Curious, my 01 ranger ive pulled the ABS fuse for now (long story) and it stops pretty good, nice and straight no pulling no obvious "nosediving". Pedal maybe goes inch or so down for normal stops, 2 inches for hard stops. Full on panic stop the pedal is fully depressed (hits hard spot in pedal travel) and tires do not lock up. Stops somewhat quick (but standing on the pedal for several seconds) but no lock up... Ideally it should correct?

Why do fords seem to only have like 3" of pedal travel in the brake pedal before hitting a hard stop? My moms new escape is the same way. Im used to GM stuff where you get like 8" and if its on the floor you got a blown line.

Im going to try adjusting the rear brakes again. I put new shoes, new drums, and new hardware kit with adjusters awhile back. Front rotors, calipers, and pads are new up front 2 years ago and calipers move freely (checked and regreased in July)

 

Hmm no responses - i guess the main thing i want to know is with the ABS fuse pulled i should still be able to lockup the wheels correct?

 

Disc brakes don't tend to lock a wheel up like shoes can which is why they are preferred, road needs to be wet, slippery, to lock up disc brake wheel in most cases, try panic stop on a gravel road to test

Shoes lock up a wheel faster

Yes brake pedal travel varies, depends on master cylinder travel and pedals push rod geometry

 

hmm my 95 s10 (non abs) if i panic stopped i could easily lock up the front wheels along with every old car weve had.

ill try a gravelly road and see what it does and also record on dry how not so quick full pedal down stops me.

 

Yes, I used to have tires like that, lol.

Tires matter as well, if they have lower traction then its like a "slippery surface" all the time.

Brake size also matters, Rangers are under braked in the front IMO, they could use larger rotors and pads, they are OK, just would have liked to have seen larger.

Older cars in question may have had proper size brakes on the front so easier to lockup

 

good point - i did manually adjust the rear brakes again and stops much better now. Gravel roads its easy lockup and dry it stops much better.

Same tires on my S10 thats on the ranger (same size too) so thats why i thought it was weird.

 

I have locked up the brakes on my Ranger even with the ABS working. They release quickly as the ABS starts working but there is definitely a screech of the tires. I have upgraded the friction material on my pads and shoes from stock because I felt the stock brakes were not good enough for towing. I have no complaints since I upgraded 200K miles ago. If you feel your brakes are not working well enough, that is the easies and least expensive way to have better brakes. Of course, the brake system has to be adjusted and working properly even with upgraded friction material..