Brake resistance

[monterey]

I managed to sever my ABS speed sensors with my sway bar links and now I got a ABS brake light. The car feels like it has less resistance now. Does this mean that when the car is "normal" the brakes are always semi applied in a way?

[roastbeef]

The abs wire runs along the subframe area. Do you have any tire rubbing issues? I almost rubbed mine down until I tucked it out of the way.

[eatsleepboost]

No. The pads rest against the rotor and only when the pedal is pushed does the hydraulic piston press the pad into the rotor creating friction causing the rotor to slow thus slowing the wheel it's bolted to. Having an abs light on the dash turns off your abs. If for instance you went to stop on ice all of your wheels would lock up and you would slide due to abs being off and not activating. The abs does not alter normal braking under non sliding conditions.

[rdoctor]

Originally Posted by monterey

I managed to sever my ABS speed sensors with my sway bar links and now I got a ABS brake light. The car feels like it has less resistance now. Does this mean that when the car is "normal" the brakes are always semi applied in a way?

I know exactly what you mean. A couple of weeks ago I got an ABS light on and drove around that way for a couple of days prior to getting it fixed (bad wheel speed sensor $132). When this "malfunction" occurred it completely disabled ABS. I don't know how or why but my brakes definitely felt very different during the two days without ABS. I'm not talking about hard stops or hard driving....I'm talking about just regular around the town stuff. Somehow the brakes felt weaker with a deeper feeling pedal. Maybe it was psychological but I don't think so. The new rear wheel sensor took care of it.