advice here. Thanks!

 

Decent tires on your truck? My ABS problems went away for the most part when I got rid of the stock Dunlaps.

 

I guess it would be whatever would come on it, for this coming winter at least. I'm looking at the TRD Sport mostly, then the Off Road. No way I could switch tires right off, the wife would go nuts.

 

Why not? Lots of dealers will give you OK value for yours, they throw them on someone elses, and give you something better like Hankook ATm. That's what my dealer did, no upcharge.

 

yeah ^^ another option... I had about 7k miles on my stock Dunlaps when I'd finally had enough. went in to a local tire shop and they still gave me $70 each for them on a trade for Michelins.

 

Thanks guys. Anybody have a 14 that can chime in?

 

Interesting thread although it's summer time. I'm new to Tacomas but my question to everyone who chimed in is have they only noticed the ABS deficiency in these trucks or is it a disdain for ABS in general?

I learned to drive before ABS. I don't like the feeling of not being in control of braking either but I would say ABS has probably helped me more overall in the long run...not necessarily in snow/ice but more so in rain.

For the record I am still running the stock Dunlops (24,000 miles) and looking forward to an upgrade soon. Either going with Michelins or Coopers probably...not sure yet.

 

It's actually all.
Bad design, bad application on the top of the system specifically known to cause problems on slippery surface.
Compounded problems.
ABS is an engineering attempt to solve stupid. Before ABS people learned to keep speed down and brake gently. With ABS every soccer mom thinks she is a drift master.

 

My issue is with the Tacoma ABS in snow , never had a problem with any other ABS equipped vehicles in winter

 

I never had the same problem with ABS on any other vehicle but thats because:
ABS works on pretty much every vehicle the same way, however, results are different because vehicles are different. On the end ABS does what was program to do.
In case of Tacoma issue comes from :
1. Its simplistic version of ABS that does not have separate return for fluid (like Offroad Version)
2. Mounted on Pickup with very light rear end due to plastic bed.
3. Rear drum brakes are great at applying maximum stopping force, but suck at regulating braking force because of principle they work on.
4. Truck has very flexible frame allowing rear to get a very different down force on rear wheels depending on where and how you hit bumps.
5. Soft as hell suspension (bounce) adding to problems in point 4.

Its multitude issues combined on one truck. You can solve some but it will never work like on any other vehicle. So.
Toyota either has to solve it by redesigning ABS system or allowing off button for emergency. In the meantime you can keep it off.
I keep mine off on Tacoma in winter or drive another car that has no ABS at all. I rather drive slower than get surprised by ABS in most inconvenient moment.

 

Mine too. Those stock tires are horrible.

 

Sounds like to me that the ABS would be a pain in the butt in my driveway. This is not helping the cause in getting a truck. Ugh!

 

It's pushing a 100 degrees, I thought this was a winter thread.

 

Thank gawd the ABS can suck on loose gravel too or we would have to wait for another few months.

 

Talked to a buddy of mine at church today that has a 06 (btw, just had his frame replaced) and he concurs that the ABS is pretty testy. Sounds like the fuse needs pulled during winter, not the best option but...

 

All three of my trucks had/have ABS... but they performed very different. On my 2005, it sucked and wouldn't stop my truck safely in rain or dirt. On my '01 and specially on my '10, I have NO stopping issues in rain or dirt... the 2010 has superior braking (compared to the '05). Maybe it's the hydraulic brake booster that the Off Road 4WDs all have since '09?

 

Even with metal beds, the rear is light. Trucks are designed to be hauling cargo, not empty. My first Tacoma had a typical metal bed and behaved the same as the composite beds of my next two Tacomas.

 

All of this because I decided to chime in that I had installed the disable ABS switch for a surface that wouldn't have enough traction for ABS or threshold braking to stop. Silliness at it's peak.

Just a heads up I've never had ABS go crazy on me on road or off. I just prefer the option of controlling the braking myself in very special circumstances offroad that you would never see on road. Even in the situation described I never lost control. Maybe because we, those on the trail, were experienced we all gave plenty of room in case of a slip down hill. Whether I had ABS or not the slip was going to happen. I just didn't like how long it kicked in for, which is why I wanted the disable switch because I know I'll do that hill decent again this summer.

Get good tires and, it seems, that Toyota reprogrammed the ABS in newer (I think around 2009) trucks so if you are getting a '15 you won't likely have this issue.

Your new truck will be fine. Sand or salt the approach if you are so damn worried because, TBH, if you are worried about the Tacoma ABS you should really be worried about traction at that intersection in general. Sand is a freaking cheap way to solve the entire issue and will take moments to apply.

Even if you don't sand I seriously doubt your '15 will have this issue especially if you buy snow tires, which everyone SHOULD HAVE whether or not they have ABS.