ABS is horrible to drive in winter

is there a way to disable the abs for winter time? I pulled the fuse on my 98 runner. Light came on. But I was able to stop. Thanks.

 

I'm not a big fan of ABS eather

 

I read online that pulling the fuse, kills speedometer and throws codes. Don’t want that !

 

Who cares about the speedometer, just gotta feel the road . . .

 

I'm not sure what you could easily do. My '07 has a very slow leak in the water pump. Since it's rarely used I'm waiting until warm weather to change it. However the fluid got a little too low and it caused the computer to throw a bunch of codes (check engine, traction control, 4 low, etc.). It also disabled the hot water going into the cab, no heat. The standard OBD 2 code reader could clear the ECU fault and the lights on the dash went out but I had to use TechStream to clear the subsystem faults to get heat back. So if you pull a fuse you may run into more problems that you think (like loosing 4wd low because you are low on radiator fluid).

 

Yep...I accidentally blew my reverse lights fuse. Dash lights went skitzo and manual shift mode was disabled...all because of a 25 cent FUSE!

 

I really don't know what Toyota was thinking when they did this. I get that protecting the engine in the case of low radiator fluid is a good thing but with all the lights you have no clue what to think. Most people don't have access to a code reader to find out. Loosing 4 low doesn't really scream "add radiator fluid".

 

I'm still trying to figure out how a reverse light fuse failure could actually cause a semi limp mode...crazy. This sort of nonsense reinforces my opinion on too much tech overkill. Literally at times.

 

Need to figure out what will disable ABS but still allow the truck to shift into 4wd. Try unplugging a wheel sensor, which will trigger a abs fault/light and then shift into 4wd. Do this with the front jacked up so that you can confirm the front locks. If that dosent work, try shifting into 4wd first then unplug.

More than likely you are going to have to get a wiring diagram for your year and trace out the abs system.

 

On my 08 Tacoma I added a switch to disable the ABS when driving in the snow. There were a few ways to do it if I recall. I'm sure it can be done on a tundra too.

 

Yeah on my FJ you can fool the ecu into thinking the rear locker is on which turns off all the nannies including ABS. But the tundra dosent have an elocker or crawl control, so I dont think that there is any logic in the Tundra's 4wd ecu that allows the abs to be off and 4wd locked in. So I think it is going to be a little more difficult.

Toyota's ABS has sucked for years and I am going to have to try and figure something out.

 

It looks like you might be able to put a switch on the yaw sensor and use it to switch abs off, but will take trac/vsc with it.

 

I’m pretty sure because track control and VSC use the ABS for control.

 

It's also pretty dangerous offroad too. I was on a trail in the desert going maybe 35-40mph, slightly downhill and saw a big drop off approaching. Pumped the brakes 3 or 4 times and absolutely nothing. Didn't even slow down. It was about a 3 foot drop that I would've crawled down slowly. Instead, I pretty much jumped off of it and hit really hard. If there were any mailboxes, I would've taken them all out. Never want to experience that again, might not be so lucky next time.

I know @KevinK was working on disabling the ABS a while ago. Don't remember what he came up with. Hopefully he chimes in.

 

I found my ABS to work pretty good in the snow. Offroad is a different story, as I feel locking up the brakes help dig in and stop you better than feathering as the ABS system does. But I don’t think you’re digging in much on ice.

 

When the check engine light comes on the other 2 come on automatically. The low 4 flashes. but it is still functional. I ran my four wheel drive in low with check engine light on. no problems

 

Here goes that thread. Looks like you can just pull the ABS fuse.
https://www.tundras.com/threads/high-speed-off-road-brake-failures-aka-ice-mode.23287/#post-560463

 

Yeah on the 3rd gen you can pull the ABS1 fuse and it disables ABS and traction control but let’s you shift in and out of 2, 4 and 4lo.

I need someone with a 2nd gen to figure out if pulling the abs fuse allows you to still run 4WD.

The thread Joon posted has a ton more info.

 

Im gonna try this next time I’m on dirt. Almost killed my truck last time out. Anything I need to know @KevinK before I try it?

 

Anyone have a 3rd gen wiring diagram so we can trace out where to catch that ABS1 fuse wire? Then it will be trivial to put a heavy duty switched relay on it.

 

I find my ABS works awesome when driving on icy and snow covered roads, doesn’t lock up my tires for a better stop.

I’m just curious What to you guys don’t like about it? Not operating properly?

 

I tagged you in that other thread, but it’s pretty straight forward. Pull the ABS1 fuse and enjoy no ABS. If you want to use ATrac, put the fuse back in and turn the truck off and back on. You’ll have to drive about 20 feet for the ABS system test to pass and enable ATrac again.

I plan to install a momentary switch on it. This way, when I want ABS off, I can just press the button for a second to interrupt the ABS system and cause the fault. It’ll stay disabled until it can pass its self-test again, which doesn’t happen until the startup sequence. Basically if you want ABS back on (in order to use ATrac) turn the truck off and back on again. Since it’s a momentary switch, the ABS system will always be on by default and therefore ‘safe’ every time it’s started by anyone. But you’ll have to remember to disable it every time you get in while off road.

 

Excellent idea. I built a abs switch for my FJ for the same reason, my wife can get in and drive it and I dont have to worry about it being off.

 

This is the switch I used, but it is SPST. Then wired up a relay and it looks almost like it came that way.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/12V-Push-s...ash=item3d7b31b51f:g:D88AAOSwhnlb-0QV&vxp=mtr