Can ABS system be deleted?

[Kyle Grasso]

So I have a 2003 5.3 extended cab.  I have always hated ABS and always owned older vehicles without ABS.  Has anyone rerouted their brake lines with good results?  I recently had contaminated brake fluid ruin everything rubber in the system.  I replaced all the soft lines, calipers, booster, and master cylinder.  I just finished the booster/master install today and cant get a good pedal.  I bench bled the master by using 2 1/2"-20 fittings with 1.5" of line sticking out.  Then clear hose tightly slid over the brake line and ran back up into the master reservoir.  The brakes are working now but the pedal goes very far down and is acting like theres still air in the system.  I would like to disable/bypass the ABS unit to eliminate it before chasing my tail looking at everything else.  

[CamGTP]

You can try to lock up the front tires on a dirt road to get the ABS system to activate and try to self bleed. Otherwise you need a scan tool to turn on the ABS system to try and bleed it so you can get a better pedal.

 

Removing it can be done, just have to make new lines to join things together.

[KARNUT]

ABS is the nanny I like the best. Here in Texas it gets really hot in the summer. A little shower on a hot day mixed with tar that sits on top of the road would make the back tires dance without abs. I remember vividly prior to abs watching vehicles spinning around on slightly wet roads on scorching days. Especially trucks. The rest of the nannies you can eliminate. 

[richard wysong]

some states with inspections require that the abs light not be on and others don't care. only a matter of time before they check everything thru the data link. I recently had a similar problem but cracking the lines from the master at the abs and bleeding the lines solved it. if the pedal doesn't pump up its probably not air in the system

[dna9656]

Kyle

      I don't know how I feel about ABS, I haven't had it come on very much. I would check with the traffic law people there where you live before I did anything. Making your vehicle capable of higher speeds isn't looked at much IME; however should you have an accident and be held liable or some else drives your vehicle and gets hurt you could be on the hook but especially if you defeated or removed a safety feature installed by the vehicle manufacturer. I remember countless times watching guys put big block engines in '66 Mustangs that had 4 lug wheels; wheels and brake systems designed for a car with much less horsepower, installing a significantly heavier and more powerful engine could mean the brake system couldn't stop the vehicle as the OEM would had intended with the OEM engine. The more "go" you put in the more "stop" you have to put in. What you're proposing could have similar implications. Guys with those huge tires and wheels found on monster trucks driving down the highway, those suspension systems and the brake system were not engineered to handle the tremendous forces produced when you increase the size/mass of the tires to those proportions. I would recommend you learn to live with it. Unless you live in a very particular place the ABS doesn't operate all that much; if yours does maybe you should examine your driving technique or style (driving too fast for conditions?) or, you live in Texas like Karnut; I think what Karnut is referring to is not the tar on the road but the slight oil slick from leaking engines, trannys, and axles. When it rains the water and oil create a real slippery condition, it washes off if it rains enough though.

[Kyle Grasso]

My experience with ABS a f slippery road surfaces had been a bad one.  I literally almost totaled my truck Saturday because abs engaged and made me slide at a 45 degree angle heading for a guard rail.  I had to release the brakes and then the transfer case shifted to 4wd and i could then hit the gas and drive out of the situation.  The main reason i also want it gone is because everything else in the brake system has failed from contamination and im sure the Abs pump is no exception.  Saturday in 1 inch of snow a moderate tap of the brakes would activate abs and send me sliding.

[CamGTP]

Tires have a lot to do with that. I live in Minnesota and it snows a lot here. I can smash the brakes in the snow with good tires and not slide out of control.

[richard wysong]

I have disabled the abs on every truck I've  driven in the winter. it will NOT allow you to stop in the snow. some you can just pull the fuse others unplug the module and others unplug a wheel sensor. Of course every truck had a snow plow on it. If you know how to drive in the slippery stuff its more of a hazard than a safety feature. unfortunatly many ppl hop in a 4wd vehicle and drive too fast to be able to stop so it allows them to steer around what they are about to crash in to but doesn't alow you down as fast as controlled braking will. I haven't had any problem with it in my car which is front wheel drive, v8 but I don't drive like a nut in the crappy weather either

[19Sil]

Yes - I unplugged the abs module on the frame of my 99 silverado, and the brakes are just like my old 1990 k1500.

[redvett]

Remember if you disable any safety equipment to notify your insurance company since they give you discounts for safety equipment and not doing so could be considered fraud in event of an accident.