Should I delete my ABS?

Tom95gt · Feb 25, 2009

I'm trying to install my turbo kit and this thing is in my way... I've been able to move it somewhat but I might have to extend a couple lines. Is it worth it to keep it? My car is a daily driver but I only lock up the brakes in the snow so I'm not sure what to do. It does weigh a lot too.

Labora · Feb 25, 2009

I'd move it if you can, but that is just me. I tend to use my brakes at the track.

Would be good time to extend the lines and add a brake bias controller, least that is what I would do.

Venom351R · Feb 26, 2009

Not good to add a bunch of power and decrease the braking ability

parrish5o · Feb 26, 2009

I would do whatever it took to leave it. When you start increasing power and decreasing stopping power that is a recipe for a really bad situation.

Pokageek · Feb 26, 2009

People. Our anti-lock system aint worth a @#$%. Mine locked up and I ran into an SUV land yacht a while back. I'd remove it. The only thing it is good for is weighing down the car.

Labora · Feb 26, 2009

I agree it may not be the best ABS system out there but it is better than nothing.

I have spent a day on a autox with and without the ABS. Driving without taught me a lot about how the brakes react and how to get just that right amount out of the brakes before they lock up.

Now that is all well and good on the race track when you are in the correct mental state and ready for it. On the street on the other hand, things are entirely different you never know when you will be in a situation where every bit of braking power could mean the difference between you walking away from a wreck or not.

And while I know most people would like to think they are pro drivers, most of us won't be able to think of such things as brakes locking up in a clutch emergency situation.

Chythar · Feb 26, 2009

I think there's a bit of misconception here. ABS units do NOT add braking power to any car. What they do is sense if a wheel is slipping, then it releases the brakes long enough for the wheel to gain traction. Then the brakes are released. They'll help in a panic situation when all you can do is slam on the brakes, but IMO that's it. I unhooked mine.

I guess it's similar to the opinion a lot of folks have about airbags. Many think they're important safety feature, others think they're horribly dangerous and remove them at their first opportunity. I've been in several close calls (and a couple of accidents) in many cars over the years, and I've personally found that ABS actually hurts my braking distance.

Tom95gt, if you have been in situations where the brakes lock up and you need the ABS, I would keep it installed. It's useful for you.

Venom351R · Feb 26, 2009

Pokageek said:
People. Our anti-lock system aint worth a @#$%. Mine locked up and I ran into an SUV land yacht a while back. I'd remove it. The only thing it is good for is weighing down the car.

Having ABS does not guarantee that you wont have an accident. With out it you prob would have hit that land yacht a lot harder

95BlueStallion · Feb 26, 2009

My ABS quit working a while ago. If youre a safe driver you probably wont need your ABS. Ive driven all winter without ABS, just give myself lots of room and take it easy... Do you have a pic of the thing that you are wanting to remove? Just curious, as I could easily get by with removing mine and cutting whatever it weighs off the car.

Dizzy_ax · Feb 26, 2009

HowStuffWorks "How Anti-Lock Brakes Work"

Good to know, you wont die without it but i really dont see any gain from getting rid of it. I say move it and keep the system. wouldnt like to put all of that money into the car and smash it ;p

gsagriff · Feb 26, 2009

Mine was never equipped with ABS.
3.8 to 5.0 swap.

Pokageek · Feb 26, 2009

Redline_351R said:
Having ABS does not guarantee that you wont have an accident. With out it you prob would have hit that land yacht a lot harder

Sorry, I don't agree with that OR any other arguments about the 94' Mustang ABS. It did not even work for me during the accident. It has NEVER worked well or kicked in when I needed it. It is totally unreliable. It is the WORST ABS I have experienced in any car. As to hitting it harder? No. It did nothing. It is inconsistent and didnt even kick in.

Consequently, does ANYONE on the forum have ANY examples of where it kicked in for them and they avoided an accident? Thanks.

Venom351R · Feb 26, 2009

Ive gotten on the binders hard more then once but whether it was the upgraded brakes, calipers and rotors or the ABS I cant say for sure. I may be wrong but I dont think you can really tell when the ABS is kicking in, you just come to a controlled stop

Chythar · Feb 26, 2009

Redline_351R said:
Ive gotten on the binders hard more then once but whether it was the upgraded brakes, calipers and rotors or the ABS I cant say for sure. I may be wrong but I dont think you can really tell when the ABS is kicking in, you just come to a controlled stop

Ffom what I've read, cars in general might have a chatter from the wheels or a pulsing in the brake pedal. For our Mustangs, I have no idea.

One can improve yuor brakes simply by replacing the rotors with slotted/drilled/dimpled rotors. In my case, I have slotted/dimpled rotors. They eliminated or severely reduced brake fade so much it felt like my Stang was stopping FASTER the longer I held the brake pedal down. This is with the OEM single-piston calipers and Hawk HPS pads. In slam-on-the-brake moments on the freeway here in SoCal, I have to be careful to NOT stop as fast as I can, or I'm afraid the guy behind me won't be able to stop as fast as I can.

Any upgrade to the braking system will do good with the crap-tastic OEM brakes we have. At least they're not drums.

Dizzy_ax · Feb 26, 2009

That link tells you how they work and what styles they have. You would feel a vibration in the brake pedal, (ABS pedal feedback)

here are the types

"Anti-Lock Brake Types
*Anti-lock braking systems use different schemes depending on the type of brakes in use. We will refer to them by the number of channels -- that is, how many valves that are individually controlled -- and the number of speed sensors.

*Four-channel, four-sensor ABS
This is the best scheme. There is a speed sensor on all four wheels and a separate valve for all four wheels. With this setup, the controller monitors each wheel individually to make sure it is achieving maximum braking force.

Three-channel, three-sensor ABS
This scheme, commonly found on pickup trucks with four-wheel ABS, has a speed sensor and a valve for each of the front wheels, with one valve and one sensor for both rear wheels. The speed sensor for the rear wheels is located in the rear axle.

This sys*tem provides individual control of the front wheels, so they can both achieve maximum braking force. The rear wheels, however, are monitored together; they both have to start to lock up before the ABS will activate on the rear. With this system, it is possible that one of the rear wheels will lock during a stop, reducing brake effectiveness.

*One-channel, one-sensor ABS
This system is commonly found on pickup trucks with rear-wheel ABS. It has one valve, which controls both rear wheels, and one speed sensor, located in the rear axle.

This system operates the same as the rear end of a three-channel system. The rear wheels are monitored together and they both have to start to lock up before the ABS kicks in. In this system it is also possible that one of the rear wheels will lock, reducing brake effectiveness.

This system is easy to identify. Usually there will be one brake line going through a T-fitting to both rear wheels. You can locate the speed sensor by looking for an electrical connection near the differential on the rear-axle housing.*"-how stuff works

I have been in a truck with ABS and it sure did stop me from plowing through a red light but that was a truck lol.

EDIT* I think we have the one channel version. would explain why we dont get the full on ABS feed back, pretty lame now that i think of it because most vehichles are front break bias. :\

Adam95GT · Feb 27, 2009

Mine has done it once... in the rain... it pulsed like hell the brakes on the car felt non existant... and i just slid... i have never had a car slide that bad in all my life... sorry but it doesent do anything but feel like im running over a **** ton of baby turtles and potato chips. That being said... mine is now in a box in the back seat...

Pokageek · Feb 27, 2009

Adam95GT said:
Mine has done it once... in the rain... it pulsed like hell the brakes on the car felt non existant... and i just slid... i have never had a car slide that bad in all my life... sorry but it doesent do anything but feel like im running over a **** ton of baby turtles and potato chips. That being said... mine is now in a box in the back seat...

Lol. I fell off my chair after reading that. To Red and everyone else, my car didn't even give me the satisfaction of a "turtle crunch" lol. It just locks up and SMASHOLA.

As you can see in my sig I have had a lot of cars (not that u guys haven't) and its bad. I haven't read the whole article but there are some types of anti-lock that nearly never goes off. Some thing like the 2x4 anti-lick. Like only th rear wheels are functional. I have heard of at least 2 people dying in our model car because it just went right off the road when if it had working anitlock they could have steered right. Now I am not getting into a discussion about driving habits...Thats another topic.

All my other cars the pedal rumbles and you can steer and it dont lock up. When I was behind that SUVY, I steered right and the car went straight... the whole way and I did not have time to pump.

donkey_punch · Feb 27, 2009

Adam95GT said:
Mine has done it once... in the rain... it pulsed like hell the brakes on the car felt non existant... and i just slid... i have never had a car slide that bad in all my life... sorry but it doesent do anything but feel like im running over a **** ton of baby turtles and potato chips. That being said... mine is now in a box in the back seat...

yep thats the best way to describe it. once it pulses like crazy, it feels like you just hit ice. seems like you lost the brakes, and turning is impossible.
anyone have a write up on how to delete it? cause if i knew how to delete it without fear of messing up my brakes i would trash it. so if anyone has a write please post it.

greenlantern · Feb 27, 2009

95BlueStallion said:
My ABS quit working a while ago. If youre a safe driver you probably wont need your ABS. Ive driven all winter without ABS, just give myself lots of room and take it easy... Do you have a pic of the thing that you are wanting to remove? Just curious, as I could easily get by with removing mine and cutting whatever it weighs off the car.

Your argument is ridiculous. News flash buddy you can be the best driver in the world, if you drive on the street you have to deal with idiots. Just today some dumb blonde on the phone pulled right out in front of me.
Didn't even look, if she had she would have crapped her pants because I was almost on top of her. ABS saved her ass and mine. The ABS system in the mustang is not the best but I'll take it over nothing. I have driven with and without in a sn95, trust me there is a difference. If you can improve the crappy performance of the stock motor you can improve the crappy performance of the stock brakes.

greenlantern · Feb 27, 2009

Pokageek said:
Sorry, I don't agree with that OR any other arguments about the 94' Mustang ABS. It did not even work for me during the accident. It has NEVER worked well or kicked in when I needed it. It is totally unreliable. It is the WORST ABS I have experienced in any car. As to hitting it harder? No. It did nothing. It is inconsistent and didnt even kick in.

Consequently, does ANYONE on the forum have ANY examples of where it kicked in for them and they avoided an accident? Thanks.

So by your argument we should all pull our ABS off because it didn't work out so well for you?

You know this is a weak argument, if you wanna ditch some weight just say that. Everyone wants to upgrade and improve everything on the car except the brakes? Larger rotors upgraded calipers and checking the abs to make sure its functioning correctly are all ways of improving your stopping ability.

The stock sn95 produces a crappy 215 hp and we do all we can to upgrade everthing about it, heads, cams, rr, intake, injectors, exhaust you name it. All for more power. Well power is nothing without control. And whether you wanna admit it or not brakes play a big role in part of that control. Stock brakes were designed to stop a stock vehicle, remember that.

Should I delete my ABS?

Tom95gt

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