ABS on 4WDs

Nissan V Yota
Engel V Waeco

ABS V NonABS

You will get as many answer for as, against.

I have ABS on mine , and have not had any problems.

I would MUCH prefer to have ABS on road then not. How often will you be on normal Roads ?

Do what others have done , and just disable the ABS offroad.

Best of both then

I have one 4wd with ABS and the other without - I have had no problems with the ABS car.

Same as us, 1 4WD with ABS, 2 without. No problems either way offroad and we prefer ABS on road. The only problem you may have with ABS that I have found when racing a ABS equipped car on grass is that the ABS can in EXTREME situations be fooled into thinking that the brakes need to be in the off mode all the time and the end result is no braking. However if you get this happening when you are off roading in your 4WD, you should be thinking of taking up motorsport instead - or pull the ABS fuse.

Stevesub

My ABS is wpnderfull on the blacktop, but offroad on the dirt it is a pain.
The ABS runs off it's own fuse that now keeps falling out whenever I get onto dirt, Problem solved.
To answer your question. Get the Mod with ABS and disable in the bush. You wont forget to reconnect as there is a Great Big light on the dash to tell you.
Vince

DaveB,

"Is ABS on 4WD a hassle off road?"

In my opinion YES. I used to drive a car with ABS and since changing over to the Jack which doesn't have it, I find I have much more feel and control, especially on wet or muddy surfaces.

The solution is to learn how to apply the brakes. You need to ease the pedal on (even quickly) rather than stomp it. My vehicle is an automatic and I always use the left foot to brake. This is probably a habit left over from my racing days, (karting) but it is still applicable now.

Also, when I did a safety driving course many years ago, the instructor was most impressed with the left foot braking technique. They actually advise everyone to use this technique on any vehicle with automatic transmission.

I certainly have better "touch" with my left foot than what I would with my right and it leaves the "accelerator" foot free to feather/control the throttle when required.

My gu patrol was a nightmare with ABS on dirt particularly with van on the back,updated to the next model without abs for that reason alone,made the mistake of asking the dealer how to disconect ABS he told me you couldnt,didnt realise you could remove fuse at the time.Too many scary moments with ABS off road for me

I'll start this post by saying . . . this is NOT directed at ANYONE . . . it is a "general" comment and should be treated as such.

WTF would you buy a brand new vehicle , available with ALL the safety gear to protect your family , and then OPT out of it , because "some" people have trouble offroad.

HOW OFTEN does your vehicle go offroad ?

Probably less then 10% of its life. The Other 90% is one the road like every other vehicle , and should be treated as such.

I can tell you , if I was hit by a brand new vehicle that didn't have ABS "because its a PITA offroad" , I would throttle the prick.

BY ALL MEANS DISABLE THE BLOODY thing offroad , but , do yourself and OTHERS a favour , by getting whatever safety devices you can.

IMO , SAFETY should NOT be an option.

Like flappa’s post, this is not aimed at anyone in particular.

When I bought my first 4x4, it was also the first time I had had a vehicle with ABS.

The dealership that I bought the vehicle from, after enquiring if I had had a 4x4 before, suggested that their head mechanic, who was also an experienced off roader, take me for a drive and show me the differences between a 4x4 and a conventional vehicle.

One of the many things we covered was the fact that, as the Disco had ABS, when driving off road I should allow about 30% more distance to break in, than with normal brakes.

At the time it didn’t mean much as I was more interested in getting under way with my new toy.

After a very short time I felt the same as many here, that it would be better to have the ABS disabled when off roading so I asked a mate who was well into LRs just how to go about doing this.

His reply is probably of interest to all. At the time he was test driving 4x4s for one of the off road mags. He said “The only reason anybody would want to disable the ABS is because they have absolutely no idea of how to drive how in the first place, and that’s a car or 4x4”.

He then asked, “Which would I prefer, sliding uncontrollably side wards into a tree at 40 kph and probably rolling it, or hitting the tree head on at 60 kph”. You will have a far, far better chance of surviving a head-on at 60 than you will hitting the tree at 20 let alone 40 kph.

Furthermore, as Sand man posted, if you learn how to use the ABS braking properly, you can dramatically reduce that 30% difference but still have far better control of the vehicle.

Leave the ABS operating and go and learn to drive your vehicle safely in the first place. It’s to your benefit as much as it is to the benefit of everybody else.

Cheers

Like some of you hear i had heard ABS was bad on the gravel and mud, so when up at Sheepyard FLat over the Cup weekend in Melbourne i tried it out where it ahd been raiinging and the track was slightly downhill with plenty of room.

I hit the brakes reasonably hard and YEP the 100 Series simply kept on goign, hardly slowed tool it an absolute age to stop. Without ABS it woudl have jsut dived in and grabbed the bottom of the road and pulled up in a third the distance.

I proved to myself what could ahppen if i had to hit the brakes hard and quick in slippery mcuk.

Easiest way to combat i decided was to drive slower in the first place so it becomes significantly less of an issue.

The bit about pullign out fuses etc is what if you forget to put it back in? In daylight that light might not be that easy to see and then all insurances etc would be void as well as any warranty issues.

If you did go down the switch path you may well automatically have voided your insurance regardless of whether you had the ABS switched on or off in the case of an accident.

I had that checked out wiht an insurance broker and insurer off the record and they said they ahd had cases of it beign done and an accident so be very wary of makign any changes like that permanent as it obvioulsy can be checked if the car is involved in an accident.

For me i just am going to try keeping it nice and slow when the conditions get that interesting and feather rather than slam the brakes.

Roachie,

wasn't saying dont do it black and white but was perhaps subtly suggesting that if one was goign to disable the ABS then doign it via pulling the fuse and then putting it back again might be a wiser way to do it so if the worst did happen on a dry main road you are at least covered financially and your familys safe.

Then off road you are going to prevent anythgin happening in the first place by your precautions.

As others said your choice obvioulsy but insurance companies will look for anway possible to get out of insurance if they can, hence why i sent mine a excel spreadsheet of all mods and items permannetly inside the vehicle such as a fridge so everythgin is covered.

Thanks for all your input. For my usage the model with ABS would appear to be the way to go

I go offroad a fair bit and I have had no problems with the ABS playing up at all

ABS and Traction control are brilliant on and off road, thats why ALL WRC competiters have them more control.

TC & ABS works brilliant in the Disco

Baz.

A lot of abs equiped trucks ( inc 100 series ) apply more brakes to the rear than non abs models , if fuse is removed the truck will have the wrong brake bias and will lock the rear wheels way before the front has reached its grip limit , result poor stopping with tail slide ! nasty !

ABS is the best possible braking on road, by ten fold.
Off Road, depends on the road surface, but if my vehicle had ABS fitted(and I have driven plenty which have) I would want a way to switch it off.
And for whoever said you can do what ABS does with foot control, I too have done a driving course, with the apply, release method, what a load of crap, by the time you think about adjusting foot pressure BANG! Watch some V8 Supercar racing, now you would think they could drive, something gets in their way they just lock them up. Your other option is to get a vehicle, with ABS set for North America, whatever they do for snow and ice driving makes them worlds better on loose gravel. My flame suit is on. For those who's sensibilities I might have offended.

When ABS was first introduced in the 60s in racing cars, the drivers were not impressed with the idea. That is until they learnt to drive with ABS. They soon leant that they could drive faster but safer which meant quicker lap times.

The same thing applies to 4x4s offroad with ABS. You have to learn to drive with it to get used to it.

Most if not all offroaders just jump in their 4x4s with ABS and don’t learn how to put the ABS to proper use and I was as guilty of this as the next person.

If you are driving along and you have suddenly got to reduce speed, what do you do? You jump on the brakes and why? Because that is the automatic response you have learnt from day one of driving any vehicle.

If you do enough practising with ABS on gravel, the correct way to brake with ABS will too, become an automatic response.

I’m still learning to use the ABS properly on gravel, but no matter how experienced or inexperienced you are, being able to maintain control of your vehicle is going to dramatically improve your chances of not just surviving an accident and even being able to avoid a potential accident in the first place rather than just skidding uncontrollably in to something.

Don’t accuse the ABS of being a problem when it is actually your own inexperience that is the problem and this should also tell you that you need to get some advanced driving tuition to improve ALL your driving skills