Why anyone would EVER want to disable ABS on these trucks is totally beyond me. These are not sports cars with 50/50 weight bias and predictable handling/braking. They can have widely varied weight biases even depending on how much fuel is in the tank.
There is no possible way to get safe accurate braking without some sort of dynamic (read: active/electronic) proportioning system.
I dont care how good a driver you are; it is physically impossible to even come close to maintaining anything resembling "control" in a 7,200lb truck during a high speed panic braking/maneuvering event. Maybe in a straight line under perfect conditions you might stop a few feet sooner, but the whole point of ABS isnt to stop in a shorter distance; its to allow you to slam on the brakes and steer/avoid the obstacle without losing control. And it does that very well.
Ask any REAL driver/professional driver and I guarantee they wont have the stupid macho "puhh I dont need that electronic nanny crap, im a better driver than a computer that can make 4 independant braking applications/calculations several times a second" attitude.
There have been dozens of tests with professional drivers on closed courses in very high performance cars, EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM that Ive ever read/watched acheived better lap times and maintained a much higher level of control with the stability control enabled. Yes, the effectiveness of the stability control system is only as good as its programming, and there are definitely superior and inferior systems. In my opinion the VSES on the new GM HD's is VERY well implimented and works incredibly well without being jerky or violent. I have heard that the new Super Duty system sucks, but I have yet to drive it/test it.
Ive even read on the Diesel Place about a case where a guy hated the idea of it and wanted to get rid of it. A few weeks later he posted retracting his initial opinion and told how it recently saved his life...he was cruising at high speed down a wet highway with his family and young kids in the back when a moose (or maybe it was a deer? I forget) ran out...without even thinking he slammed on the brakes and swerved as hard as he could to avoid it...BAD idea with a big top-heavy pickup truck, but under those conditions when you arent 100% paying attention, you dont have time to think...just as he felt the rear start to trade places with the front, the VSES intervened with a few quick hard brake applications and brought the truck right back in line and safely around the moose before he even had time to think about "counter steering" and "how to correct oversteer 101". If his dmax was a 2008 or older he would have been upside down in a ditch or worse.
Yes it would be easy enough to make a module that would disable the ABS and/or VSES, but if you guys want it you are on your own; Im not going to experiment with and promote disabling a device that could/will save your life.
If you want to mess around, fine, then put aside an extra 6 seconds of your life to press the button. Problem solved. For the rest of your normal daily driving (and towing), what is the harm in leaving it on?
Im sorry if Im coming off like an ass, but this is something I feel strongly about...
Ben
