2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission ABS Again: RW only vs 4WABS

[TurboSandman]

I am looking at '97 and '98 2500's to replace my '97 (lost in a fire) and have passed on 2 '98s because they had rear wheel only ABS brakes. I had a '98 Durango with RW ABS and sold it after several near misses due to poor braking performance. My '97 2500 had 4 wheel ABS and I felt I had very good braking performance, even on ice and snow.



After passing up a '98 2500 Sport today, I searched the archives and found a variety of opinions regarding ABS. Some felt it was primarily a driver training issue while others advocated disabling the system entirely as ABS in any form was junk.



Has anyone out there had any experience driving Rams with both types of ABS (rear wheel only and 4 wheel ABS) and if so, is there enough of a difference to justify holding out for 4 wheel ABS?



My experience was with the much lighter Durango, so I am not sure if it applies. In any case, my '97 2500 with 4 wheel ABS was far superior to the RW ABS in the Durango.



Sorry for the long post; I would really like some opinions.

 

[Ncostello]

In my opinion... 4 wheel ABS is the way to go. I've driven Ford and Chevy 3/4 ton trucks with rear wheel ABS and they are only good if the roads are slick from rain. In other words they might keep the rear from skidding if you have no load. The fronts still have decent traction even on rain slicked roads because of weight transfer and therefore the 4 wheel ABS really isn't needed.



On ice and snow its a totally different game. 4 wheel ABS is great while RW ABS doesn't help much... if any at all. I had a Chevy with 4 wheel ABS and I loved it. I practiced with it and got very used to how it functioned and could tell when to expect it. And most importantly... it worked. I could steer and stop while the abs module made its noises and pulsed the pedal.



Rear wheel only, on ice/snow, isn't much good when the front wheels are locked up and your not going where you want to.



But... my 99 Dodge only has rear abs... so I'm much more careful.

 

[TurboSandman]

That's what I think; in my Durango, I nearly rear-ended some guy waitilng to make a left turn into his driveway when I was coming up behind him at about 40 mph. The roads were damp (drizzling rain only) and every time I braked, the fronts locked and I couldn't steer and I didn't even slow down much. I ended up getting off the brakes entirely and drove onto the shoulder while he saw me coming and skedaddled out of there.



I think the front brakes were locking, leaving me without steering or much front braking, while the rears weren't doing much of anything (at least not locking up. ) If it was icy, I just kept it in full time 4WD which had some sort of viscous coupling in the center diff; 40:60 torque split front to rear or something like that.



The poor braking and pathetic gas mileage (worse than any of our Suburbans) really soured me on it and I traded it off for my "97 2500 which was better in all aspects; more so, because my wife would rather walk than try to drive it.



Thanks for the reply; anyone else?

 

[Joe Pool]

In my opinion I would take 4-wheel ABS first, no-wheel ABS second and rear-wheel ABS as a distant last (I would disconnect the rear wheel ABS unit as I did in my '90 Dakota).



My last 3 trucks ( 1 Chevy & 2 Rams) have all had 4-wheel ABS and they all stop extremely well.



Just my $. 02



Joe

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

I am satisfied with the rwabs on my 97 and in my limited experience the 4wabs on 2nd gen Rams is not anything wonderful. On the 2004, the 4wabs is standard and works great. As an aside, the 4w module on the 97 and especially the 98 really gets in the way of reaching the fuel filter and lift pump. I'd suggest you drive both and then decide. I don't think I'd rate one over the other so much as to refuse a nice used Ram in the 97-98 time frame.

 

[Speedo]

RW/ABS vs. 4W/ABS

I had a 1st gen rear only (which is non-functional when in 4wd) and I thought the braking performance in 2wd was terrible when the bed was empty. I have a 2nd gen 1t. now with 4W ABS and I

think that the braking performance is far above my old truck.



Gus

 

[CFAR]

My '96 had the rwabs, on snow and ice you couldn't put enough pressure on the brakes to get the rear to lock up anyway, so why do you need rwabs only, I like the 4 whabs better. Fronts on the '96 seemed to lock up before you get any pulsing from the pedal. So for me it would be 4wabs or no abs.

 

[TurboSandman]

My limited experience tends to agree with Joe Pool and CFAR that no ABS is superior to rear wheel only ABS. In my review of prior posts, many advocated disconnecting the electrical connection to the ABS computer, rendering it nonfunctional and taping over the ABS light on the dash



I suppose I am too sensitive to attorneys, but if a fatal crash were really and truly investigated, I would think you would be in for a world of hurt. At the least, it would be an excuse for your insurance company to not cover your damages or your financial liability; you might possibly even face criminal liability.



Joe Donnelly is of course, correct in that access to the fuel filter is abysmal in the 4 wheel ABS equipped '97 and '98 trucks and even those favoring the early Dodge ABS systems in my review felt it was inferior to those of other manufacturers. I agree with you about passing over two otherwise excellent trucks for having rear wheel only ABS, and that is the reason for my question.



Thank you for your responses; any more out there?

 

[bubba_zanetti]

OK a few items...



If you were perfect, and could sense when your wheels were locking up, before they actually started to slide, then you could get by without ABS.



For the rest of us mere mortals, that leaves Rear only, or front and rear.



For '96, can't speak for later, on the front rear ABS the rear two wheels are on one circuit... if either wheels slips, then both receive the ABS treatment. The fronts are independent, each front wheel has its own ABS.



The rear only ABS is to keep the rear of the truck from passing the front in a skidding situation. So you can at least hit whatever straight on, using all the built in protection. As opposed to sliding sideways into the barrier or what have you.



When you add the front ABS, now you actually have the ability to steer while braking... in other words, if you are skidding, but can clear the obstacle by turning, the ABS will allow you to do that without spinning.



Look at it this way, you are on the off-ramp slowing down, when you spot a pileup starting...



1. no ABS, you mash the brakes, and the truck starts spinning, but have no idea what you will hit first.



2. rear only ABS, you mash the brakes and you are slowing down, but not spinning... hopefully you will not hit the traffic in front of you.

3. front and rear ABS, you mash the brakes and steer onto the shoulder to avoid the cars in front of you... you do and continue to drive past the mess.

 

[Ncostello]

On another note concerning GM abs... I think they perform very well on slick surfaces. But I did have a deer jump out in front of me on a hot summer night... I laid on the brakes and I did hear tires squaling and had some black marks on the dry pavement.



I did hit the deer too. ABS or not it would have been impossible to avoid. But my speed was low enough anyway to not cause terrible damage.



So at that point I began to question the effectiveness on dry pavement emergency stops. I suspect it shouldn't matter but it did. I dont remember the pedal pulsing either.



Guess now with RW only... I'll have to learn to vibrate my foot 10 times per second. I need some high dollar Nike shoes now!!

 

[bubba_zanetti]

The ABS at a point will assume the vehicle is stopped and will lock the brakes like normal... otherwise you would never come to a complete stop (once you got slow enough, the brakes would release and you would keep rolling)... so if you press the brakes hard enough, you could bypass the ABS function.



That is why they recommend a smooth steady pressure on the brakes.

 

[Dane]

Only problem I've had is when the RW abs didn't work (RW abs does not work below 5mph on my 01)



I had to panic stop in an intersection (old man up ahead cut off the guy in front of me) When I hit the brakes, the rears only locked up and I thought I was skidding on all 4, but could have braked harder cause the fronts were still rolling. It felt like the tires had no grip, but it was dry pavement. I slowly skidded and just barely tapped the BMW in front of me - no damage, WHEW!



Funny/ironic thing is I had just left the tire store from making an appointment (one hour later) to have my 305/70/16s mounted in place of the skinny 265/75/16s If I had the 305s on I would have stopped much quicker.