Possible brilliant idea, possible bust... you make the choic

[Philberto]

It may make sense to work the abs solenoids in reverse from your original idea.

Use the solenoid to block fluid flow to the wheels with grip. Allow free wheels to still receive modulated braking.

Have two dash switches. One would be to stop flow to front left, and rear right... the other would be opposite - stop flow to front right and rear left.

You get stuck with opposing wheels spinning. Engage appropriate switch, now apply brakes, then slowly apply throttle... once you regain traction on the braked wheels, release brakes, and deactivate the switch.

Just be careful not to activate both switches, or you lose all braking!!

Assuming the solenoids run off of 12V... could be easy as long as you know the pinout.

The solenoids probably run off 12v, but rather than disassembling the ABS module or the EBCM (kinda the commander of the ABS stuff) I could also just get those line locks and utilize them for that as well... instead of using them to hold brake pressure, I could use them to isolate the brake circuits in question... would probably be a whole lot easier, just less cost-effective. Summit has the locks for 40 apiece IIRC...

[Philberto]

come to think of it... aside from using up dash real estate, is there any reason to have two switches rather than four? I only ask because I can imagine a situation where I'd want traction from both front wheels but perhaps have one rear wheel slipping...

[Trail X]

come to think of it... aside from using up dash real estate, is there any reason to have two switches rather than four? I only ask because I can imagine a situation where I'd want traction from both front wheels but perhaps have one rear wheel slipping...

If you have a rear wheel without weight, then 99% of the time, the opposite wheel is without weight (or without MUCH weight) too. The only exceptions are if you are in extreme off camber situations.

I'd ideally do only one 3-pos switch.

| left front, right rear braking | all braking | right front, left rear braking |

That'd keep you from accidently turning off braking to all wheels... look MA! No brakes!

[Philberto]

come to think of it... aside from using up dash real estate, is there any reason to have two switches rather than four? I only ask because I can imagine a situation where I'd want traction from both front wheels but perhaps have one rear wheel slipping...

If you have a rear wheel without weight, then 99% of the time, the opposite wheel is without weight (or without MUCH weight) too. The only exceptions are if you are in extreme off camber situations.

I'd ideally do only one 3-pos switch.

| left front, right rear braking | all braking | right front, left rear braking |

That'd keep you from accidently turning off braking to all wheels... look MA! No brakes!

haha yeah that's true... Time to go look up pinouts for the EBCM solenoids... I just hope it doesn't throw codes from the ABS system.

[bartonmd]

FWIW, I know on my '07, if I turn off the traction control, and start spinning tires in the snow, the stabilitrac will pulse the brakes... I had the forsight to look for a vehicle specifically with the G80 option (even used, I wouldn't buy one without the G80, unless it was cheap enough to allow me to swap out the axle with a G80 axle), so I don't know exactly how it would work without the G80...

Mike

[Philberto]

FWIW, I know on my '07, if I turn off the traction control, and start spinning tires in the snow, the stabilitrac will pulse the brakes... I had the forsight to look for a vehicle specifically with the G80 option (even used, I wouldn't buy one without the G80, unless it was cheap enough to allow me to swap out the axle with a G80 axle), so I don't know exactly how it would work without the G80...

Mike

Hmmm... I'll have to try that out on our Hummer test track... with the wheel rollers to simulate zero tire traction

Unfortunately, I didn't know about the g80 and all that when I was shopping... and I was originally looking for an Xterra, Tahoe, or 4Runner, so research wasn't done on the TB.

[robert1101]

Interesting concept, should work. With all the power sent to only one side I wonder about the stress to the front differential and cv joints. Considering this is only used on trails then pulling the abs fuse and using electric valves on the front and rear brakes would work for us with the G-80 (I think). In the back of my mind I seem to remember that the brake lines have some strange thread.

[boog2006]

I'm assuming this was a bust?

[BWGuy]

Was there ever any more to this story? I was actually thinking of getting some line locks for the front of my truck so that I could lock brake pressure into one of front wheels if the PTX No Slip rear wasn't enough to get me through a situation. I'm not ready to put the locker in the front diff yet, so I was hoping this might be a good interim upgrade.

I was thinking of two momentary on switches. So for example, going up a steep hill, right front dips into low spot and starts spinning, back two are pushing but not enough, front left has no torque. I stop, apply brakes, depress momentary on switch to lock brake pressure into right front, let off brakes and apply throttle. Hopefully now both back and the left front are pulling and I crawl up until the right front starts to drag, at which point I let off the line lock switch.

What I've wondered is if having left front trying to spin twice as fast (since right front is braked) is no good. If this is the case, do I need to only apply enough brake pressure to slow down right front so it still spins, but some torque goes to left?

Surely some human who didn't know to get a later model TB with traction control is out there doing something like this and can give some pointers.

[BWGuy]

Or would it just be better to get out and jam a stick through the wheel so that it stops against the brake caliper.

[dvanbramer88]

Was there ever any more to this story?

The OP sold his TB a while ago and has disappeared from the forum. So no... Also, he was talking about this in 2009.

Surely some human who didn't know to get a later model TB with traction control is out there doing something like this and can give some pointers.

If I was in the situation you described, i would be in 4LO and manually select first gear. Even in the later model TB's with traction control and stabilitrac, it shuts off when you go into 4LO.

Or would it just be better to get out and jam a stick through the wheel so that it stops against the brake caliper.

What?




I've seen plenty of trucks with front and rear open diffs get through the situation you described. It's about 75% driver skill, 25% equipment. Good tires and a driver who knows what he is doing are the most important. In the situation you described, you could simply try a different line or turn the wheels a little and change the camber of the vehicle.

[The Roadie]

Or would it just be better to get out and jam a stick through the wheel so that it stops against the brake caliper.

In the ultra-rare case where I have two tires in the air, and the traction I get with one rear tire when the locker engages isn't enough, I've been tempted to take a ratchet strap to freeze the loose front tire to get the other side to join the party. A stick is interesting, but I can see it damaging a brake line. One time I was alone and very stuck (dented my driveshaft on a rock actually) and I used the winch to get a slight angle pull to avoid hurting the driveshaft more. But it was a perfect setup for using that trick.

[BWGuy]

Have you ever breached your fuel tank?

[v7guy]

he has a gas tank skid