I fixed my RABS . . . .

[2.3LRNGR]

where is this located

 

[Hawk1339]

where is this located

On the inside of the frame, left side, approximately under the driver's left foot.

 

[HareRazor]

I unknowingly bypassed mine when my brake line rusted through. I ran new all brake line to the back of the truck and didn't pull the old out since I am lazy.

 

[2.3LRNGR]

any got a pic of what the RABS valve looks like?? thank you

 

[Hawk1339]

any got a pic of what the RABS valve looks like?? thank you

See this link. Use the arrow to flip the image around.

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=301979

All of this info has been previously posted in detail... there's a lot of good data to be found in these forums with some simple searching.

 

[2.3LRNGR]

ok cool thank you now i know what i am lookung for now!!!

 

[bryanb]

OK, this might sound silly, but in what direction do the brake line nuts come off? I can't get mine to budge. Doesn't look like a lot of rust at all, but they are definitely stuck on good.

Also, what have you used to plug the lines with, while getting the valve off? And its just the one bolt on the outside of the framerail that holds this puppy on, right?

 

[PetesPonies]

One bolt yes that is all. The nuts come off counterclockwise as normal. Do you have a "good" line wrench? If nothing else, vice grips but be careful.

 

[bryanb]

Ouch!

Got it off, with a 11mm open end wrench. I left some wd-40 on it for a few days, and then reffed at hard as I could, while holding onto the valve, so it didn't flex the bracket so much.

Took the outgoing line off first, and it dribbled a little bit. The incoming line dribbled quite a bit, and I tried to plug stop the flow for a little while with some rags, and zip lick backs, and a zip tie or two. Didn't work all that well, but I did prevent a big puddle on the ground.

Got the valve body off the truck, but didn't see how much further it could be taken apart. The two cylinders sticking out of it, each have a real flat washer looking nut, that holds them on, but I couldn't get anything to grab those. There was another nut, with a big spring behind it, but that opened a hole that didn't go anywhere.

So just stuck the brake cleaner straw down the brake line holes, and sprayed quite a bit. My hand still feels a little weird from the cold blowback spray. After a few blasts, though, I could get it to spray all the through the valve, but I don't remember which direction it was going through the valve, maybe backwards.

Bolted it back to the frame rail, and then put the front line on. The back of the valve started dribling fluid, and it didn't do that before, so I musta loosened something up.

Its been cold here, so don't know when I'll get back out to the garage to bleed the whole works, and see if it does any better. But I wiped it all down, and then put two clean rags under each fitting so if it leaks, I'll be able to tell later.

 

[PetesPonies]

Every single part of the RABS comes apart. You have to get it all apart. I promise you there is junk/rust/ whatever all up inside. You need to remove the pieces you said your could get apart. Do you have a benchtop vise to hold it properly??

 

[bryanb]

So those little thin nuts are what gets it to come apart? I wanna try this again, but I don't get how the valve comes apart. Please explain that more. I don't think i have a bench vice, but I can get one, if need be.

 

[Sterlitz]

RABS disassembly question

I took the RABS unit off of my truck to clean it up and repair it. I removed the spring and accompanying threaded cap from the side and also removed the two tin cylindricle caps and electrical recepticle from the top of the RABS unit. There are three plugs on the top that are threaded, which appear to be made of aluminum and are very tight in their holes. Any suggestions on how to remove them without damaging them or the unit?

 

[PetesPonies]

I mounted the RABS in my vice and out came the threaded caps.

 

[Sterlitz]

Thank you so much for responding. I'm here messing around with this RABS unit as I write to you. I've got it in a vice. I just tried removing the three caps with with 14mm and 26mm sockets and the sockets just won't grab on to the caps. Did you remove them with sockets or did you use a vice grips or something else? I was even wondering if putting the thing in the freezer would help to shrink the caps. Sounds kind of dumb, but I'm not about to buy a new one. Thanks ahead of time for your response.

 

[Sterlitz]

I think it is pretty telling when someone says they've repaired their RABS unit and they leave out the most inportant part of how to do it. It's kind of obvious that the unit needs to be put in a vice...duh. The three plugs at the top of the unit are impossible to remove with ordinary tools. The inside lip of sockets are tapered. They won't grab on to the plugs. The plugs are aluminum and very soft and cannot take much of a strain. My suggestion is to not waste your time chasing your tail with this. Just go buy a rebuilt one or if you can't afford one rebuilt, go to a junk yard and pick up a used one.