73pinto

the question is when off roading would it be better ot have the abs then not to? i went wheeling this weekend and it seemed to have helped but it worried me alil . like if it would actually stop me intime for a cliff or if i didnt have it would them locking up stop me faster? whats your idea

toyota4x4907

ABS can and (usually) does decrease stopping distance on dry pavement, ice and other slippery surfaced by 20%+. Also, allows the driver to maintain better handling and control in panic situations.

It can actually INCREASE stopping distance on loose surfaces such as sand, gravel, dirt, snow, etc. Why? Locking the brakes forces the tires to dig in to the material. ABS makes the tires keep rotating.

I have been driving on slippery/icy roads for nearly 7 years with vehicles that dont/didnt have ABS. Only a handful of times have I wished I had good ABS, and that was when I was not a very experienced driver, being only 14-15-16 yrs old. On vehicles without ABS, its crucial to learn how to "threshold" brake, dont slam on brakes and how to correctly pump the brakes.I've never been in an accident.

Wheeling- never needed or wanted ABS as its all in dirt and snow. Going so slow on the icy paths that it wouldnt matter either way.

xxxtreme22r

I would prefer not to have ABS when wheeling. Too unpredictable IMO.

Sensei

ABS will stop sooner in debris and water than conventional brakes. That's a proven fact. Whether it will keep you from going over a cliff, way too many factors involved to even speculate, but ABS would have definately slowed the vehicle down due to a higher rate of deceleration.

tardman91

I would try not to wheel in places so dangerous that having ABS or not could possibly put me in a life or death situation.

tardman91

.....

NCalDyer

personally i would keep the abs. it doesn't activate unless your slamming the brakes, and the prevention of locking them up when doing so allows for safer stopping. i think that would apply to off-road as well, because in my opinion you will slide farther on gravel or the like when locked compared to the abs.

if your worried about falling off a cliff, you shouldn't be driving fast near them, abs or not.

either way, that's just my opinion, its personal preference. but if you already have it its easier to not remove it lol.

73pinto

during the weekend my truck stalled on a hill and since i was listening to music and talking to my friend we started rolling back and i pumped the brakes but no booster. the petal didnt allow me to lock them so i panicked and dropped my truck into second and that saved me from flying down the hill

Sensei

I disagree. Once traction is broken your coefficient of friction is reduced dramatically. On ice there is no material to grab into. Same for gravel, sand, etc.

waskillywabbit

iTrader: (-1)

I ripped it out.

:wabbit2:

xxxtreme22r

Does baja trucks, competition buggies, KOH trucks etc etc use ABS? No. nuff said. If your worried about sliding on rock faces etc etc, get stickier tires. ala creepy crawlers. If it's sand/dirt etc ala Baja Claw or similar. Snow? ala KM2's.

Sensei

True. Professional drivers in professional vehicles. One would hope they didn't need ABS.
Our government says no Americans know how to drive so ABS is mandated. Same thing for seatbelts, airbags, auto adjust headlights, and cars that actually park themselves. God help is, Big Brother is here.

xxxtreme22r

see the problem is with the ABS people have no clue how to use it. They think holy crap my tires locked up I am gonna release the brake to unlock them when that is the worst thing you can do with ABS. And can actually lead to a worse scenario then not having ABS to begin with.

Sensei

^^^X2

Magnusian

Amen, and to think it's there for when people panic and slam the brakes because people seem to forget how to drive when panicked.

73pinto

i know how to drive on the road but i barely tapped the brakes on the dirt and felt the pedal pulsating

NCalDyer

that's most likely because it is a lot easier for the tires to lock up due to the loose dirt, thus making the abs react sooner

tlrskunk

Mine was also By passed. I know how to drive well enough I don't need it. my motorcycle doesn't have it and I can stop just fine with out it.

blake.nemitz

ABS will stop sooner in debris and water than conventional brakes. That's a proven fact. Whether it will keep you from going over a cliff, way too many factors involved to even speculate, but ABS would have definately slowed the vehicle down due to a higher rate of deceleration.

WRONG you can stop faster with threshhold braking like toyota4x4907 said. dont believe me take out your ride on an ice slick and run up to 40 mph and slam the pedal with abs on then try it with it off and squeezing the pedal to the point just before the tires lock up, if they do let off a little and apply pressure again, not pumping but squeezing to the point of lost traction. if you do this you will be suprised with a little prtactice how much sooner you can actually stop. its physics really traction applied to stop a moving mass cant be done faster when the traction is turning on and off w abs brakes. now if you are not an old fart driver with many winters under the belt abs can save your life, me i ditched it when i had its first hiccup

blake.nemitz

if it bugs ya pul the abs fuse at the trail head and experiment a little to see what you like. i personally hate abs and 100 believe it was made for those who cannot train themselves to drive properly. ask any trucker what he thinks and youll find out he agrees, most anyway. abs is for the crowd that pops there hood and says whats a radiator?