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Ranger ABS - Is It Just Lousy?


8thTon

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I would hope any tech who backed down the brake adjustment to remove a drum for inspection would readjust them afterward, we always did.
Yes, I would hope, but then not all of us get you as a mechanic! I've yet to find a tire store that even tries to set pressure, they're always left at whatever they used to seat the bead.
 


snoranger

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Yes, I would hope, but then not all of us get you as a mechanic! I've yet to find a tire store that even tries to set pressure, they're always left at whatever they used to seat the bead.
... And that’s part of the reason they work do tires for a living.
 

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I've never run across a tire store that doesn't set pressure, usually while the tire is on the machine.
 

8thTon

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I've never run across a tire store that doesn't set pressure, usually while the tire is on the machine.
Then it's guaranteed to be wrong once the weight of the car is on it. Plus what do they set it to unless they've looked at the sticker and are planning which wheel it's going on?
 

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I haven't checked every time, but they are between 32 and 35. Good enough for me at least because that's where I would run them anyway. I'm more interested in less rolling resistance. Unless we get into heavier duty rated tires then I run whatever is on the tire. 50, 60, 80. But I'm using my truck for work.
I never really thought about the weight of the vehicle changing the psi. I will have to check how much it changes next time I change a tire.
 

19Walt93

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The weight doesn't change the PSI much if any.
 

8thTon

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The weight doesn't change the PSI much if any.
Depends on the tire and on what "much" means. I've had it change several PSI anyway. If a tire were perfectly elastic it would not matter at all, but they're not, especially lower profile car tires.

Regardless, brakes should get adjusted, lug nuts torqued to spec, tires set to the sticker, etc. But that doesn't always happen.
 

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It should be the same. As weight is added to the tire it deforms, the sidewall bulges and the contact patch is enlarged. The actual volume inside the tire isn’t lessened, it’s just repositioned, the amount of air stays the same, the temperature doesn’t change... then pressure shouldn’t change.
 
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8thTon

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It should be the same. As weight is added to the tire it deforms, the sidewall bulges and the contact patch is enlarged. The actual volume inside the tire isn’t lessened, it’s just repositioned, the amount of air stays the same, the temperature doesn’t change... then pressure shouldn’t change.
I agree that in theory it should not if the tire were truly elastic as you describe. But tires stiffness varies in different parts such as sidewalls, and going from completely unloaded to loaded can make a difference - at least if you are getting some sidewall deformation once loaded.
 

19Walt93

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If you guys check your tires you deserve an attaboy. You get a second one if you go by the door label and not by the max inflation on the side of the tire.I often point out to my wife obviously under inflated tires on cars in front of us. Our dealership always sold a ton of tires, years before Ford started pushing them, and I'd have to keep an eye on the scrap pile and call for a pickup when they started adding up. Fully half the tires on the pile would have edge wear from being run under inflated. Now we're all paying extra for tire pressure monitoring systems to enable people too lazy to check their tires.
 

snoranger

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Now we're all paying extra for tire pressure monitoring systems to enable people too lazy to check their tires.
That’s the little yellow light that’s been on in my ‘17 f150 since the second day I’ve owned it... Im too lazy to go to the dealer and have them fix it. It’s easier to just look at all my tires before I drive and check the pressure once a month.
 

don4331

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Do I get a 3rd attaboy as I checked the spare? :D And I used a quality (liquid filled) gauge, not a 25¢ special.

My tires are inflated so wear across the tread is consistent - which means the rears are a couple pounds lower, fronts couple higher than what is on the door as that matches the normal load/my driving style. Alignment is slightly off spec too to compensate for my driving style.

And yes, if I'm going to be hauling any sort of load, any sort of distance, the pressure in the rears is adjusted to compensate. I don't get enough extra mileage over inflating tires to max sidewall pressures to compensate for wearing out centers prematurely.

My '17 F-150 has a screen on the dashboard display which shows pressure of each of the 4 tires. Isn't it less lazy to get Ford to fix the sensors under warranty so after you can check the pressure from the driver's seat, than chuck all 4 tires monthly?

I can confirm what 8thTon is saying with F-150: Pressure fluctuates a couple psi between 1st thing on -40 °C winter morning versus after couple drive on + 40 °C summer afternoon. And hooking up to the camper will increase the pressure in the rears by about 5 psi.

Back to original question:
I was looking to put ABS in my Ranger as all threads I could find just had comments on how useless it was.

What I came up with is Ford used 4 sensors on Ranger of your vintage, 8thTon: Left Front, Right Front, Rear Axle, and an Acceleration sensor (it's on the harness to rear basically right below driver's seat). And it uses a bunch of conservative settings designed to help someone who wasn't paying attention save themselves from a worst case scenario.

Stabbing the brakes will result in wheels slowing down faster than the engineer's programmed value (they were most likely programming again emergency stop brake slam). The engineer is trying to balance rates new dry summer pavement with icy cold winter and going to error on conservative side. So ABS is going to kick in and they aren't going to work as well as non-ABS in ideal conditions.​
Similar goes for deceleration of either front wheel or rear axle - if it exceeds the programmed values, ABS kicks in. You're not supposed to do 1G stops in your Ranger.​
Now, you flash forward to the '19 Ranger and Ford uses additional sensors, e.g. radar, to check if truck is really decelerating fast on dry pavement, so no need for ABS, or if its on ice and ABS needs to kick in.

If you can some how fool the acceleration sensor and/or reprogram its limits, your ABS will be less abt to come on.

Hope this helps.
 

snoranger

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My '17 F-150 has a screen on the dashboard display which shows pressure of each of the 4 tires. Isn't it less lazy to get Ford to fix the sensors under warranty so after you can check the pressure from the driver's seat, than chuck all 4 tires monthly?
Too late now... It’s only 3 months until I turn it in.
 

bobbywalter

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on a normal vehicle i dont really see a psi change on a typical 80 or 100 psi stick gauge coming off the balancer to cold sitting weight.. it is very slight but exists to be sure. boyles law.


heat once your rolling changes em quick.


on my off road tires.....bias plys....the difference between being able to drive safely on road at speed or not can just be 1 psi on the 42's....my weight bias can be radical if the truck is empty.

i know 38-40 in tires affect the abs systems on the 2003 and newer rangers when they are 5 psi out.. just lifted stock suspension.....lockers mess with shit too. soft pedal is being polite.
 

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Is it worth getting the ABS running on my 1996 extended cab? The truck tends to fishtail when braking , but I think that is because the rear brakes are not engaging well (the e-brake is totally shot)
 

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