Same here, I hate ABS. I've noticed the same thing in my new Frontier
truck. When the wheel lifts from a bumpy surface, the travel is farther and
doesn't stop as quickly as it would without ABS. Scared me the first time I
encountered it, but I managed to control it. Six years ago while driving a
company Chevy truck with ABS I had to panic stop to avoid another vehicle
cutting me off, and ended up hitting the other car. Without ABS I would
have stopped in time, but the ABS prevented that and pushing hard on the
brake pedal had no effect at all, hardly slowed the truck. I had mechanics
check it out, and they said the ABS system was working okay but they had
lots of complaints about this effect. About the same time Chevy had a lot
of bad press about their ABS systems and had recalls. I feel more in
control with my older cars than the 3 new ABS-equipped ones I have.
Fred - So.SF
______________________ Reply Separator __________________________
>Subject: More ABS griping
>Author: Alex Avery <aavery@rica.net>
>Date: 6/7/2001 11:20 AM
>
>I'm not a fan of ABS either. I've driven my wife's '97 GMC 2500, extended
>cab, 5th-wheel hitch (not a duelie) mega truck daily 30 miles to work and
>back for the past 4 years and I love it---EXCEPT for the darn ABS brakes.
>
>Every time I'm stopping on sand or gravel or even simple bumpy surfaces
>where the wheel will lift off the pavement for a split second (not panic
>stops, just plain-old, every day brake use) the ABS kicks in and I find
>myself traveling 10, 20 or even 30 feet farther than I intended. These
>same intersections/road sections are fine in my Ford Contour that doesn't
>have ABS. This can be very dangerous when you're driving in dry
>conditions and haven't factored in this unexpected distance into the
>equation. From what I can tell, ABS hasn't shortened my braking at
>all--totally the opposite--but worse, I don't feel I've gained any
>additional steering control or other advantage in return. What are we
>getting for this expensive option, other than unpredictability?
>
>Unsatisfied with the unfulfilled promise of ABS.
>Alex Avery
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