ABS and Trailers????

[foulhook]

I just bought a 2004 new body style F-150 with the 5.4L in it. Ive noticed that frequently when braking on lightly rough road while towing my boat that the ABS will kick in and really make the pedal jump. Has anyone else experienced this problem? Is there any way to shut of the ABS when I tow? Is this doing any harm to my brakes or truck? It sure does'nt feel great.

Tight lines

[Brewhedd]

The only time I've had that happen is on a washboard dirt road. I don't think it's going to hurt anything, just give the system a workout. I love my anti locks, had to nail the brakes once towing my 5000 lb boat/trailer (disc's on the trailer) and I stopped very quickly.

[joe j]

Can you tell if it the front or the rear wheels. My thought is the you have either one of two problems. 1) Trailer brakes are not working properly and the rear of the truck is being pushed so you are loosing traction at the rear wheels 2) There is too much tongue weight and the front tires are being lifted and are loosing traction. Although the truck is rated to tow 9000 lb the suspension is pretty soft and it still only has a 500 lb tongue weight with out a weight dist. hitch. I may be wrong but I would not just ignore this if the ABS is engaging you are in some way loosing traction if this is happening on a dry road just think about what could happen if the road were wet.