Gok Krish Posted October 27, 2020 Report Share Posted October 27, 2020 Greetings Body, I am on a Wrangler JK fitted with a ABS kill switch. There is also a push button for "traction control off". Should both ABS and Traction control be disabled for the desert drives or just killing the ABS is enough? My last drive, I forgot to turn off the traction but had killed the ABS. Did some googling to learn that the former is for braking the latter is for accelerating. Thanks for sharing the wisdom. Apologies if this question is already addressed regards Gokul 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sertac Posted October 28, 2020 Report Share Posted October 28, 2020 Hi traction control must be switched off while off roading. It will kill the power. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Frederic Posted October 28, 2020 Popular Post Report Share Posted October 28, 2020 We can distinguish 3 different controls on most modern 4x4 cars: 1) ABS (Anti-Lock braking system) A standard Anti-lock Braking System uses four wheel speed sensors, a hydraulic pump, hydraulic valves, and a controller. The controller in the ABS system monitors the speed of each wheel using the wheel speed sensors, which are usually hall effect sensors. If the controller sees that one wheel is decelerating at a rate that couldn't possibly correspond to the vehicle's rate of deceleration, it actuates the hydraulic valve in that wheel's brake line to reduce the brake pressure applied to that wheel. This allows the wheel to turn faster. Once the wheel is back up to speed, it uses the pump to introduce the pressure back into that brake line, applying that brake again. When the controller sees rapid deceleration again, it activates the valve and the cycle repeats about 15 times per second. The ABS system is mainly made to avoid your brakes from locking up during hard braking, which would cause your vehicle to start slipping. 2) ESC (Electronic Stability Control) Electronic stability control (ESC) is a computerized control system that applies brakes to individual wheels and reduces engine power to ensure that drivers maintain control of their vehicles. The six main components of an ESC system are: wheel speed sensors, a control module, a steering angle sensor, a yaw rate sensor, an accelerometer, and the hydraulic modulator. Note that the hydraulic modulator is the same one used in an ABS system, meaning that ESC adds only the yaw sensor, an accelerometer, and steering angle sensor to a standard ABS system. To understand how this system works, imagine you are driving down the highway at 60 miles per hour. You swerve left to avoid hitting a raccoon. What happens in the short duration to follow? The yaw rate sensor determines where your car is pointing, the steering angle sensor determines where your front wheels are pointing, the accelerometer determines if your vehicle is sliding, and the wheel speed sensors monitor each wheel’s speed. If you turn your wheel very abruptly to the left, your vehicle will initially under steer. This is simply Newton’s First Law. Since the front tires do not yet have enough traction, they slide and the car continues to move forward. The control module recognizes the discrepancy between the intended path (communicated by the steering angle sensor) and the actual path (communicated via the yaw rate sensor) and sends a signal to the hydraulic unit, directing it to increase braking power to the left rear wheel. This causes the automobile to rotate left (the desired response). If necessary, the control module will also reduce engine power by sending a signal to the throttle actuator asking it to close the butterfly valve. 3) Traction Control Traction control works in a similar way as ESC. If a vehicle is unable to gain traction in icy conditions, one wheel will spin while the other simply remains stationary. This is the nature of an open differential: the wheel with the least traction receives the most power. This is undesirable in low-traction situations. As such, traction control can step in. Traction control monitors wheel speed using ABS wheel speed sensors. If a wheel is slipping, traction control reduces engine power to help the wheel regain traction. If necessary, traction control can also apply the brakes to the slipping wheel. This will transfer power to the other wheel (which now has more "traction") depending on surface conditions. As you can see above, these electronic aids are functioning together, all with the same aim of increasing safety for you and your passengers. During dynmamic offroading in sand, the speed and yaw sensors will assume that you are losing traction, and the system will start to react with reducing engine power and diverting power to the wheels that still have traction. That is the main reason we disable these systems. 7 3 1 2 "Go as far as you can see; once you get there, you'll be able to see further." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ahab Shamaa Posted October 28, 2020 Report Share Posted October 28, 2020 Great info! Thanks for sharing 👍🏻 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gok Krish Posted October 28, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2020 Thanks @sertac, i realized it last time on my drive with @Chaitanya Dwhere i lost power twice on a side slopping. I was thinking if it was me who was also doing a side slopping of a medium sized dune for the first time. I felt i was kind of slipping back losing power and had to turn to come down. Tomorrow with my drive with @Ale Vallecchi i will hopefully catch up with my Traction control turned off and ESC off apart from ABS killed. Thanks @Fredericfor the amazing and patient explanation and bringing in science resources. It is clear now that both ABS and Traction control need to be off to get full power on the wheels. Will be putting the horse to its test tomorrow and will report on success. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biju Abdul Posted October 28, 2020 Report Share Posted October 28, 2020 Thanks @Frederic for the comprehensive information. I drive FJ and I get this ABS function issue while braking during declines from high dunes or at speed above 40km and it’s very disturbing. I have no option to disable this by default. A kill switch installation was suggested by a few, Hope this is recommended for us during off roading ? How about disabling Airbags during off roading, would be happy to hear your thought and option on this? Thanks. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topgear Posted October 28, 2020 Report Share Posted October 28, 2020 @Biju Abdul I have an FJ and I have a kill switch that disable ESC, traction control, ABS and airbags 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biju Abdul Posted October 28, 2020 Report Share Posted October 28, 2020 35 minutes ago, topgear said: @Biju Abdul I have an FJ and I have a kill switch that disable ESC, traction control, ABS and airbags Thanks @topgear I assume that you got it done from outside? I will try to get it too. Thanks. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topgear Posted October 28, 2020 Report Share Posted October 28, 2020 1 hour ago, Biju Abdul said: Thanks @topgear I assume that you got it done from outside? I will try to get it too. Thanks. yes got it done outside. Pretty convenient with the kill switch I must say. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piotr Kolodziej Posted October 28, 2020 Report Share Posted October 28, 2020 Most workshops can install a killer switch for FJ for just 200-250 but unfortunately Toyota service informed me it's not allowed to do this - any modification to electrical system would affect the car warranty. So the only option is to drive for the next couple of years with air bags and ABS on. I hope for the type of offroading we do it will not be a problem for those of us using FJs (and we can avoid incidents with air bags like the one Jorge had recently with the Land Rover) - hopefully, the sensitivity of air bags at FJs is not that high... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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