Do I have ABS?

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RTam

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How do I know if I have ABS? This isn't my original purchased vehicle .. actually, inherited it recently .. It is a 2005 Liberty Rocky Mountain Edition.

I am used to driving vehicles with ABS and assumed any vehicles after Y2K automatically comes with ABS .. hmmm ...
Was driving yesterday and braked suddenly. The pavement was slightly wet and the brake did not pulsate. The Libby skidded for some distance. I was actually shocked. Did some looking around within the Libby for ESP buttons and any indicators on the instrumentation panel. But, didn't see anything.

Is there any way to find out if my Jeep has ABS?

Thanks.
 

boebr1

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a dead give away would be to look on the front hubs (near the brake caliper) to see if you have two wires coming from it. those are part of the abs and esp systems
 

tjkj2002

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Yeah ABS was a option on a KJ till '06 when it became standard due to ESP.

Open your hood and look just below and the left side of the brake master cylinder,if you have a block that looks like the below pic you do not have ABS..............
You must be registered for see images attach


If you do not have the above but a very big box about 10 times that size with a big electrical plug going to it you have ABS.
 

boebr1

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oh yeah... that awful thing made switching out the RHS UCA a real PIA... should have thought to mention looking at that... but the human mind is supposed to try to block out bad memories, so i forgot all about it
 

LibertyTC

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I am glad my 04 does not have abs/esp and for sure TPMS!
Just a whole lot more to lights/dings /repairs waiting to happen.
Where the tire meets road...good tires makes all the difference in the world.
What kind of tires RTam do you have on? The stock tires SRA etc horrible in rain,forget snow/ice.
If I have to brake quickly with my Goodyear Silent Armor, I also can use gears to gear down.
No skidding for me.
Kevlar belted and ready for off road or wet or old man winter.
37926[/ATTACH]"]
You must be registered for see images attach
 

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ptsb5a

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It would seem rather obvious from the manner in which your KJ behaved under heavy braking that it does not have ABS.

Time to find a parking lot and practice threshold braking techniques.:icon_lol:
 

HoosierJeeper

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Turn it on (on position) if an ABS light doesn't come on, you don't have it. Hopefully we'll be able to welcome you to the no ABS club. :D
 

jeeper4life

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I was surprised to find out that my 04 didn't have ABS. I would of figured that it would be standred for 04. Oh well not complaining..
 

bheiser

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@LibertyTC, those Goodyear Silent Armor tires in the image you posted above have a pretty aggressive tread. The traction must be great. Are they noisy on the highway? Or are they (as the name implies) "silent"? :)
 

J-Thompson

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wow lots of ABS haters out there
I love ABS ,on the vehicles I have/had that had ABS
The 1 I own that does not have it may just have crappy brakes
our '03 KJ LTD had them ,as an option
my '09 F250 has them (weighs in at near 9K#)
the '09 VW as them (also has TC)
my '02 TJ has nothing ,and crap for brakes
all of the above stop better ,by a good margin, than the TJ
The only other one we have had off road was the KJ and it had much better
"clamping power" as it was much easier to keep still on a steep hill
Not only does the F250 weigh twice as much it also stops faster
The F250 has almost 2000# of added weight the TJ has less than 200# over stock
so given a choice I would take the F250 over the TJ for emergency stopping
as far as the VW lets just say I wish my TJ moved and stopped like that thing
 

LibertyFever

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I was surprised to find out that my 04 didn't have ABS. I would of figured that it would be standard for 04. Oh well not complaining..

I was surprised too after buying my 04 Liberty Sport c/w for wheel disc brakes that it didn't come with ABS. But in a way I'm pleased. It gives me more control of my Jeep and the front wheel unit bearings are cheaper to replace.
 

LibertyTC

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@LibertyTC, those Goodyear Silent Armor tires in the image you posted above have a pretty aggressive tread. The traction must be great. Are they noisy on the highway? Or are they (as the name implies) "silent"? :)
Traction is excellent! #1 snowflake rated as well.
One week after buying the Jeep with Wrangler HP on it, which absolutely had no traction in the rain, on went the GoodYear Wrangler Silent Armor's.
As new, they were dead quiet compared to the road noise from the stock HP tires at 60% tread. I expect a bit more noise as they wear down, but it will never be in the loud rumble like an GoodYear MTR classification when worn.
I really do not think the fuel mileage has been effected much with this 245-65R-17 tire, which handles well at 38 psi. The main selling point is Kevlar & also the thickness of the sidewalls. I had looked at Forterra triple treads and other AT tires, the Silent Armor's ruled in sidewall thickness. Once my lift is done Feb/March/, I will probably go 70 series in Silent Armor's and may sell the current tires which will have 90 % left on them.
Now back To ABS: Many Kj that came with ABS also came with ESP, which Personally if you know how to drive is really not necessary. I can only imagine trying to power out and watch my motor bog down cause ESP says I should not be doing it...marvelous. Glad I have full manual control of my jeep and as
LF stated parts are less expensive when replacing as well.
 

diyman

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Me too am surprised by how many ABS haters are out there.......

No ESP on mine, only ABS, they aren't necessarily married :D

AFAIK ESP is only a firmware function of ABS, and they make You
pay for that ( OK, OK, a lamp and a switch......).
 

tjkj2002

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wow lots of ABS haters out there
I love ABS ,on the vehicles I have/had that had ABS
The 1 I own that does not have it may just have crappy brakes
our '03 KJ LTD had them ,as an option
my '09 F250 has them (weighs in at near 9K#)
the '09 VW as them (also has TC)
my '02 TJ has nothing ,and crap for brakes
all of the above stop better ,by a good margin, than the TJ
The only other one we have had off road was the KJ and it had much better
"clamping power" as it was much easier to keep still on a steep hill
Not only does the F250 weigh twice as much it also stops faster
The F250 has almost 2000# of added weight the TJ has less than 200# over stock
so given a choice I would take the F250 over the TJ for emergency stopping
as far as the VW lets just say I wish my TJ moved and stopped like that thing
A few flaws in your reasoning................

A TJ with bigger then stock tires with OE brakes will suck anyday,known fact and they have a fix for that and that's the Vanco big brake setup.Your '09 SD has to have ABS due to ESP and it's braking system is designed to stop heavy loads up to 20,000lbs so you can't use that as a basis for anything.Your '09 VW also due to ESP must have ABS.


Yes I hate ABS,owned 2 vehicles with ABS and after about getting killed in each vehicle I decided I pump my brake pedal better then a computer can and promptly pulled the ABS fuses in both and never had a issue with braking again(yes informed insurance company to drop the ABS discount).Needing ABS just means you never truely learned how to drive for the road conditions,plain and simple since it was a none issue for like 80+ years before ABS.Plus ABS has not been shown to decrease accidents at all.
 

LibertyTC

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Troy in non ABS 02-07 kj's in your honest opinion...
What are the best disc and pads for the KJ?
I am thinking about going Hawk pads in front.
 

tjkj2002

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Troy in non ABS 02-07 kj's in your honest opinion...
What are the best disc and pads for the KJ?
I am thinking about going Hawk pads in front.
You mean '02-'05 non-ABS right? Since ABS became standard in '06.

I would highly recommend Napa's Adaptive One pads and there premium rotors.If you like lots of brake dust and non-stop squeaking by all means get the Hawk pads,about the only thing they do it dust and squeak,not much in stopping power.Yes I've ran Hawk pads,they came free when I bought my 1st set of PowerSlot rotors,they got trashed in about 50miles for Napa pads.
 

LibertyTC

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If they included them for free I doubt they were the LTS pads?
I run Hawk HPS (high performance street) in 3600 lb sedan and never had squeals or squeaks, no brake dust either. They are far superior to the GM pads, don't seem to overheat the rotors. Best pads I ever placed on the sedan. but that is the car...
For the Liberty Hawk lists only the LTS: (light truck &SUV)http://www.hawkperformance.com/truck/lts.php but they also now are making ceramics, and sent email to them to see if they make PC (performance ceramic) for the Jeep.
I always thought that the Hawk compound of ferrite-carbon was acceptable in reducing temperature (less fade) and providing longer life to the rotors compared to ceramics.
I suppose the ceramics are more aggressive and will see if they new Hawk Ceramics are available: here is a link to them: http://www.hawkperformance.com/truck/ceramic.php
I appreciate your recommendation of Napa adaptive one and premium rotors.
Based on your info I am more temped to try the Napa's first now.
Similar to Vanco is there anything oversized for the front on the KJ available?
 
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J-Thompson

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A few flaws in your reasoning................

A TJ with bigger then stock tires with OE brakes will suck anyday,known fact and they have a fix for that and that's the Vanco big brake setup.Your '09 SD has to have ABS due to ESP and it's braking system is designed to stop heavy loads up to 20,000lbs so you can't use that as a basis for anything.Your '09 VW also due to ESP must have ABS.

SD does not have ESP ,it is an option
but I will give you a pass because you also thought it had IFS not TTB
and it has a max trailer of 12,000 and a max curb of 9100

oh and the sucky part of the TJ braking system is not so much the lack of clamping power in the front
as it is the rear drums
I can lock the fronts and still plow forward ,push the fronts, it will not power brake with the MTR's and Detroit combo
if it had rear disk it would be fine
and if I drove it more on the street I would simply get the brakes from the rear of an '04+ Rubicon TJ and be done
 
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