I was reading up on ABS and read that if the overall diameter of a wheel with rubber on it is more than something like 3% bigger or smaller than other wheels on the car it can cause the ABS to go wonky and throw the light.

What I am wondering is this: Is it possible for a tune to remedy that? After my current set of rubber is finished (which is a ways away) I am thinking of running 245/40/18s in the front (which is what is on my summers @ the front already) and 295/35/18 in the rear instead of 275/35/18, but I still want ABS to be able to be utilized if at all possible.

When I vortech the car I am going to disconnect it in the winter, so I am going to have 2 tunes for the car; supercharged and NA. I am wondering if I can just tell the tuner when the time comes that I have x tall front wheels and x tall rears for the summers, and then for the winters I have x at all 4 corners and to make the ABS work that way. Is that possible, or is it something mechanical that I would have to change?

Marauder owners have been asking the same question about Traction Control, and so far the answer has been no.

The ABS control program is carried totally within the ABS module mounted on the system. There is no connection to the other processors in the car, so the parameters cannot be adjusted externally. Each system has a code stamped on it which is specific to the vehicle; so, a Mustang, an F-150 and a Panther might all use a similar-looking module, but will have totally different performance characteristics.

I have stock GT 500 tires on my LX works fine, but the diameter is the same front 255/45/18 and rear 285/40/18 so only the width is staggered





And the problem comes up with the TRAC before the ABS does, the 03 Marauder guys can get away without the stagger but not us 04 owners, I can even run 17's or bigger 18" tires but I have to keep the basic ratio of front to back intact

Thanks Chevyguy and RF, luckily (for me at least) my Vic was not ordered with traction control, so that is one less thing to worry about.

Ponyguy, do you think then that it could be something inside the ABS module itself that would need to/possible to swap to make the staggering work? Unfortunately I couldn't find too many 305/30/18 (which would be same overall height as 245/40/18) that are not drag radials (since the car will still be a daily @ that point) but who knows, I might end up having to run D/R's.

The ABS module for Marauders for staggered tires is different than the one for CV, GM

and you do realize your tire selections are super short and will have a big gap in the wheel well. I don't recommend drag radials for daily driver use..they are expensive, are not good in rain and will wear out super quick..

Somehwere on this site is info about a ABS delete block.

Yes, yes and yes. I already have 245/40/18s and 275/35/18s and I like how they sit with the car. There could be a bit less gap in the rear wheel well (which 295/35 would fix a bit) but overall I am happy with them.

I also have been reading that as stated in this thread, the traction control would be what would have the big issue with the smaller overall tire size. So I am wondering if the ABS light would be thrown at all with the staggered set up I talked about in the OP. The stock P71 tires are 27.2 inches tall IIRC, and mine are 25.6. If I'm not getting any ABS lights with these, would that mean that I might be ok, or is it as I thought initially that the ABS module reads how many rotations per mile (regardless of the tire and it's rpm) and if one or more are different than the others it will throw the light?

ABS just compares the RPMs of the tires relative to each other. If you hit the brakes and one tire is spinning slower or faster than the others, it thinks there is skidding and it activates. That's why the Marauder unit is different, to make up for the staggered tire size.

I see. So I would have to swap the whole unit if I want to run those tires w/ ABS.

Maybe not while it's still a DD. Thanks for the info!

TC activated on the freeway with 16 inch spare and stock 17's. It felt like an engine mis-fire but it was just TCS retarding power. I'll have to change to a 17 spare.