Lost brakes while driving

[garylmoore]

I drove from Chicago to Indiana to visit my parents over the holiday.
About 2 days after my arrival the ABS/ Brake light came on the dash. I looked on the forums, saw similar topics about abs/ brake light combo and no one seemed to be very concerned about it.
I didn't think much about it, figure I'd fix it when I got home.
Tonight I was coming up on one of the worst intersections in town, pushed on the brakes and it was like pushing on a solid rock. As I was freaking out, thinking I was going into the intersection I felt the brakes come back, the pedal went down like it should and I was able to stop the truck.
Is there any way the ABS caused this?
If so I would just unhook the ABS module in the glove box and move on. But I really don't think it'll be that easy.
Any input is appreciated, I need to get back to Illinois.
it's happened a little bit since then and it seems like it's always when the ABS error light goes off.
It seems that I have no problems as long as the ABS and brake light are on but whenever they go off I can feel the pulsation in one of the brakes, the funny stuff that you feel when an ABS sensor goes out. The truck is a 2001 Dodge ram diesel club cab long bed.
Thank you.. Gary

 

[Ozymandias]

Pull all the fuses for the ABS, then you have a standard mechanical brake. Safe to drive.

Probably you have a faulty sensor that's messing up the system.

Disconnected it's safe.

 

[Road Dog]

There's two ABS systems for the truck: a (useless) rear wheel ABS (with a sensor on the pumpkin) and a full ABS (with additional sensors on the front hubs). The rear sensor also provides the speed so it helps diagnose what's happening.

On my older truck (with rear wheel abs) a faulty sensor would detect wheel lock and the ABS module would release the brake pressure. The pedal would drop and the speedo went to zero.

Your problem sounds different. More like a lack of brake boost. By 2001 the brakes are hydraulic and are powered by the power steering pump. If your power steering is acting up then you might have a pump issue.

You can pull the ABS fuse and see if it makes a difference. If the ABS/brake lights are on then the ABS is disabled.

I assume you checked the brake fluid and are topped up.

 

[garylmoore]

Yes, As long as the trouble light is showing on the dash the brakes work fine. The fault apparently shuts down the abs. But if the abs light goes out (it happens on startup, even during driving sometimes) the brake pedal locks up, if the light happens to come back on while braking, I have brakes again. Brake fluid is fine, power steering is topped off and was showing on the dipstick when I did so. I have been talking on MoparMans' forum and he is convinced the tone ring inside a wheel bearing has separated. I am having problems finding the correct Timken Wheel bearings and am going to make a separate post to find those numbers. They say there are two different systems for my car and show two different bearing numbers. They call them two wheel abs and 4 wheel abs. Mine has two in the front and one on the pumpkin as far as I remember.

 

[BigPapa]

As I posted in your wheel bearing thread, if you have speed sensors in your front hubs, then you have 4-wheel ABS. That means you need Timken HA590203. They’re available at RockAuto for $168/each.