On a 94 Ranger, the rear brakes are supposedly anti lock, but not the front
ones. My experience with brakes says that I should be able to lock up the
front tires. Does anyone know of any reason why I am not able to do this?
Thanks
Lane
I'm wondering why no one has replied to my original question? Any hints? Did I say something wrong or stupid?
Lane,
This is the first time I've seen your post. Don't have an answer, but I do know what you mean. I drove a 94 Ranger for eight years, now that you mention it, I never did lock the front wheels.
In fact, the last month I had it, I locked the year wheels (ABS might have been gettind old), but not the front. Your statement that the front brakes should lock make sense to me. But you are correct about them not locking.
John
Our '94 locks all four just fine. Are you pressing on the pedal? What does happen when you mash down on it hard?
Steve Am I pressing on the pedal?!? Ha, I get it.... you're trying to be funny huh? Yes, I'm standing on it with both feet.
What happens? The truck eventually stops, but without locking the front tires. The rear anti-locks are working. The fronts will lock up on wet pavement or on a gravel road, but not on a dry paved road.
Lane
One possible reason would be that the flexible brake line(s) is/are "bloating" when you apply pressure (mash the brakes!). In other words, the brake line is expanding and not delivering the full pressure to your front brakes. It would seem that the front tires get plenty of traction resulting in the friction of the tires overcoming your front brakes and not locking up. When subjected to conditions that merit less than ideal traction, your tires will lock, the brakes overcoming the tires friction on the road. In any case, I'd have a good look at the front brake components. The rotors may be "slick" (lost their coefficient) from excessive heating (or not being turned when pads were replaced), the pads may have the same affliction (or the pads are worn with a spiral grove that matches the unturned rotors, resulting in the pads loss of surface area), the pistons in the caliper may have rust or other contaminates preventing their rapid deploy, or maybe some partial blockage in the brake lines themselves, to name just a few things that could be wrong. I bet you're glad you asked....:)
And you don't know why....... this is a trick question, right?
No it's not! Forgive my ignorance please.
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