Why do you want to disable the ABS exactly? I don't think anyone on this site is willing to give information which could make them an accessory to a crime. (Knowingly driving without ABS is illegal FYI)

Lauraa: Ignore Geek860. There are no laws against driving without ABS. Many owners disconnect their ABS immediately after their first near death experience coasting helplessly into an intersection with no braking power. Look in both fuse boxes for your vehicle. One will be under the dash. The second will be under the hood. The legend will tell you which fuse or relay is for ABS. Remove the relay or fuse in an empty parking lot then test your brakes to ensure you pulled the right fuse or plug. With the ABS unit disabled, your vehicle should have perfectly normal non-ABS brakes. A brief internet search on "Disable ABS" will confirm that you are not alone. ABS brakes are the scariest invention ever put on a car. It is outrageous that a machine which has no idea how soon you need to stop will intervene to reduce your braking power to “enhance steering”. In most emergency braking situations, drivers have no steering choices. ABS just helps cars with ABS to drive straight into the back of a non-ABS vehicle or straight into an active intersection where someone will get broadsided or into a ditch/telephone post in the hopes of avoiding an inevitable collision with what ever is straight ahead of you.. ABS also puts pedestrian children and adults at greater risk.

Jerv: Your comments had just a tad of an insulting tone. I’m not writing back to return any jabs. Instead, I have some information to share with you from informed third party sources including Wikipedia, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, even the a group that lobbies on behalf of the ABS manufacturing industry. 1) I did not say ABS causes brake failure, I said it increases stopping distances --which it does. I also said that many drivers including myself have coasted helplessly into intersections when their ABS brakes intervene in a manner that prevents stopping in time. If you thought I meant that ABS actually causes brake failure then I apologies for being unclear. 2) Skilled drivers can outperform ABS brakes on all surfaces. Unskilled drivers may achieve better stopping distances with ABS brakes than they can without ABS. To validate this, you will find excellent research at http://wikicars.org/en/ABS Also from Wikicars, here are scientifically recorded stopping distance comparisons between four wheel lock-up and ABS. <Wikicars excerpt> Braking distance from 80-0 km/h: .........................locked wheels...............ABS dry pavement........45 m......................32 m snow......................53 m......................64 m ice.........................255 m.....................404 m <End of Wikicars Excerpt> "Cadence braking" aka "threshold braking" can achieve much shorter stopping distances that either four wheel lock-up or ABS. Advocates of ABS never compare ABS stopping distances to Cadence braking and in this manner are able to claim the ABS brakes may decrease stopping distances on pavement (for some drivers). One more important point... Some collisions are unavoidable. In these situations we rely on our brakes to scrub-off enough speed to make the impact survivable. If it takes 150 meters longer to stop on Ice with ABS then what happens if the collision takes place at 250 M. The non ABS vehicle has a fender bender. The ABS driver may die. 3) I drive on ice six months of the year so your assumptions that I have limited driving experience with ABS and ice is incorrect. I have had no accidents for the past 25 years and have a six star insurance rating. My stopping distances with ABS disconnected are always shorter than I can achieve with the ABS connected. I think that puts me in the skilled driver category. You seem to have a certain pride in your own driving abilities. Before you put yourself in the category of less skilled drivers who benefit from ABS you might like to pull out your own relay for a test. The test may just confirm you belong in the higher skilled group who can indeed outperform ABS. When people apply their brakes and the ABS pushed back on the brake pedal, there is a natural assumption that very little traction was available. What if the feedback that you got from the ABS system was false and much more traction could have been accessed (to stop earlier). The stopping statistics above more or less prove that this is the case. Most drivers never get the chance or make the opportunity to explore just how much extra traction was available beyond the threshold allowed by their ABS computer. Try this… Go to a deserted gravel parking lot. Pick up a bit of speed then hit the ABS brakes. You won’t be slowing down in too much of a hurry. Now pull the emergency brake. You will notice the vehicle lurch to a stop. This with just two of your four wheels overriding the ABS. 4) ABS brakes are not mandatory. Given that ABS systems are not required by federal law, your belief that it is illegal to disconnect ABS may be a misunderstanding. Safety checks performed on vehicles that change ownership may require that all of the factory equipment is operational. This may include equipment that is not required by law. For example, you won’t pass a safety check if your heater fan is not working. Driving a car with a broken heater fan is not a criminal offence or moving violation. Since you clearly distrust my opinions on ABS brakes, I’ll refer you to a few more third party sources. Here is a 2005 post from an individual who has clearly done some research into ABS. <Start of Quote> http://hdforums.com/m_67462/tm.htm "Despite the general impression that ABS equipped vehicles can stop faster than those without, in general this is not true. ABS is primarily intended to help prevent the loss of control (caused by locked brakes), not to in some magical way make the brakes more effective at stopping the vehicle. The reason ABS is not particularly effective in terms of braking ability on dry surfaces is that it is generally pretty easy to avoid locking the brakes anyway. So, I suppose, there are those that will argue that ABS helps you stop faster on slippery surfaces even if not on dry ones. In fact that is not always true either. There are tests that show improved stopping performance (for cars and trucks) on WET surfaces, where drivers are more apt to overuse their brakes to the point of locking them, but there are several other studies that demonstrate absolutely convincingly that braking distances increase with ABS over non-ABS equipped vehicles when riding on loose gravel or snow covered surfaces. (This, because gravel and loose snow piles up and tends to create a 'dam' in front of a locked wheel where a rolling wheel tends to ride up and over a much smaller 'dam'.) But 'maintaining control' is a good thing by itself, right? Surely that is good enough reason to require every vehicle to have ABS equipped brakes, right? Nope. In February of 1996 the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced it had dropped the federal safety standard requirement for anti-lock brake systems on all new cars. They did so because studies showed a 0% decrease in the overall number of accidents when comparing ABS equipped cars against those without ABS, AND because these studies showed a 40% increase in single vehicle run-off-the-road accidents with ABS equipped cars. (Apparently your odds of getting into an accident if you lock your brakes in a car is less than if you do not - implying that if you lock them you will likely simply slide in the direction you were moving, but if you maintain some measure of (impaired) control you are likely to throw the vehicle into a path that takes you off the road.)" http://hdforums.com/m_67462/tm.htm <End of Quote> A quick Recap… ABS stopping distances are longer on dry pavement, rain, ice and snow. ABS brakes to not decrease accident rates There is no legislative requirement for ABS. In my opinion, the 40% increase in single vehicle run-off road accidents probably has a lot to do with drivers electing to drive-off the road when they encounter inadequate braking. In the heat of the moment, the choice between striking an innocent third party and ditching often favors ditching. I recognize that the numbers of people out there who think that ABS brakes help them stop faster are in the majority. Unfortunately, the majority are mis-informed. Manufacturers of ABS have done an amazing job of manipulating the public into thinking that ABS brakes are safer. The realities are otherwise. Here is an example of an ABS Manufacturer funded Web site extolling the Virtues of ABS. They try to put a positive possible spin on longer ABS stopping distances. Even though the effort is to say good things the can’t help repeating the issue of longer stopping distances with ABS… http://www.abs-education.org/faqs/faqindex.htm In what circumstances might conventional brakes have an advantage over ABS? There are some conditions where stopping distance may be shorter without ABS. For example, in cases where the road is covered with loose gravel or freshly fallen snow, the locked wheels of a non-ABS car build up a wedge of gravel or snow, which can contribute to a shortening of the braking distance. If I live in the Snow Belt, how can I benefit from ABS? Even in fresh snow conditions, you gain the advantages of better steerability and stability with four-wheel ABS than with a conventional system that could result in locked wheels. In exchange for an increased stopping distance, the vehicle will remain stable and maintain full steering since the wheels won't be locked. The gain in stability makes a potential increase in stopping distances an acceptable compromise for most drivers. All in all, these benefits outweigh the rare instances where the ABS system increases distances over non-ABS equipped vehicles. http://www.abs-education.org/faqs/faqindex.htm ABS brakes increase stopping distances. On the surfaces with the least traction, ABS brakes dramatically increase stopping distances. If you want further confirmation just Google "disable ABS" and you will see how may people are attributing near death experiences to their ABS braking systems. My first dangerous experience with ABS brakes left me coasting helplessly towards an intersection with no stopping power on a somewhat icy surface. The ABS push the brake pedal up and away from the floor. I stood on the pedal (did not pump) and could not conger up an ounce of deceleration. I was 100 meters from the intersection and traveling only about 20 kph. In desperation, I grabbed the emergency brake and stopped within a few feet. This was a new car so I took the car to the dealership. They encountered similar brake performance in an icy parking lot that I took them to. They informed me it was normal for ABS and that it allowed me to maintain steering control. I felt stopping was slightly more important so I immediately pulled out the relay. On many occasions and I have taken a colleague into an icy parking lot to demonstrated how their own vehicle stops with and without ABS brakes. The stopping distances are always dramatically shorter with the ABS relay removed, regardless of year or model. This is a test you can easily perform for yourself. Pick the iciest un-salted lot you can find and the difference will be as great as 20 to 40 feet. We have bought several new vehicles since our first ABS equipped car. Our most recent vehicles are 2008 model year. We have on occasion forgotten to disconnect the ABS until a near collision reminds us to do so. Even thou manufacturer have improved upon ABS brakes, they remain deadly on icy surfaces even on 2008 models. While we can and have disconnected our own ABS brakes, there are course many other drivers with ABS brakes. Between my wife and I, we have been hit form behind by three different drivers. In all cases they had vehicles equipped with ABS braking systems. The greatest danger with ABS is the inability to stop prior to an intersection. These areas are frequently oily and become very slippery when wet, snow covered or icy. Disconnecting your ABS may very well save you life some day because broadside intersection collisions are frequently deadly. Advocates of ABS Brake like to say that the non-ABS braking advantage is due to the built-up of debris in-front of a locked tire. This is a misrepresentation. While debris does build up in-front of a locked wheel, the stopping power comes from biting through a loose surface into the harder surface below. ABS equipped wheels are constantly rotating onto fresh gravel, snow or ice and never have the opportunity to sit on a stable surface let alone bite into it. The propensity to always rotate the contact patch onto loose material is one major factor in longer stopping distances. Another is Brake line pressure. ABS brakes reduce brake pressure line pressure when low traction surface are encountered. Lower bake line pressure causes longer stopping distances. The majority of Police departments remove the ABS relay from police vehicles to enhance the safety of their officers. Naturally these officers are expert drivers. ABS brakes would be quite treacherous in a high speed pursuit. In fact two police officers did die when their car plummeted into a ravine during a high speed pursuit. The officers tried to scrub of speed before entering a curve. Their deaths were attributing to the ABS brakes. The suspect presumably did not have ABS. The incident occurred in the US and was reported by the documentary series W5. This thread started with Laura’s question, “how do I disconnect the ABS brakes on my 1995 Ford Ranger” I’d like to hear exactly what prompted Laura to want her ABS brakes out of the way.

To learn more about the dangers of ABS please follow this link: http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/killer-abs-abs-braking-increases-rollover-risk-by-51/

Acctually, ABS can cause brake failure. I've been in a accident because of it. The sensors went bad in the front wheels of my 99 Ranger and caused the ABS to come on when under 5 MPH. The result was I was on a hill and when i stopped the ABS brakes kikked in and i ran right into the back of another car, if that car wasn't there I would have been in the middle of the intersection, which could have been deadly. I got a ticket for that accident because the officer said the ABS brakes were working fine. I took the truck to 2 shops one ran it into a telephone pole trying to stop, both said it was a ABS brake issue and they couldn't fix it. I took it to the dealer, the guy at thhe dealer allmost got run over by a tractor trailer becuse the ABS brakes malfunctioned again. About a month later(and $900)I was driving my truck back from the dealer when the front left tire falls off-the dealer forgot to tighten the lug-nuts ($3900 damage but that's another story(thankfuly the dealer paid for all the damage)). Anyways 200 miles after getting it fixed from the second accident my ABS brakes are acting up again and it makes it allmost impossible to stop so I tried pulling the fuse which disabled the speedo so i'm going to pull the rlay under the hood. BTW: think of it this way, ABS applys the brakes an average of 10-12 times per second, how is something that is only stopping you about half of the time you are pressing the brake going to make you stop faster that the brakes being applied at a steady pace just on the limit of the wheels slipping?