Why are the RABS systems so hated?

[cngranger]

I bought a '93 ranger with a leaking rabs........i have ordered a replacement, but am ever curious what is actually leaking? I made an effort to tighten the "bleed" bolt, which seems to have made it worse. Is this preventable or repairable if it should happen again?

 

[zekew64]

I would say that the seals for the hydraulic unit are leaking; whether external or internal, I don't know. The bleed screw would have made it worse because it would have increased the pressure on the seals.

 

[ab_slack]

I personally never had an issue with the rear ABS. I noted them activating for short periods of time. I can understand, like any ABS how stopping distance is increased. I felt that they counter-balanced the tendency of the rear to lock up first.

The important thing to me is that Bronco II stopped when I wanted in a predictable fashion I could control. Dirt, mud, snow, dry pavement, ice. This is not something I can say about the 4 wheel ABS systems in a couple cars and my 2002 explorer.

I've had some nasty surprises from 4 wheel ABS. They are fair enough standing on the brakes at highway speed in dry and wet conditions for keeping control, but snow or dirt and they don't stop even at slow speeds.

I see no benefit of 4 wheel ABS below 30 MPH as even a bad driver just cant' get into that much trouble locking up their brakes and for me, no benefit till above 60. I know that is off topic, but sometimes I feel like I am the only one that sees the danger in these things.

I remember in the early days of ABS the insurance companies noted that cars equipped with ABS got into more collisions. That was blamed on the drivers being more aggressive because of the advanced brakes and that they were pumping the brakes unnecessarily. Having experienced the 4 wheel ABS systems remove braking when I needed wheels to lock, to me it is quite evident why collision rate was higher in antilock brakes.

 

[Captain Ledd]

No wonder I don't remember posting in this, it was started almost two years ago LOL. But it's all good, we always yell at people to search, which means things can come back from the dead.

Actually though, I have a relevant update.

Turns out, mine does work- and well!, just the shitty 9" drums never did. After doing my Explorer axle swap and moving to the 10" drums with the Aerostar Drum upgrade (you do have to lathe out the centers for them to fit on a 31 spline axle), I'm CONSTANTLY being reminded of my rear ABS, even on a moderately hard stop. Occasionally even when I've got a trailer on if I'm stopping and there's some bumps on the pavement I can hear the rear chirping.

I actually rather like my rear ABS now.

Saved my a$$ here, was taking my 18' trailer to help out a friend (it was empty, we were going to use his 3/4 ton once I got there to actually move stuff). The front brakes went out on the first corner, and those rears were pulsing for their lives.

 

[JimRummy]

Gnarly. What was that about?

 

[Answer069]

I was in an accident where my RABS failed to work. I locked all 4 tires in the 94 B2300 I had and hit the suv that had turned in front of me on wet pavement. Also when I got run off the road by a drunk driver I locked all 4 tires again trying to stop before the edge of the road. I ended up in a ditch, truck totaled on paint damage from the barb wire fence that was at the bottom of the ditch. So needless to say I don't particularly care for RABS systems.