ABS off road

[DaveM]

Who has abs on their vehicles, and how do you find it?
I've heard stories og people having their vehicles take off on descents with the abs, anyone had problems?


Cheers,
Dave

[Jerry]

Got ABS in the shiny truck, although this won't really be going offroad I know someone who does use theirs (same model), he got an auto sparky to fit a diable switch for use offroad. his comment was on gravel etc it was a bit dodgy.

[DaveM]

Thanks, will chat to the local auto sparky and see what he can come up with

[91Rangie]

yep got it in the rangie takes a bit to get use to can be a bit hairy but if you keep it slow it doenst kick in.

[NJV6]

Had it on my work truck - absolutely hated it off road.

Whenever it would lift 2 wheels off road and come to a stop, the time the vehicle would take off backwards as the wheels were not on the ground so going at different speeds to the 2 on the ground so the ABS took the brakes off the ones that were on the gound!!!

Dangerous in my opinion on that vehicle (Ford Courier, Mazda Bounty)

[tintin]

had a couple of scary failed hill climbs today on slippery clay, the ABS kicked in and started sliding backwards, yes can be dangerous, thankgod for ruts

[tgaguy1]

You could get the auto sparky to link it to the low range box so that it is disabled when in low. Then you will not have to remember to select it on and off.

[mudzilla]

had a couple of scary failed hill climbs today on slippery clay, the ABS kicked in and started sliding backwards, yes can be dangerous, thankgod for ruts

Wondered why you were extra quiet when I came back down the hill

[Big]

Had a very bad exp. with ABS going up the tigertrack in skippers..basiclly I punched onto the stone face hit the picks..to then try to crawl out ..when I stopped the ABS thought I was still moving..let go the picks and I then went backwards at speed ..I was pushing on the foot peddle for all I was worth having only to pull the handbrake to stop..( it is a considerably dangerous bit of track)for me ABS shouldn't even be considered for 4x4n..too dangerous..my 5 cents worth..cheers

[rangimotors]

cheap option = pull out the fuse

[tweake]

don't have ABS myself (cheap bugger !) but heard plenty of storeys with it. some of the early vehicles had an ABS on/off button on the dash for it. i know of a few reports where even on gravel roads the ABS would stop them from stopping. one guy did a test with his and it would stop a full car length shorter without ABS.

i'm told that the later systems are better........but going by whats posted above its not.

no point making it so its disabled in low range, i spend a lot of the time offroad in high range and even 2WD. its not hardcore rough stuff but certainly slippery and often do slide down slopes.
thats also the problem i have with airbags. they are semi disabled in 4x4 and low range (and low speed) but i need it to be disabled when offroad regardless of speed and gears used.

while where on the topic of electronic crap..... guys on USA forums have been complaining about the short lifespan of the brakes. apparently the traction control just loves to apply the brakes at the slightest bit of slip. guys are having to disable the traction control to stop wearing out the brakes.

[KiwiBacon]

I was driving a 100 series down a skifield a few years back, one front wheel got onto some ice and the abs pulsed all the other brakes.
Felt like I was driving a toboggan with a steering wheel.

Now I've had my nissan shopping basket on plenty of gravel roads, even the same skifield with it's grit and ice. It's ABS had no problems at all with that. It is older than the 100 series and wasn't designed for offroad use.
How could a nissan shopping basket have ABS better on gravel than a landcruiser?

[4WDbits]

Most modern ABS does nothing at slow speeds. Some 4WDs will turn off the ABS when in low ratio ie 80 series cruisers. What ever vehicle, pays to find out what the ABS does when 4 wheeling as it can be a hinderance to safe 4 wheeling.

[Weemsy]

abs is designed not to work below 8kmh, this is so there is an actual 'stopping' speed. (otherwise you would just keep going through a junction or whatever). this is based on EVERY wheel speed, so it only takes one wheel to spin over 8kmh and the abs kicks in. not good.
the older abs (on the shopping cart for example) was less responsive so doesnt feel too bad on loose gravel.
i work on mercedes commercials and used to have a lot to do with unimogs and the like. on a brakes training course we were shown what happens when an 8x8x8 actros (about 30 tonne) went around an off-road track with the abs switched OFF. shit hot!! was cool to watch an 8 wheel drive with 8 wheel steer negotiate steep muddy hills etc. however, when the abs was switched ON it was a different scenario entierly. the test was cancelled due to it being too dangerous.....
the moral of the story is get the abs switched, its easy to do and wire it to a light on the dash so you dont forget to turn it on again. abs is a great invention and an excellent safety device....on the road. it wasnt designed for off road use so why manufacturers fit on/off switches in commercial vehicles but not in 4wd 'cars' is a mystery.
i personally wouldnt leave the tar seal without a switch for my abs.
the reason for the traction control burning out the brakes is because it works like a 'reverse abs'. it applies the brake on the wheel(s) going faster than the others as well as reducing engine torque (in some cases).
my 2c worth anyway. sorry for the big post but its as important in my eyes as running bald tyres.
weemsy

[tgaguy1]

get the abs switched, its easy to do and wire it to a light on the dash so you dont forget to turn it on again.

Wouldn't the ABS failure warning light illuminate when you turn the system off? So would there be a need for another warning light?

[Weemsy]

it depends on the system.
ive put switches on merc vans or trucks (not 4x4) so they can be dyno tested etc and some didnt show a warning light but others did. usually the older ones that didnt show the warning light if i remember correctly, but you are right, i was just replying really to answer tgaguy1's point about remembering to switch it back on.

weemsy

[KiwiBacon]

the older abs (on the shopping cart for example) was less responsive so doesnt feel too bad on loose gravel.

I don't think older/newer applies in this case. That cruiser model was introduced in 99, my shopping basket is a late 98. Essentially the same age.

[Weemsy]

yeah, like i say it depends on the system as well. i was going off what i had worked on.
different manufacturers etc etc have different set-ups such as 3 channel or 4 channel abs or single front line or single rear line.........
i was just giving my opinion and an overall instance. not trying to give direct examples as i didnt know the makes/models to refer to anyway.
cheers
weemsy

[lneil]

The reason older ABS is often worse in gravel is that it had a generic trigger setup, usually for Europe or Japan. In New Zealand we have more gravel roading than most countries so most manufacturers now have the ABS on NZ spec' cars re-calibrated to allow a little more tyre skid before the trigger point. This allows the tyres to start digging through the loose gravel and get more braking effect.

Because of this, imports often have less efficient ABS on gravel, as they are not calibrated to New Zealand spec's.

At least, that's what both Subaru NZ and Suzuki NZ technical departments tell me.

[Discodriver]

I agree with ABS being bloody dangerous off road!
I usually pull the fuse out of my disco, but didn't bother when I went in for an easy drive to the head of Lake Sumner.
Coming down the final stretch I put my brakes on, to stop, and lo and behold, that shitty pulsing began. just about took me off into the very spot I was trying to avoid.
I was speaking to one of the guys at Canty Landrover, and he recokon's that the Disco ABS is shit. I agree, but still love my truck!