Disabling ABS on my Van

Wait a few months, it will disable itself.

yeah after the snow is gone!

meh....

Couple of things:

Check with the applicable laws. It may be illegal for you to disable your ABS.

Check with your insurance company.

Steve

I just dont feel safe when the ABS activates, because it doesnt allow me full control over the brakes on snow. You hit the peddal and nothing happens, but buzzz.buzzz,buzzz and you keep going.

Yes, it keeps going and you can even steer since the wheels don't lock up. Why not learn how easily it works and helps most drivers to maintain control?

You don't feel safe when the ABS activates because you don't know how to use it and possibly that you don't know how to drive in snowy conditions.

Read your owner's manual and search the 'net on how to properly operate a vehicle with ABS. Then, do like any good driver, find an empty snow covered parking lot and mess around for an hour or so.

Steve

If you dont freak out and cram the old brakes then in my opinion they work much better than ABS do, thats my opinion and you are entitled to yours, I personally have ALWAYS disabled the ABS and have better stopping luck because I have FULL control over the wheels.

Just remember that when someone slides through a stop sign in the winter and hits you, when they get out claiming "I hit the brakes and nothing happened", than blame the ABS because they couldnt get stopped.

No need to start a pissing match, however, how well a piece of equipment operates is not a matter of opinion. It's usually determined by analytical testing.

Steve

To be fair Steve - I have both vehicles with and without ABS. I have no trouble stopping in the snow or ice with my vehicles that don't have ABS. It's not a necessary piece of equipment for safe driving, nor is it an improvement over non-ABS equipped vehicles. The OP has a point that non-ABS is often much better than ABS in certain conditions. I drive in a lot of snow in upstate NY, and I have 35 years of driving experience to back up my claims as stated. ABS has some very well documented problems with conditions such as snow. One wheel is enough to throw the whole system into ABS with the result being very prolonged stopping distances.

I have driven vehicles where the ABS would dramatically LENGTHEN stopping distances in poor weather. Especially dangerous when I'd switch back and forth between identical vehicles, except one didn't have ABS and one did.

nate

You're not "in control" if the damned thing doesn't stop! I don't know about a Montana but the ABS on late 80's Dodge full sized vans was freaking dangerous. Personally I don't think that such an awful system should have been allowed on the roads, it was that bad. Even a pitifully incompetent driver could have stopped faster on snow or patchy ice without the ABS than anyone could with the ABS.

Unfortunately, I can't offer any advice to the OP; I have no idea what kind of system he has or even if it's a good idea to disable it (sometimes proportioning is handled through the ABS controller so disabling the ABS will make the vehicle tail happy under braking.)

nate

Would you rather not be able to stop and slide or would you rather be not able to stop but still have steering?

I've never driven a Dodge with ABS so I don't know it your problem is common or not.

My 96 s10 with ABS scares me to death when its slick. Once the ABS kicks in and groans, it takes forever to stop. I thought about disabling mine in the winter also. I think there was some shop bulletin on it. It should be recalled. Its dangerous.

Bob

I like Mr. Mackie's answer about just waiting and it will disable itself. I think it's just another lowest-common-denominator gadget they came up with that probably is beneficial to people who are lousy drivers...but those who have driven without it all their lives and are adept at keeping a vehicle under control under slick conditions don't really want it and certainly don't groove on the thousands it adds to the purchase price and having it malfunction all the time. I'm not a fan of it, but I probably won't disable it.

on ur 96 s10 there should be a fuse in the box under the hood, pull it and it will be disabled

What testing have you done to prove it would stop faster without it?

Well when i am going about 5 miles a hour and going through stop signs into traffic I think its proof enough. Sure, i can steer. If i am lucky, i can steer it away form crashing.

ABS LEGAL BATTLES & RECALLS

General Motors and Chrysler have both had their share of ABS legal hassles. The RWAL rear-wheel ABS system manufactured by Kelsey-Hayes and used on various 1989 to 1996 Chevrolet and GMC trucks has been under investigation by the NHTSA for a variety of complaints including loss of pedal, excessive pedal travel, failure to stop the vehicle under certain conditions, and excessive front pad wear. Since 1994, NHTSA has reportedly received over 10,000 complaints on ABS problems with GMC and Chevy trucks. A class action suit filed against GM and Kelsey-Hayes on behalf of owners of these vehicles was dismissed August 1, 1997. NHTSA has taken no action of its own, but GM did do a voluntary recall of 1.1 million Chevy and GMC trucks with the Kelsey-Hayes EBC4 ABS system. The recalled models include 1991-1996 four-wheel drive Blazer, Jimmy, S-10 and GMC Sonoma, 1992-1995 Chevy Astro vans and GMC Safari vans, and

I can do both - stop and steer with my non-ABS vehicles.