Antilock Brakes

[MH3]

Does anyone know if there's an after market kit available that will give a Grand Wagoneer antilock capability? I haven't seen anything. Just checking. Thanks!

[Stuka]

WHY on earth do you want anti-lock brakes?

[Crazy_Jeepman]

I have anti-lock brakes on mine........ I HAVE NO BRAKES GET THE _ _ _ _ OUT OF THE WAY!!!! See they never lock up. Seriously though this is not even realistic the amount of work and technical problems that would arise make this mod best left to NASA. :D

[Dive 30]

Anti-lock brakes? Yeah buddy . .. lets add traction control while we're at it. Let's see . . . all we would need is a 2001 K3500HD and a ML540. Swap over the wheel sensors, discs , calipers, pedal, master cylinder, proportioning valve, computer, etc. etc. modify appropriately and boom! Your G-wag would be rockin' Let me know when you get it done :D :D :D

[woodybeone]

JC Whitney had somthing a few years back that would give "anti-lock like" function to the rear wheels of a vehicle. Never used one , don't know how well it worked.

[Stuka]

Well to be serious, it would require a insain amount of mods. It wouldent be worth it. I personally hate ABS systems, especially in the snow, because they get wacked out.

[reddog]

Little hard on him aren't ya guys?? Although I agree that it would be way too much work for limited benefit. Isn't there enough to fix on a FSJ already?? If you want all the gadgets get that Range Rover. Just have LOTS of cash when it needs work. While anti-lock is a good idea for "average" drivers I have heard from some that you can stop faster using non-antilock brakes IF you do it correctly. If they were such a great thing then you would see them in F1, Nascar, Cart etc.

[ September 24, 2001: Message edited by: reddog ]

[Joe H.]

Seriously though...if you're planning on doing ANY off-road driving or loose surface driving (gravel, sometimes even road salt) anti-lock brakes will terrify you. The wheel sensors look for wheels locking up, and ANY wheel will lock up under braking on a loose surface. Learn how to modulate your braking and you'll get similar results as you would with anti-lock brakes.

I'm not sure how effective those are on a 4500 lb. vehicle anyway.

[andy d]

you have power front disc brakes. you oughta try driving a rig with just manual drums(66 valiant)inna power disc world. learn to pump the pedal and threshhold brake. that is applying the brakes til the wheels start to slide, then releasing them, then re-applying them. 4 wheel abs is great but it only comes into play if you get yourself into trouble by over driving the conditions. best not to allow the conditions to happen in the 1st place. im all pumped full of helpful hints cuz i just came from a driver safety seminar :D

[Dive 30]

The Sheriff's Dept. did an impromptu test when the C5 Caprices started coming with ABS. The units w/o when used w/ threshold breaking (requires some practice in your vehicle and from varying speeds too, especially if you want to make it reflex in a panic stop) will stop a vehicle 10-15 ft shorter than the factory ABS. Please understand that this was '97 GM ABS not Audi/Porsche/Mercedes/BMW ABS that will modulate every .0003/sec giving seamless feel and little pedal hop. The other thing you have to remember is that most ABS systems (GM/Ford) do not function under 5 mph which would not help on trail.

please don't misunderstand me. I am totally for crazy mods. I am actually planning on four wheel discs for my g-wag and did briefly contemplate ABS simply for when my wife drove it.

[JohnnyJ]

I think the thing to remember about ABS is that it's purpose is not always minimize the stopping distance; it's main objective is to maintain stability and steering, which is lost when a wheel goes to lock.

Personally, I think putting an ABS unit on a Wag would be very technically challenging; and something I would not do.

The biggest issue is that the Wag is not similar to other vehicle that have ABS. It would the same as putting a stock fuel injection system on an AMC V8 and not trying to retune the fuel maps. It might run, but it'd work like crap.

Here's some info on ABS:

http://www.abs-education.org/

Edit - oops, wrong UBB code on the link

[ September 27, 2001: Message edited by: JohnnyJ ]