i will control the brakes thank you!

With the number of onboard systems that now need to talk to ABS, I would be surprised if it was as simple as pulling a fuse.

 

If it’s an Off Road model pulling the fuse disables the Electronic Brake Booster and you have like 10% braking.

 

ABS has nothing to do with stopping distance, it’s designed to allow you to steer around what you are trying to avoid.
Some instances your stopping will be longer but you “have control “.
If you cannot stop your going too fast for the conditions.

 

It's ancient boomer logic that ABS is worse in the snow and ice. This has been disproven many times.

But like, you do you, I guess. I imagine you can just pull the ABS sensors. What's the worst that could happen?

 

Sorry Rusty66 - you are incorrect - ABS most certainly DOES have something to do with stopping distance, been in too many situations where I could NOT stop the truck (and not speeding).
My ABS fuse gets pulled every winter. I am sure ABS is good for something - I just haven't found what that is yet.

 

Light show!!
I really don't mean to be disrespectful when I say this; but some should just keep buying old timey vehicles, rather than expecting new to be old. Things change, some people don't,,,, and again, that's totally fine, just the way it is.

 

Pull the fuse and try it out? You might lose VSC or you might get constant annoying beeping. Also make sure you can switch between 2hi and 4hi with the fuse pulled.

Turd gens have a different ABS calibration in 4hi, so disabling may not be as necessary as legacy systems.

Also need to be mindful your truck is 1000 lbs heavier than your '99 4Runner, so drive it like a heavy truck and aggressively downshift to use engine braking when you can.

 

This reminds me of those tech bros who show up for a track day and go around to the other drivers asking how to disable all the “bullshit nanny” safety systems on their brand new 911 not realizing that you need those things from getting yourself killed unless you are a ridiculously professional driver.

Which they are not.

 

Can someone share some details on the bolded text above? This is interesting. I do not recall reading this in the manual (I guess that does not mean it is not there...!). But it would be helpful to have insight on how this is intended to work.

I know (at least a portion) of what the OP is talking about. I have experienced at low speeds, that the ABS insists on backing-up on braking in order to keep tires continuously rolling until a full stop... It basically overrides your mashing on the pedal. It just keeps rolling along...
- I believe this is how the OP missed turn-offs.

I am aware of this now - but I would still not disable the ABS. It will certainly save you when getting sideways unintentionally on the road... (Via a complimentary system - not directly.).

I do recall that my first ever ABS vehicle's ABS would only work above a certain speed. (like 10mph? - Per the manual). < THis seems to make sense to me as a parameter for ABS.

 

That would be interesting to know. I do know at least some other vehicles have similar changes. Ford Raptors for one, have an offroad mode, that backs the ABS off to build a pile of sand in front of the tire, before then allowing the ABS to work. It's explained pretty well online, and in the manual i believe. My sister's came with a laminated card that showed what all the modes did.

 

There are times and places where you would be better off without ABS. But most of those are off road. On pavement you are better off with them 90+ % of the time.

I could live with a switch where they could be turned off and on easily from inside the cab. But pulling the fuse disables them too much.

 

I could see a situation either with studded tires on ice or very specialized ice driving tires with extensive siping, where some lock up would be helpful to allow the tires to dig in to the ice layer, but this is an extreme example. And you would still need integration with the vehicle stability system to ensure that you are not going sideways.

 

The 2nd gen guys used to bitch all the time about ABS nearly killing them on ice. Having abs/trac disabled was a common trend for at least a subset of winter folk. I assume that’s what is being referred to. I could be wrong.

 

When the 5th gen 4Runner (and mid-cycle refreshed FJ Cruiser) appeared in 2010, one of the advertised enhancements was off-road ABS calibration (which just means allowing greater degree of lockup before intervening). 3rd gen Tacomas are expected to have it as well. You won't see it in the owner's manual because it works behind the scenes, in similar fashion to the "RSCA disable" function no longer requiring driver action on 3rd gens.

 

You're right about this, I was one of those guys. My 2nd gen would literally give up braking on one side of the truck, which could stop it in a foot or two, on dry pavement at 5mph trying to stop for a stop sign or red light, because the other side was on ice. Literally coast right through the intersection in slow motion. I'm really happy my 3rd gen doesn't do this.

 

Lol. That was me in my old subaru. ABS, all wheel drive, traction control, winter snow tires on a snow cover parking lot with ice underneath doing 10mph slowly spinning in circles down a hill all the lights flashing on the dash. couldn't do a thing until gravity gave up. Landed right next to another car without a scratch. There's nothing like that feeling just hold on tight and hope the tires bite into something.

 

i would encourage you to try the "long press" on the tcs system for at least part of the winter. i used to also disable/not-maintain the ABS systems in my older vehicles because the single-channel ABS systems of old were horrifically intrusive, unpredictable at the absolute worst times, and generally as useful as techno music in church.

but now with multi-channel ABS systems, they react much faster, less violently, and also only where needed, meaning that backing off the brakes to regain control will have a much more consistent effect, the same as you'd be used to doing with non-ABS-equipped/disabled vehicles.

i've got a lot of snow miles on my '14 brz, and my '18 tacoma, and have found the long-press for the TCS to be more than adequate for most situations.

'outperform' is a misnomer.

ABS does not immediately make a vehicle handle better.

ABS inherently trades stopping distance for steering control. this is good, and bad. but ABS is also a 'spontaneously reactive' system, meaning that it cannot react to a situation until the vehicle has already started sliding, and there is also no warning to this.

there's really 2 schools of thought here-- firstly, the best driving technique is to drive without creating a situation where wheel slippage can occur.
you're correct, no human can ever pulse the brakes as fast as a computer. but at the same time, no computer can properly read and prepare to work through a situation as well as a human either.

the second school of thought considers that there's also helpful wheel slippage.

i've gone out of my way to own rwd/4x4 vehicles specifically because of the control such a drive layout offers in the way of control-- i can independently control the front and rear axles by modulating the brake or the gas. it is entirely possible to control a vehicle safely while sliding with the gas/brake, something that goes entirely against the programming of any ABS system. love it or hate it, entire vehicle sports associations are designed around this principle.

ABS is specifically designed as a workaround to the human condition of "pedal mashers" "I WANT CAR STOP, CAR NO STOP, I MASH BRAKE, STOP CAR STOP!"

that doesn't mean that ABS is bad, but implementation, reliance, or otherwise omnipotent-expectations out of the system is setting up one's self for failure.


all that said, proper tire selection and maintenance, as well as having a clear understanding of one's own skill limitations will play a much more significant role in any safety mitigation strategy, far more than any vehicle system ever can.

 

I agree with op. Not a fan of abs. Sometimes I want to lock em up

 

I don’t know. ABS kicked in on some ice and had me almost my pants! But I am a desert driver and had no business driving during a whiteout.

 

It isn’t even Friday yet