Stomp, Stay and Steer

[FordTruck]

If you've got ABS on your vehicle,make sure this is indelibly etched into your mind. Today, while driving home from a short vacation, I was distracted and when I looked up, there was a car stopped in my lane.
I did the Stomp, Stay and Steer and avoided a collision. The "Steer" portion put the F-150 and Arvin in a ditch in the median. Fortunately, no damage that we could see. Put the truck in 4x4 and got us out.

[pmclemore]

Good Job, FT!

OK, now tell us what your hitch setup is, which controller, and anything else that you feel assisted you. Once your heart rate settles down, that is. Mine would still be above the norm, fer sher.

Pat

[noreen&sal]

What distracted you?

[funkill]

Originally Posted by FordTruck

If you've got ABS on your vehicle,make sure this is indelibly etched into your mind. Today, while driving home from a short vacation, I was distracted and when I looked up, there was a car stopped in my lane.
I did the Stomp, Stay and Steer and avoided a collision. The "Steer" portion put the F-150 and Arvin in a ditch in the median. Fortunately, no damage that we could see. Put the truck in 4x4 and got us out.

Glad all is well. Scary - to say the least.

Now, ummmm, how 'bout us without ABS?

Laura

[Nuvite-F]

Originally Posted by FordTruck

If you've got ABS on your vehicle,make sure this is indelibly etched into your mind.

Do you have anti-lock braking on your trailer? I believe that some of the latest generation tow vehicles with integrated trailer brake controllers offer this feature.

Not towing a trailer, the ABS in my everyday driving car has saved my bacon a couple of times. Truly an amazing system. One time a guy in a pickup truck pulled out in front of me and I managed to miss him by inches. He never knew I was there. Times like that you wish you had an air horn to blow, so for that brief second the guy would know that he was about to be run over by a semi. But the truth is, I wouldn't have had time to blow it--I was too busy driving. . .
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[overlander63]

Originally Posted by Nuvite-F

But the truth is, I wouldn't have had time to blow it--I was too busy driving. . .
.

Maybe you could rig it to blow when the ABS pump engages?

[FordTruck]

Thanks to all for the support.
I wish I could say it was a pretty young woman in a very skimpy bikini walking on the side of the road that distracted me but honestly, I don't know. I guess I just wasn't paying close enough attention to my driving. This is the first time I've used ABS in an 'emergency' situation. Of course, I've had it kick in when going down hill on a dirt road that was washboarded out but that's to be expected.
As for the Trailer, it doesn't have ABS but I did lock the brakes hard enough that the tires on the trailer left pretty black marks on the ashpalt until they went off into the median.
I have the standard, delivered hitch on the F-150 with an EZ-Lift hitch and WD bars. Don't have the name of the controller but it was installed by the AS dealer when we bought our first AS and has worked well ever since.
As for those without ABS, go back to the old school of pumping the brakes as fast as you can.

[pmclemore]

Sounds to me like the controller was set up just right. Good job.

Sorry about your missing the babe in the bikini, though.

Pat

[slowmover]

TUSON is proposing a trailer anti-lock system. Nice site to read, and an interesting new controller, too.

Trucks handle like . . . . and are a reason a state-of-the-art hitch was installed on mine. The truck is the weak link, not the trailer, in these situations. Disc brakes are needed on every wheel of the combined rig, and the brake controller tested for various surface conditions.

Glad to hear it was no worse.

Good luck

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