ABS brake questions

[frankiee]

If an ABS wire for the wheel sensor was broken would it make the entire ABS system turn off?
For a 1993 GMC Suburban, is the wire to the wheel sensor hard to replace.
Do you think that ABS is good to have on the vehicle?
If I did not want to drive with it, could I simply disconect the fuse and drive the vehicle as a normal hydraulic brake system?

 

[JTK]

Complete loss of one WSS and/or circuit will usually disable the system. Yes, pulling the ABS fuse will just disable ABS capability as long as you can stand the *ABS* light staring you in the face. Personally, I rather not have ABS on a big heavy daily driver. Just another thing to break ($) as the vehicle ages. Especially in the rust belt!

G/luck
Joel

 

[Kestas]

The average person thinks ABS is a wonderful idea until they get the bill to repair it.

If the problem is just a bad wire, it should hopefully be an easy repair. It depends on the design. Some have a replaceable sensor, some are integrated to where the whole bearing hub unit needs to be replaced (idiot design).

 

[labman]

If people were concerned about long term maintenance they would skip such gadgets as electric windows and door locks. I would far rather put my maintenance dollars into something functional such as ABS. I guess it is the other guy's problem if your big heavy truck goes sideways in front of them.

 

[JTK]

Try to find a vehicle with roll up windows, manual locks AND 4 wheel anti-lock brakes

.

Joel

 

[mechtech]

Being a mechanic, I love my lack of power locks, windows, and ABS.
Good drivers don't need ABS as much as casual civilian drivers.

 

[frankiee]

I have done some reading on the net and they claim a 65% fatality rate over conventional brakes. I read that it makes people overconfident and also that ABS will not stop as fast on snow or loose gravel.
The vehicle in question has roll up windows and non power door locks with 4 wheel ABS (93 Suburban).

 

[moribundman]

quote:

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Try to find a vehicle with roll up windows, manual locks AND 4 wheel anti-lock brakes [Roll Eyes].

---

My 1989 VW Scirocco had all those!

 

[rpn453]

ABS has never been shown to reduce frequency or severity of accidents, and it has frustrated me at times, such as in snow. I actually used to like to be able to feel what road conditions are like by locking up the brakes away from traffic. I wouldn't pay much to fix my ABS, I'd just disassemble the guage cluster and cover the light with black electrical tape or something. ABS is more forgiving to inexperience-based driving mistakes than non-ABS, so it can certainly be a benefit to some.

[ January 14, 2006, 04:12 PM: Message edited by: rpn453 ]

 

[bfax011]

where do you get these statistics of higher fatality with ABS? They appear made up out of whole cloth.

Here is what I believe to be much more reliable info:

http://www.iihs.org/research/qanda/antilock.html

There is essentially no difference (not worse) with ABS.

 

[Tosh]

"Leonard Evans, a researcher with General Motors, reported that antilock-equipped cars were less likely to rear-end other vehicles but more likely to have other vehicles rear-end them."

For a year or two, didn't GM loudly proclaim that every one of their cars had ABS as standard equipment? Thanks to Evans' research, I guess they put a stop (oops) to that?