Are the ABS brakes any better than the non-ABS brakes?

[nitro71]

What do you all think? I've only driven a Explorer with ABS brakes but am thinking of converting mine to non-abs. Does the ABS work well in the winter? Is it noticeably better than the non-ABS brakes on 91-92 Explorers?

The reason I'm asking is I'm still experiencing pulling to the left under moderate braking occasionally. It happens intermittantly. I've replaced calipers, shoes and one suspect brake line to no avail. I suspect something is wrong inside the ABS unit but don't know how it operates. I could swap in a junkyard ABS unit but don't want to pay Ford the $50 to bleed it. So my options are pull the ABS parts and put in the non-abs lines or fix my ABS unit or replace it.

 

[mikeinri]

Couldn't you just pull the ABS fuse/relay? That should stop the ABS from activating, and would save you a ton of time and money replacing stuff.

Mike

 

[nitro71]

Good call on that, course I'm sorta a purist and could score the brake lines at the junk yard. I'll pull the fuse and see if it makes a difference on the pulling.

But I'm curious what people think of abs vs non-abs on these. So far I'm not impressed with the ABS but something is probably wrong with it.

 

[doonze]

Depends, I does make a difference in very slick conditions, but I've never had mine kick on yet on my X. But on my Sable, I could tell a difference in stopping control on very slick roads. You can always pump the breaks yourself, but in the end you'll never convince me that on ice/snow someone can stop as quick in a turn without ABS as you can with.

Course I'm sure some swear they can, I used to think so too, but then I had a couple of cars with it (and i drive pretty aggressive in snow/ice) and you do get better control (at least my Sable did). I'm sure it's better in water too, but I've never had a chance to test that.

 

[IAmTodd]

Coming from a gen 2 perspective, very much so. Once the tires lock up your stopping distance greatly increases.

 

[nitro71]

I had a gen 2 one time and the ABS was really good on it. I'm going for a test drive!

 

[IAmTodd]

I had a situation where i disabled the ABS in my '95 and nearly had a crash because of it. Didn't see someone turning, hit the brakes and they locked. Not the brakes fault, but they didn't help.

My 2000 requires the ABS for the speed sensor, no pulling the fuse here!

 

[nitro71]

It's still pulling occasionaly after I unplugged one sensor so now I'm considering my next move;

-Convert to no ABS by pulling off equipment and putting 91-92 lines in.
-Remove ABS unit, get some female to female adapters and do conversion where ABS unit used to sit.
-Swap out ABS unit with one from junk yard and deal with the bleading issues.

I'm liking the idea of using the same brake lines and pulling the ABS unit out, also just considering pulling a junk yard unit and slapping it in.

 

[Anime]

"Better" is pretty relative.

Vehicles without ABS are usually "better" from a performance perspective, such as in racing and high speed driving, when the driver is better off having complete and total control of the vehicle, without fighting the ABS to get the wheels to lock up for turns or maneuvers.

Vehicles with ABS are generally "better" in the hands of most average drivers, since most people tend to panic and slam on the brakes, locking up the wheels, in a situation where it would be better and safer to slow down and have some wheel rotation and steering control. It's also helpful when driving on slick rainy roads, in snow, and on loose surfaces or in other inclement conditions, usually allowing a vehicle to go straight or at least in the direction the wheels are pointing, rather than go into a skid.

My X has the 4-wheel ABS system, and I must say I'm extremely pleased with it. I don't consider myself a driver that would need ABS, but it's nice to have on a vehicle such as an SUV. I can just calmly hold the brake pedal while the ABS engages and come to a nice uneventful stop in the rain or snow or while going down a trail. Works great for panic stops for idots who cut in front of you and slam on their brakes, too.


I'd say your pulling issue might be more likely to be with some hardware in the brake system. You've replaced calipers, shoes, and a brake line, but what about the rear cylinders? The front pads and rotors are in good shape and wearing evenly? The parking brake cables can rust to the sheaths and make one side (or both) of the rears not engage properly, making for poor rear brakes and maybe one side working while the other side is stuck. I'd say go through the whole system anyway and check for any indications which part of the right side (since it's pulling to the left) is sticking or not working. If it's an electric issue, I'd guess the wheel sensors on the front would be more likely a culprit than the ABS unit itself.

Also, only the base models came without any ABS. The 91-92's had available ABS, it was just 2-wheel ABS on the front, 4-wheel ABS didn't come out until the 93-94's.

 

[Riceman]

I used to drive a 93 Ranger (2wd reg cab) with only rear ABS. The fronts still locked up on wet pavement. I used to joke about speeding up when I braked in the rain... Wasn't fun. Now I drive an 04 (4wd ext cab) that is several hundred pounds heavier. With 4 wheel ABS, I've never had trouble stopping in the rain. I would even go so far as to say it will stop in half the distance of the 93 on a wet road.

Just pull the fuse. If it still pulls to the left, its not the ABS. I would keep the ABS if possible, its generally more help than hindrance.

 

[nitro71]

I redid the rear brakes a while back so I don't suspect it's anything back there but I'll check em out. Also rears don't do much really. I'm suspecting it is something to do with the solenoids in the ABS HCU, perhaps there is debris or one is sticking some or something is bleading when it's not supposed to. Even with the ABS system disabled(sensor) unplugged I still experienced the pulling. It's intermittant though which keeps leading me back to something in the HCU as I've eliminated everything else I can think of. Only thing left on the front end that could be failing is the axle pivot bushings and from what I understand they last a long time. Wouldn't really expect pulling from that. Ball joints are good, bearings are tight. Rotors both worn the same, both in decent shape. Maybe I have a warped rotor? Would expect to feel that though.

 

[Anime]

Rears make a pretty good difference. After I changed out the seized parking brake cables and added new shoes and drums, stopping performance was greatly improved.

They're also more than enough to cause pulling, I had a stuck parking brake cable on the left rear of another vehicle, which gave it a severe pull to the left at every stop until I finally changed it out.

Pull under braking won't be caused by suspension or bushings or anything unless they're really loose and only deflect under hard braking, most other issues that would cause pull would cause it when driving.

Since it still pulls with the ABS off, I still say it's something in the brake hardware. My guess from your location in the snowy north would be the same issue I had, rusted solid parking brake cables hampering the rear drums from properly engaging.

 

[nitro71]

This is a hard one to trouble shoot as I'm out of things that are wrong to fix and am just fishing now. I'll jack it up and test those rears. I could have put something back in wrong for that matter. Did have the manual when I did them. They are fairly simple though. The ABS has just always seemed funky on this thing, that and the fact that it has the most parts to go bad on the whole brake system make me suspect it the most.

 

[surf]

One thing about the ABS system on early explorers is that it is still possible to lock up the brakes on slick surfaces. I have been on slick mud and had the wheels lock completely without the ABS kicking in. If at least one wheel has some traction the system will kick on otherwise you will need to pump the brakes to stop.