ABS

[mjtpolice76]

I was driving down the road and some guy in an explorer pulled out in front of me. I mashed the pedal to the floor and all four tires locked up and there was a huge smoke show. I realized I was skidding and began to down shift hard. I didn't hit the guy, but looking back why did my tires lockup. Should I bring it to the dealer and have them check the system. Has this ever happened to anyone else. Is the ABS a farse in these cars?:cuss:

 

[SnakeBit]

The ABS is designed to make sure that all 4 wheels slow down at the same rate. It's a fallicy to think that the ABS will not allow all 4 wheels to lock up because if they didn't, you would never be able to stop. If the pavement had some sand on it or was wet, you most certainly could lock all 4 wheels at the same time. It just monitors the rotation of the wheels and bleeds off pressure from any wheel which is slowing down more than x% more than the others. I'm not quite sure what that percentage is although 5% keeps popping into my head.

You should take it in and have the system checked out, or you could try some more panic stops on a good road (with no other traffic around you) to see if they lock up again. Normally, one or more tires will have better grip forcing your ABS to work (in my car, it sounds like the chassis is sliding over a gravel road). If you skid again, take it in for sure.

Good luck