raamaudio

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-Prior to starting I looked over the system really well, several times, thought things though, etc, then looked in my micro fiche files at the non ABS Matrix brake line T on the master cylinder. I tried to order one but the wrong part came in.

-In the mean time I realized I needed two of them and nothing available from numerous parts stores that would do the job. So, junkyard time, late model Corola and a bit older one provided the T's and just in case a fixed proportioning valve, free parts even

--Time to go to work.
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-I cut all the lines near the middle of the firewall and then slipped rubber vacuum caps over the ends. I used tin snips to sever the lines.

-unplugged the cable to the ABS unit and sealed it with rubber tape and electrical tape then tie wrapped it down by the washer bottle.

-removed all the lines, brackets, etc, holding the lines from the ABS unit all the way to the middle of the firewall.

-one line was an exception for cutting, I left the one coming from the back outlet of the master cylinder allot longer as planned to feed the front passenger side caliper with it.

-I used one non ABS tee at the master cylinder replacing the elbow that was there going to the diver side caliper. To this I went to the rear of the master cylinder with a short line, now it fed the drivers side and a line going towards the passenger side.

-Down behind the subframe there are two lines feeding the rear brakes and they are attached at dual unions there which are welded to a bracket. I cut one union off, welded on a tee, bent a short line and then had one input line coming down, teeing to both lines going aft to the rear brakes.

-I removed one of the lines coming down there as no longer needed. The other line was left intact for now.

-I fabricated an aluminum bracket that bolted to studs sticking out from the firewall and mounted a Wilwood manual proportioning valve at an angle I could reach and adjust it at.

-I used the remaining line coming up from behind the subframe, the one that now tees to feed both rear brakes, and bent it around to fit into the valve.

-I used the line coming off the front of the master cylinder and cut and fit it to the input of the valve.

-Then I finished the front brake lines up. I already had a line now coming from the rear output of the master cylinder tee'd right next to it feeding the drivers side front caliper and the other side going towards the center of the firewall(and a bit beyond) All I had left to do was bend a new line from the passenger side caliper towards the line feeding from the master cylinder tee. I used the union I cut off from the rear lines earlier and tied those together.

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Result:

-Front of the master cylinder feeds a line to the rear proportioning valve that fees to the tee behind the subframe that feeds both rear brakes.

-Rear of master cylinder feeds a line to a tee that feeds both front brakes.

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Tools:

-really good double flare tool, $10 one I had was crap, $20 one from Sears looked good, crap as well, $50 Mac Tools, did the job but I had to drive 80 miles round trip on a Saturday to the guys house to buy it, really cool for him to let me do so and I would of paid $100 by then if that was what it cost!

- metric and standard flare fitting wrenches(really needed as explained below)

-Good, compact tubing cutter.

-Tubing bender(and a few other ways to figure it out for the tighter bends)

-Vice is nice to hold fittings in and really work the flare nuts really tight, loosen them, turn the tubing, tighten again, move again, etc, etc. as it is really hard to not have leaks!!!!! You want to really get the seats maxed out before you install them. (I have no leaks at all I also used it to hold the flare tool as well, helped alit in making proper double flares.

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After doing this and autocrossing then doing a great back woods mountain run my thoughts about ABS are confirmed even more, in almost all cases, a bandaid for lack of good driving skills. I am so glad I made the decision to remove the ABS!
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Only a few things left to take care of now.

-No speedo, signal comes from ABS to the ECU to the Speedo, I will figure it out and post it when I do but no rush, this car sees little time out on the road anyway.

-Two more idiot lights on the dash now, brake and ABS, they go nicely with SRS(airbags deleted) and seatbelts as they were taken out as well. No big deal, just cut one end of the LEDs off someday.


Rick

proctorsilex

i've heard that one can remove or break the abs fuse in some cars.
what about that or disconnecting the abs wires?

SCION_X

I guess this is for a track car, and not for street use? Meaning you are building a track car,a nd this is a write up to do this, for autocross... Nice write up, but looks to tech'y to me....

proctorsilex

i've been told that it's illegal to disable abs.
i was thinking about testing out the fuse theory when i get a chance. if it works, then i'll put in one of those safety switches to control abs for on and off track use.

i'm curious if this is better and why.
i wouldn't do it to my current car, but for a race only car, i'd consider it.

SquallLHeart

wow rick... that's quite some progress on the car

yeah guys.. he's building a track car... very impressive if you've been keeping up on his modifications.

this guy's a true tuner.

raamaudio

I did not test the system by pulling the fuse and if you do so, be really carefull as the front to rear bias is controlled by the ABS system dynamically. If you pull the fuse you may end up with no rear breaks but I would hope they designed it to have a default setting for emergency situations where you still have rear brakes.

I would find a nice wide open gravel road and test there at low speed first, having somebody watch would be best. While driving by them hit the brakes hard enough to slid and see if the rears lock up, if they do, they work, if not, try again but a bit more addressively. If you cannot get them to lock you may not have rear brakes.

Next go to a big parking lot and test it over again to see what happens. You may even go as far as to turn while doing so and being observed, the inside rear tire will be unweighted and should be able to lock it up if the rears are working.

If you have rear brakes I would imaging the default setting should be safe to drive anywhere you want. If no rear brakes are evident then never pull the fuse!

You can wire a switch in place of the fuse but if you do make sure you have the same size fuze inline with the wire to switch.


You do not need to endanger yourself to do this is you use a bit of caution, if you do not feel comfortable then wait for somebody else to test it out.

raamaudio

I would check in your home state to see what laws pertain to your ABS system.

This is a major mod requiring some fairly difficult work with bending and flairing the tubing properly, tough to get to areas, I would consider it permanent as well so id you do not think you are keeping your car for a very long time, I would not advise it.

The benifits are only for extreme situations, not something you are going to get much use out of on the street unless you are driving far to aggresively there and you should not be doing so.

THANKS for the nice comment

Rick

peteyd

jeebus rick! is all i can say!

proctorsilex

so your brake modifications will make it work better under heavy use.
i'll keep it in mind for a track only car when/if i get to such a project, which is a few years away.

i'm comfortable fooling with the abs fuse on my car, so i'll give it a shot next time i have someone to watch me.

thanks.
hope your car works out.

raamaudio

Before I did this I asked two many times national champion autocross drivers, one of which is an engineer at Bilstien, they both said to take it out. I already planned to but it is wise to back up major ideas with info from those with more real world experience.

The brakes do no nessisarily work better, it depens on your view of what that means.

It allows you to have more direct control and feedback, a more finite way of adjusting your driving to the conditions at hand. In some cases ABS would be better but when you push a car to the extreme limits, a system that is designed for everyday use can really get in the way, just not fast or adaptive enough. In our case ABS was being kicking in far to early and at one point it went full ABS mode on all four wheels and I blew right past a tight corner, twice the same day.

For most people with less severe mods to their cars and if they have less time under extreme driving conditions to learn the skills needed, ABS should probably be left on.

Not saying I am a gifted driver, am decent and have alot of practice and leaned alot of car control at extreme levels but I still need to get better and am working on it

Rick

DuMa

goddamn it, pics!!!!!!! i swear you are living in the ice age with no digital camera. i love your posts but they would even better with pics to show us proof.

johnhawkins

iTrader: (1)

Is there any way you can make a diagram on how you did this??? Maybe some pictures that could help as a DIY....I am DYINGGGG to do this and have found very little info on this. Anything will help!

TJKASS

Mad props to raamaudio, thats the proper way to do it and exactly what i wouldve done if i wasnt planning on driving on the street so much, as for the questions about the abs fuse, yes proportioning is controlled on the fly by the abs, hence the term EBD, however ive pulled the abs fuse before (actually in the process of determining where i want to put a switch for it at the moment), and on my car it seemed to proportion about 60/40, and the rears would lock just a hint before the fronts, and while tricycling around some corners it was def confirmed that the inside tire was locking fully. I honestly really like the balance w/o the abs on, but i def want it functioning on the street. Anyone else pulled their fuse to test?

raamaudio

Unless you are making the car into a dedicated track car, never to go back on the streets, pulling the fuse is best.

Once you remove the ABS completely you would have a very very hard time making the car legal in most states, nearly impossible to ever sell it, etc......

If I even make ours street "legal" I have to have a circuit designed to make the idiot lights function like all is well;) That is all they require in my state, for now.

Sincerely
Rick

Dade

Based on the owners manual, there are two fuses under the hood for ABS. Fuse 10 (40A), and 11 (50A). Both have something to do with the ABS system, but I have not determined what. Has someone tested the removal of these fuses? Any ideas on how to install a switch to control them both? It would be nice to have a setting for road and track use.

raamaudio

Since my car would rarely, if ever see street time and if so it would be on race tires anyway, I saved a bunch of weight by yanking out the whole system