ABS: Just Three Lonely Letters, Until You Need It
ABS. Antilock Braking System. This is boring stuff, that is until you find yourself sliding down a 500-yard sheet of ice pulling a loaded 20-foot trailer. That's where I found myself yesterday on the way back from a trip to Chicago to pick up a sad, rusty old Porsche. With no warning at all, the tractor trailer in front of me began to contort itself into that dreaded jack-knife shape. A tap of my brakes and my vehicle started to follow suit. Luckily, the Titan has great brakes, and the ABS was able to calm things down pretty quickly. There was a lot of fanfare when these amazing braking systems were first adopted by carmakers, but these days we've all got ABS. Some of us even have a daily reminder thanks to the ABS light that glows forever on the dashboard. Endless Check Engine light visits have dulled us when it comes to dashboard warning lights, but that ABS light is trying to warn you of a potentially dangerous situation! If your car has more than 50,000 miles, it might be a good time to clean your ABS sensors to be sure your brakes can stop you in a slippery situation.
Well Matt,
You need to clarify things here or you are just misleading people. ABS does not improve the brakes on any vehicle. What is does ( when you stomp on, not just touch) the brake pedal is prevent the wheels from locking up and sliding (making steering impossible) and allowing you to steer the vehicle around a particular hazard….providing you have the space and time and presence of mind.
Bob, you don’t see preventing an uncontrollable slide an improvement to brakes? I sure do. Also, the ABS will activate in any situation that involved loss of traction while braking, even if you simply “touch” the brakes on a sheet of ice as I did last week. — Matt
What happened to the tractor trailer? I’m on the edge of my seat here (not literally… or even figuratively). But I’d still like to know.
Bob, it was not a good day for the semi. He completed his unintended jack-knife maneuver into the snowy median, which at that point had a 3-foot-deep drift in it. I’m guessing he was there for quite some time. There were lots of emergency vehicles patrolling the area so I’m sure he didn’t have to wait long for help, but getting that truck out wasn’t going to be fun. Thanks Bob!
Matt:The section that demonstrates proper cleaning of the ABS sensors are very helpful. My question, at the car-wash they feature under carriage washing, would this accomplish the same thing, especially the high power wash?
Matt: I see below the link for Extended Vehicle Coverage, two of my friends purchased this coverage, months later one of them had a mechanical problem, went to the dealership give them the information and received looks from the manager as if she was alien. No worked performed and the company removed monies from the banking account. The money was returned after a call to the State Attorney and the banking institution. My question, do you support these rip-off artists or they use space on your page?
Matt,
Preventing a skid is always good… and if your ABS really went into action with just a touch on the pedal, meaning that you must have already been sliding on all 4, then I’m happy for you. Otherwise sliding on all 4 is the fastest way to stop, providing you don’t need to steer clear of something and you have traction.
Not much into technical jargon!..still your comments are all very informative and useful.thanks!