front brakes lock up in snow

[ranger06770]

I have a 94 ranger with rabs, today it snowed a little,when i go to stop the front tires lock up and i slide no matter what speed im going, almost hit the car in front of me at the drive tru doing 2 mph, its been doing this for a while,does anyone know why this happens. when its dry it stops good.

 

[MAKG]

Are you sure your rears work at all?

A surprisingly common RABS failure is for the valve to rust solid, leading to nonfunctional rear brakes with good pedal feel and NO fault lights.

An easy way to test for this is to have a buddy (or a 2x4) hold the brake pedal down, and open one of the rear bleed screws and then close it. If it's good, some brake fluid will shoot out. If nothing comes out, you have a blockage (and it MIGHT be the RABS valve).

The brake feel under these circumstances is really bad. The fronts will slip under hard stops, even on dry pavement, and almost any stops under slippery conditions.

 

[dennis461]

Tires OK ?

If it's RAB, that won't help the front ?
Are your tires OK?

 

[Original_Ranger84]

It could also be because the front brakes on just about any car have more pressure (or brake Bias) to them from the start. The front brakes have the entire rest of the truck behind them that they have to stop, the rear only have to worry about that little section of the bed behind them. Plus the fron has way more weight from the engine on it where as the back doesn't and gets way less traction.

My truck does the same thing the front brakes lock up because there is snow between them and the road (think of sliding around with snow clogging your shoes or mud clogging your tires) they become little more than drag slicks on Ice, and your front brakes have to apply very little pressure to lock them up because the front brakes are getting no traction and just become uncontrolable skis on the front (and the whole weight of the vehicle is pushing on them, like pushing your freind down a hill on a sled (Vehicle Weight = You, Clogged wheels = Friend on sled, your freind can rep. the engine). On dry pavement your tires can get all of the traction they need but with snow it is completely different, and your rear tires haven't even started to get brake pressure with the little amount you applied to the front to make them lock up. Are you running very wide tires (10-whatever wide?) cause that would not help, put some skinny 215s or 235s on there tho cut through the snow, because all of the vehicles weight would not be as spread out over the tire and would be more concentrated.

But I would do as MAKG said and check your rears too.

Sorry Its long and hopefully makes sense (if it dosen't maybe someone else can figure out what i said)

 

[dburton07]

probly the rabs unit, for the past 2 years my truck hasnt had rear brakes and i didnt figure it out till a few months ago. my truck used to do the exact same thing youre talking about, slid into the 6x6 pressure treated fence post at about 5mph at my parents house with about a 1/2" of fresh now on the ground and put a nice dent in my bumper last march, with half tread bfg land terrains.......some how the line goin to the rear rusted out at the end of the summer, giving me no brakes, re did the lines from the master all the way back, couldnt bleed the rear, i didnt get it, it was weird, blown rear line the brakes fail, but cant bleed past the rabs unit.......bypassed the sumbitch for the time being till i can get the funding for a new one and rear works damn good. took it out in the snow/rain/ice about an hour ago and it braked like a charm, did a few test 'panic' stops at about 45mph (obviously there were no other cars around and it was on back roads) and she slowed down right quick, slid obviously but not hardly as much as it used to, and the ass end didnt even slide out on me.....also helps i have brand new arctic claws with about 400 miles on them......lol

 

[fordboi415]

In snowy conditions it tends to get the roads icy which will cause breaks to lock up whether you abs or not

 

[Mark_88]

Yep...my fronts on my Zuki are almost new tread and I've slid a couple of times already...and the back brakes work just fine since I recently replaced the shoes...first couple of weeks of sloppy weather are usually the adjustment period for winter driving habits...

But that doesn't mean there isn't something wrong with your brakes...try engaging the parking brake and test to see if you have any brakes at all in the rear...if so, you can always do the dirt road test...get going about 40 mph and hammer on the brakes...if your rears lock up they will give you a drag mark on the dirt road...if not...time for a more serious diagnostic test...

 

[cocoasranger]

MAKG is right on. My rear brakes were always crappy in slick conditions, but I thought it was due to the light rear end. Then I replaced the leaking rear wheel cylinders and could not get one drop of fluid even with both bleeders removed.

After replacing the RABS valve everything worked much better. Later I replaced the master cylinder, and after that the brakes are the best of any car i've had.

 

[Blacksmith1]

Snow? what's that?

 

[Mark_88]

Snow? what's that?

Cocaine? The worlds biggest supplier is Canada...you can lay down on your sidewalk and snort yourself silly for free...

 

[Blacksmith1]

I tried to snort coke once...damn near drowned

 

[Ozwynn]

I tried to snort coke once...damn near drowned

main lining or free basing works better.