2003 Suburban ABS delete
- Thread starter BigDan
- Start date
ThundahBeagle
Well-known member
Dont know for the life of me why you would want to. Just get stainless lines and if need be, every 6 months or a year, coat them with motor oil or something.
Before the mid 1990's, we were all taught to pump the brakes when slowing or stopping on ice. Under those conditions, just slamming on the brakes was a sure way to get into a tailspin. Since the advent of ABS, people are actually taught to slam on the brakes, as that activates the ABS.
ABS can pump the brakes many many times faster than any human, and if the system works, you should invest in the upkeep.
One man's opinion
Before the mid 1990's, we were all taught to pump the brakes when slowing or stopping on ice. Under those conditions, just slamming on the brakes was a sure way to get into a tailspin. Since the advent of ABS, people are actually taught to slam on the brakes, as that activates the ABS.
ABS can pump the brakes many many times faster than any human, and if the system works, you should invest in the upkeep.
One man's opinion
1stDeuce
Explorer
^^ What he said. Just fix what's there. There are not really more lines, there are just slightly longer ones to the front, and down to the ABS module vs. a prop valve up closer to the master cylinder. That generation of ABS works pretty dang well, at least until the front speed sensors rust jack out of the knuckles, and that's easy to fix... ABS is not causing your lines to rot, so there's no reason to remove it, only to use SS for the lines and never look back...
The problem with trying to "roll back" your braking system to pre-ABS is that those trucks had drum rear brakes, which took a lot less pressure to make braking power equal the the discs on the back of your truck. Just pre-4 Wheel ABS like your truck has, they had RWAL, so you have to go back even farther (to the late 80's IIRC) to find an actual prop valve, which will then limit rear brake pressure to something WAY lower than you actually want...
Adjustable prop valves are garbage for daily drivers IMO. They only account for ONE stopping scenario, limiting pressure to a certain amount. OE style prop valves allow rear pressure to continue to rise after a "knee point", up to a max pressure. This is still a compromise, with ABS doing a much better job by monitoring slip instead of pressure. With ABS, the wheel slip dictates what the pressure is limited to, and if wheel slip goes away, it can then apply more pressure, up to however much you are generating with the brake pedal.
In the end, no man can tell another man what to do, so good luck with whatever you choose! I chose to leave Michigan years ago and I haven't replaced a brake line or broken off a rusty bolt since.
My $0.02
The problem with trying to "roll back" your braking system to pre-ABS is that those trucks had drum rear brakes, which took a lot less pressure to make braking power equal the the discs on the back of your truck. Just pre-4 Wheel ABS like your truck has, they had RWAL, so you have to go back even farther (to the late 80's IIRC) to find an actual prop valve, which will then limit rear brake pressure to something WAY lower than you actually want...
Adjustable prop valves are garbage for daily drivers IMO. They only account for ONE stopping scenario, limiting pressure to a certain amount. OE style prop valves allow rear pressure to continue to rise after a "knee point", up to a max pressure. This is still a compromise, with ABS doing a much better job by monitoring slip instead of pressure. With ABS, the wheel slip dictates what the pressure is limited to, and if wheel slip goes away, it can then apply more pressure, up to however much you are generating with the brake pedal.
In the end, no man can tell another man what to do, so good luck with whatever you choose! I chose to leave Michigan years ago and I haven't replaced a brake line or broken off a rusty bolt since.
My $0.02
nitro_rat
Lunchbox Lockers
So the big reason to kill the ABS on these is that many of the modules fail and replacements are NLA. I usually just yank the fuse and pull the cluster and mush the bulb with pliers (it’s soldered in) so I don’t have to look at the light.
In some extreme cases, stabilitrak equipped vehicles can even lock down when the module goes wonky.
Luckily the weight bias in a Suburban is pretty even. I have ditched the module and hard lined in its place on a few 2000-06 Suburbans. I don’t do anything about proportioning. They don’t do anything scary. You just need some line and a few fittings.
You can also leave the module in place and just remove the electronic part. I like to kill it completely if it’s got the stability control though. That one can actually apply pressure, not just release it. That one I like to eliminate!
In some extreme cases, stabilitrak equipped vehicles can even lock down when the module goes wonky.
Luckily the weight bias in a Suburban is pretty even. I have ditched the module and hard lined in its place on a few 2000-06 Suburbans. I don’t do anything about proportioning. They don’t do anything scary. You just need some line and a few fittings.
You can also leave the module in place and just remove the electronic part. I like to kill it completely if it’s got the stability control though. That one can actually apply pressure, not just release it. That one I like to eliminate!
NoDak
Well-known member
That doesn’t happen.