Who knows about 2014 F-150 traction control?

[Sodo]

I am thinking about buying a new F-150 4x4 with a diff-lock.

The newest 4x4 I've owned was a 2005 Nissan. I had to drive thru a snowbank. I knew the speed that I needed to get thru but when the wheels slipped, it chopped the power, which I was relying on, and I got stuck. It took me 2 hours to walk to get chains, come-alongs etc and get out. I would have burned it right there I was so mad.

Plus the brakes won't lock up the wheels when i want them to. Once I was going down an icy hill, but there was a patch ahead where my two right wheels would be on bare gravel. So thats where I was going to stop, then re-assess the remainder of the downhill. But since the left wheels were on ice, consequently the stupid ABS wouldn't lock the right wheels, and I had to blow right over my planned stopping point and fly down the slope, it was very dangerous. That was the #2 incident (that almost resulted in a fire right there). Currently I have to pull the ABS fuse if I'm gonna do anything even slightly aggressive.

So, will a new 2014 Ford do this same craaap? Or should I forget new trucks and buy a 1990s truck?

 

[D7E]

We have 3 different chev's from 2008-2011 that I hate for that reason . Once you spin a tyre in snow traction control kills power and you are stuck . My 2010 F150 will allow you to switch it off fully and drive normally , the chevs seem to override and kick in automatically even when switched off ...?

 

[Sodo]

My 2010 F150 will allow you to switch it off fully and drive normally.

Is there monkey-business like a combination of actions, hold your mouth just right etc to switch it off? Or do you simply "switch it off"? These I can ask the dealer, but just trying to get an idea what I'm up against (as a luddite).

 

[yelbike]

We have 3 different chev's from 2008-2011 that I hate for that reason . Once you spin a tyre in snow traction control kills power and you are stuck . My 2010 F150 will allow you to switch it off fully and drive normally , the chevs seem to override and kick in automatically even when switched off ...?

My wife's ford expedition has traction control, when switched off it still overrides and kills power. Sickening to deal with when "off roading" through snow conditions. The roll over stability control doesn't help either.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Both my 08 Nissan and 2012 F150 have a simple button on the dash to turn off the traction control. Not sure what you could do about the ABS?

Chris

 

[mikehaugen]

For the abs I have thought about mounting a toggle switch somewhere to kill power to the module... would behave the same as pulling the fuse. Of course your instrument panel will turn into a Christmas tree and probably get lots of chimes. Also not sure how the traction control would react to this on the newer vehicles as it seems the different modules (abs, stabilty, trans, and engine) are getting to be integrated on some vehicles. It would probably be okay on your '05, could maybe even disable traction control this way.

I have plug where the wires broke off going to one of my wheel sensors on my '03 impala. Currently driving with no traction control or abs until I get around to fixing it... haven't decided if I want to try to get a new pigtail or just solder the wires, but honestly I'm nit in a huge hurry.

 

[powerstroke444e]

On ford superdutys 11+ you have to hold the switch down for 10 sec to remove all traction control or shift to 4low

The electric locker don't lock up over 20 mph which keeps most from tearing it up.
There are a lot of little things on new trucks that you have read the manual to figure out.

 

[Sodo]

For the abs I have thought about mounting a toggle switch somewhere to kill power to the module... would behave the same as pulling the fuse. Of course your instrument panel will turn into a Christmas tree and probably get lots of chimes. Also not sure how the traction control would react to this on the newer vehicles as it seems the different modules (abs, stabilty, trans, and engine) are getting to be integrated on some vehicles. It would probably be okay on your '05, could maybe even disable traction control this way.

I have to shift into low before pulling the fuse. And then I can't shift back to High - unless I replace the fuse. It's a big PITA. So I wired in a relay to do this whenever I engage the (air) locker. Using it like that registered so many error codes that it totally confused a tech working on my truck. He said don't do that or it will cost a lot of money & time whenever you need service. Big PITA.

There is a higher level of Nissan that disables the traction control when it's in "low" and whenever the diff-lock is engaged, but not my truck. This craaap is giving me major 2nd thoughts about buying any new truck.

It's strange that 20 years ago I knew lots of guys who could tell me what truck to get, how they perform but nobody has that knowledge anymore. Almost nobody off-roads a $50k truck anymore so nobody really knows what the trucks behavior is anyway. And the kids never knew.

I've thought about just finding a nice truck from the '90s, but one modern feature I want is the airbags.

Holding down traction control for 10 sec is an eternity (especially if you want to do it without losing momentum) why not simply switch it off? This stuff is maddening.

 

[Patches]

WELCOME TO BIG BROTHER MOTORS; YOUR GOVERNMENT AT WORK

 

[The Fred]

I believe the new F-150s have a feature called descent control. It is a function of the ABS that slows the vehicle down without your help through function of the ABS computer.

I have it on an X5 BMW and it works very well. I live on a NASTY icy driveway and when towing my trailer it's the cat's behind. Mine controls the speed by using the up/down buttons on the cruise control.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47paXYZqG8U

Fred