Disable ABS for heavy snow

Move to warmer climate. No snow/ice = no fun.

 

The obvious solution is to slow down when conditions result in poor traction. And FWIW, ABS does not operate until the truck has exceeded 6 mph and will not operate once speed drops below 3 mph. (page 277 of the manual for an '06 Tacoma.) The manual also lists situations where ABS will result in longer stopping distance than non-ABS equipped vehicles. It includes snow and gravel. The reason for that is that maximum braking on loose material results when the wheel is allowed to lock and build up a wedge of material in front of it. ABS defeats that by detecting lock up and releasing the brakes, allowing the tire to roll over the wedge that is starting to build.

And ABS cannot provide traction where none exists.

 

I agree that the ABS in my truck should be redesigned. For those of you that like your ABS, more power to you. It always seems mine comes on when its not needed and actually speeds me up rather than slows me down. Usually its when I'm just putting slight pressure on my brakes when preparing to come to an intersection. The next thing I know I have to stomp on my break pedal because the ABS has kicked in. Theres no question in my mind that in most situations I would have stopped much earlier without the ABS.

 

It's the trucks fault!

Anyhow, just because the ABS is operating, doesn't necessarily mean you are skidding. Most of the time one wheel has locked or slowed, and that is why it is cycling. After the ABS kicks in, sometimes you need to push the brake pedal harder. This will send max braking power to all wheels.
On smooth surfaces, ABS will generally never yield a longer stopping distance. Usually it will be shorter, (better brake force distribution, and ability to hit 100% braking instantly). On loose surfaces, where material (gravel, snow, etc) can accumulate in front of the tire, ABS can lengthen the stopping distance, but not a lot.

 

Sorry, didn't realize you knew it all.

 

I was respnding to the above with some facts, thats all.
A lot of people seem to suggest they never slid out of control before ABS. I take issue with that. A lot of people hate ABS, fine. Suggesting it`s ineffective or that we are better off without it is intellectually lazy.

 

ABS is fine for what it was designed for - preventing wheel lock up and allowing the steering axle to direct the vehicle under heavy braking. In addition to this, it has been tested, retested, and proven by many agencies that ABS does not provide the best (ie: shortest distance) braking 100% of the time. Straight line stops on loose surfaces or packed snow,ice, etc are achieved in a shorter distance by conventional braking.

End of story, PERIOD.

 

And I was responding primarily to your "It's the truck's fault!" line with the rolling eyes. There seem to be a hell of a lot of people here who complain of the ABS causing the exact same situation as I described. And yet you still assumed the ABS worked fine and it was somehow my incompetence that led to the problem.

ABS has it's place. But in this truck, there is no doubt it comes on at times it shouldn't, and in some cases is more of a danger than a benefit.

 

If i was you, I'd just sell the damn thing or move to a place without snow and ice. Your beating a dead horse. Good luck

 

Actually thresshold braking will out brake ABS. Most people cannot or are not very good at it.

Corey

 

That used to be the case, in theory anyhow. But in practice, with ABS you can go to 100% instantly. Most research suggests that this is a bigger factor, than being at threshold. Add in the fixed brake force distribution (of non ABS), that will generally lock one tire at threshold, whereas ABS sends 100% to all wheels. (in a 4 channel EBD system anyhow)

 

It's a trade-off for sure.

I drove 20 years before ABS. My old fart beefs:

1. It scares the driver when it actuates. I read where even trained drivers (cops) instinctively let off the brakes when ABS kicks in.

2. It takes away too much braking power if one of the wheels just *touches* a patch of gravel or ice.

I'm glad it's on my wife's car. I'm glad it's on my kid's car.

But personally, I'd rather risk a spin.

 

#2 is my big issue. But my personal instinctive reaction is to press much harder on the brakes when ABS kicks in, because it suddenly feels like my brakes aren't doing anything.

 

I'm going to give this a shot. Your solution is even easier than the one posted in the cheap/free mods thread. Thanks for sharing your experience with us.

 

so this mod dose work for trucks other than the offroad such as the sport and sr5 ? sorry if this has been answere i just want a firm yes or no cuz i want to do this tonight if i can. i have a 2010 trd sport

 

Mobsquad, No it will not work. You must find another way. Only works for those with TRD E-lockers.

I should also tell you that if you pull your ABS fuse you can disable the system that way. The fuse in under the hood in the fuse-block by the battery.

 

Right on...glad my Abs is totally disabled now.

 

So I know that my experience doesn't parallel many of the other members here, but I've been driving in Alaska for a little over 8 years now. Between my vehicles (private and company), I have about 300k miles clocked with roughly half done in a winter climate. I agree with many that the ABS on Tacomas are extremely sensitive with too low of a threshold. But from my experience, I am glad that I've had it on most of my vehicles.

The ice that I drive on won't make a difference whether you have ABS or not. Fortunately, the ABS has allowed me to gently steer away from any solid object (i.e. the car in front of me). Now it never happened often because I think that I've "learned" the threshold to an extent. But when the ABS did go off, I simply steered the truck left or right to catch a bit of traction from snow, gravel, or some less slippery surface and I would immediately regain braking power and stop as normal.

I'm basically just saying that it takes a bit to get used to. Whether it's a Tacoma, 4runner, Camry, or 2 ton delivery truck, I hardly have the ABS activate during the winter. My $.02 I guess

It's wonderful that you can stop in a shorter distance when performing a straight line stop, but more often than not, the time you need to stop fast is when some hazard is in front of you. Thus, the straight line stop only works if that hazard is far enough away. When it isn't, I'm sure glad I have ABS to steer out of the way without having to let off of the brakes to regain traction to avoid said hazard.

 

X2 - Stopping without steering is seldom the solution.

 

Better tires is the best solution. The origional "Rugged Trail" are shiett. I only got 35K. The tires were horrible in snow when new! I now have Mich with 70 K warrantee and they stop like I have chains on. They should not allow Toyota to OEM these Rugged Trail in the North where there is snow.