Disable ABS

[vanib]

On the 4.2, will removing the fuse disable VSC , ABS ,and traction control?

[Larryh86GT]

Originally Posted by BikerJay

This is not a Rav4 problem but a technical limitation of all ABS. On very slick surfaces ABS is not as effective as threshold braking.

As I stated - my car's ABS works very good on ice and snow. But it is a 2011 vehicle and I believe the technology has improved. I did ask my wife how she reacts to slippery conditions with the Rav4 and she says she pumps the brakes.

[vanib]

You are not supposed to pump the brakes with ABS. Just press the brakes as hard as you can.

That being said, there is slush and snow in the roads today.
I was driving 50 km/h and decided to brake for the red lights and the car would not stop, but hear the ABS kick in!!! I finally decided to just accelerate through the intersection!

So ABS was of no help today.

ABS did prevent an accident 2 weeks ago as it still allows the driver to control the car; i was able to get the RAV in a 45 degree angle; just enough so as not to hit the guy who was stopped at a red light in front of me.

Hard to say if I hate ABS

[Larryh86GT]

I am still wondering why not just leave the fuse out during the winter?

[cutthroat22]

Larry: I don't leave it out all winter because our weather is variable and I don't mind the abs as long as there is not snow/ice. Usually it's above freezing. A switch would be ideal.

Vanib: I have done the intersection thing more than once with slick conditions...very bad feeling. Even coming to a dead slow stop, especially downhills, with abs you can glide 20 feet or more.

My 2003 does not have vsc/traction control or at least not lights for them.

[Larryh86GT]

I ran into a snag when I looked at my fuse box. Anyone know which fuse to pull to disable the ABS? The 30a or the 50a ???

[03rav4inPA]

50a.

The 30a powers the ABS module itself and the 50a powers the pump. Be aware that pulling the 50a will also disable VSC

[Ashley]

I don’t know whether you know this, but ABS is not supposed to improve / reduce your stopping distance.
When your wheels lock up, the car skids, then you lose the ability to stop and to steer.
It is supposed to allow you to continue to steer under hard braking. It is an electronic implementation of Cadence Braking.
ABS prevents the wheels locking up – when the rotation stops, the brake is released – wheel starts rotating again, the brake is applied. This cycle continues as long as the brake is applied – this is what causes the drumming sound and feeling in the brake pedal.
Because of what ABS does, it will worsen / increase your stopping distance.

If you want to make a stop in the shortest possible distance, then you need to use Threshold braking this is perfectly possible in a car equipped with ABS.

Because of this, the last thing you should do in icy conditions, when you need to make an emergency stop, is stomp on the brakes as hard as you can and hope for the best.
By all means, stomp on the brakes as hard as you can, but then you need to steer around the obstacle.

You want to disable the ABS? Really bad idea.

[cutthroat22]

Originally Posted by Ashley

I don’t know whether you know this, but ABS is not supposed to improve / reduce your stopping distance.
When your wheels lock up, the car skids, then you lose the ability to stop and to steer.
It is supposed to allow you to continue to steer under hard braking. It is an electronic implementation of Cadence Braking.
ABS prevents the wheels locking up – when the rotation stops, the brake is released – wheel starts rotating again, the brake is applied. This cycle continues as long as the brake is applied – this is what causes the drumming sound and feeling in the brake pedal.
Because of what ABS does, it will worsen / increase your stopping distance.

If you want to make a stop in the shortest possible distance, then you need to use Threshold braking this is perfectly possible in a car equipped with ABS.

Because of this, the last thing you should do in icy conditions, when you need to make an emergency stop, is stomp on the brakes as hard as you can and hope for the best.
By all means, stomp on the brakes as hard as you can, but then you need to steer around the obstacle.

You want to disable the ABS? Really bad idea.

I completely hear what your saying. However, I've had my vehicle now for 10 years and my ABS absolutely sucks when there is ice, snow, mud etc and always has. MY rav4 stops much easier and safer without it. I have done hours of experimenting with and without on hills, in parking lots with different braking styles and always come to the conclusion the ABS in MY rav4 renders it dangerous.

[Ashley]

This is from the Wikipedia article about Cadence Braking:

"Cadence braking (or any other type of braking) will not help much on extremely slippery surfaces such as ice (in theory it would, but in practice the ice can be so slippery that it makes little difference — a winter tyre would make more difference). Also, on very loose surfaces, a quicker stop can be achieved by simply locking the wheels, causing a wedge of loose material to build up ahead of the wheels and create a substantial braking force. This is useful only when stopping in a straight line, because locking the wheels means all steering control would be lost. In such conditions, ABS actually increases the stopping distances. On poor surfaces, in the past, rally drivers timed the pulsing of brake application so as to take advantage of the load transfer as the vehicle pitches forwards and backwards in response to the initial braking effort. With modern overdamped, stiffly sprung suspensions this is less likely to be effective."

I can see this might work in snow and mud - but I'm not sure it would work on ice. But then no braking technique or system works without friction.
I also suspect that disabling the ABS might have consequences for your insurance cover.
The main point was that ABS is supposed to let you keep steering even under heavy braking - no ABS + slippery surfaces + heavy braking = no steering.

I'm lucky - I don't live in a country where we get freezing temperatures any more.