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Traction control, the ABS kind

Eleeski

Making fresh tracks
Skier
Joined
Nov 13, 2015
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2,287
Location
San Diego / skis at Squaw Valley
*thought this was going to be a thread about ABS*

So I'll go there.

My Ford Focus doesn't work well in the snow. Traction control puts the brakes on the spinning wheel. If both wheels slip, you slow down. It's problematic if you are trying to go up a hill. It also makes my dirt road driving uncomfortable with auto over correction. I've figured out how to bypass it (it's not intuitive). Maybe it's not proper to recommend bypassing that "safety" feature but there might be times it is necessary.

Of course if I had good new snow tires the car might not slip.

Eric
 

Josh Matta

Skiing the powder
Pass Pulled
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Dec 21, 2015
Posts
4,123
get an actual limited slip, and pull as many fuses as you need to get rid of the ABS.
 

François Pugh

Skiing the powder
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Nov 17, 2015
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7,611
Location
Great White North (Eastern side currently)
Last Ford I checked had the traction control disable hidden in a menu on the info displayed on the dash. The owner's manual did include how to get to it though.
My Mazda 3 has a button right on the dash.
Yes, you need to turn it off if you are at risk of being stuck in snow.
 

sparty

Out on the slopes
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Feb 15, 2018
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1,005
Last Ford I checked had the traction control disable hidden in a menu on the info displayed on the dash. The owner's manual did include how to get to it though.
My Mazda 3 has a button right on the dash.
Yes, you need to turn it off if you are at risk of being stuck in snow.

In the F-150, there's a dash button, but you have to know the difference between one short (normal) press to switch it into "traction control off, stability control on", two presses to switch it into "Sport" mode (traction & stability control on with higher thresholds for engagement, i.e. the way it should be to begin with), and press and hold for "traction control and stability control off, until the truck decides to turn it back on" (automatic reengagement at 35 MPH, IIRC, and I've tried not to find out how sudden the cut is if you are spinning and hit that threshold).

The Raptor has a proper "turn off the nannies and let me drive" mode, but I wasn't willing to spend the extra $30-40k for a shorter bed and less payload.
 

Ogg

Skiing the powder
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Jun 3, 2017
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3,484
Location
Long Island, NY
get an actual limited slip, and pull as many fuses as you need to get rid of the ABS.
When the rear locker broke in my truck I put in a trueurac. Now I can't get the traction control to kick in if I try. ABS I have mixed feelings about. It actually works well in my current truck even in winter conditions but was terrifying in my previous one.
 

slowrider

Trencher
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Joined
Dec 17, 2015
Posts
4,534
Anti lock braking was discontinued in class 8 trucks. Sometimes you want to skid tires briefly.
 

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