[fct]

Who said that you need Hawk pads or larger calipers to lock your tires on dry pavement? Today I had to make an emergency stop in my car when it was going about 35 mph. The tires slid like 10 feet and I could smell the rubber in my cabin. It's 3rd gen ABS car with 10 something inch rotors and whatever pads it had when I bought it used. The tires are Hankook Mileage Plus II with plenty of rubber on them and about 34psi pressure. The brake fluid had been flushed recently. I never tried locking them on purpose, but something like this happened like 5 years ago. I guess, the emergency situations make you stand on the pedal like you never thought you would.

 

[KhanTyranitar]

Two things, this obviously proves that not all Gen3 models have 4WABS, and the stock brakes have plenty of stopping power. The smaller rotors can still overheat and fade on long downhill stretches though, which is where the larger rotors excel.

My car does have 4WABS and will stop the fronts from locking.

 

[frosho]

this obviously proves that not all Gen3 models have 4WABS

This proves nothing. It's entirely possible that the ABS system is simply malfunctioning. The only way to know for sure is to check visually.

and the stock brakes have plenty of stopping power. The smaller rotors can still overheat and fade on long downhill stretches though, which is where the larger rotors excel.

True.

 

[Hornswaggle]

It sounds like your ABS system failed but it's nice to know that you can lean on your brakes hard enough to lock. My '00 SE has the small rotors w/o ABS and even with the premium NAPA ceramic pads it would not lock no matter how hard I tried. I was going to do the larger disk swap until I switched to Hawk pads. Now it grabs very nice and brake feel is so much better that during a panic-stop test I can easily control the point of lockup with minimal fade. I'm not saying the larger disks wouldn't be better but I am satisfied with what I have. Now with snowy roads in Mn my challenge is to teach my daughter that she has to brake differently in my car than she does on her Mothers car that has ABS...

 

[fct]

So how do I test if my ABS system works?

 

[jw89sho]

The ABS may be perfectly fine. If all four wheels lock at the same time, the car will slide. ABS functions by reading a difference in wheel speed. No difference, no engagement. The system has no way to tell if the car is physically moving and the wheels are not, it sees the wheels at the same speed and behaves normally.

 

[bull geek]

The ABS may be perfectly fine. If all four wheels lock at the same time, the car will slide. ABS functions by reading a difference in wheel speed. No difference, no engagement. The system has no way to tell if the car is physically moving and the wheels are not, it sees the wheels at the same speed and behaves normally.

This.

Again, Khan, Ford never, ever made 2WABS on the Taurus. It was 4W or 0W ABS.

Do you have drums or discs on the back of your 99 fct?

 

[fct]

I really doubt the rear wheels locked too. Those are the drum brakes.

 

[jw89sho]

Drums require less pressure to lock, the reason for a bias valve/proportioning device.