98 Expl. ABS disaster on the beach

OK I'm a little scared at this one. I have not been doing too well on the beach with this Explorer. the Jeeps that I had seemed better. I was going along and it just didn't feel right but , then I realized, as I was about to get buried, that it felt like the brakes were on. I stopped , even tried 4 wheel low and was backing out of a mess when it happened. It felt like my foot was pinned on the brake , then smoke up front everywhere and the ABS light came on. I stopped shut down and waited a while , Dug a little, then got going again in reverse (still). The light eventually reset itself on the way home ( the ABS was not working when it was on ) and the ABS is working again. My question is , well I guess , what the hell happened? Explorers can't be that bad offroad. Is the ABS hooked to some kind of traction control that didn't like my wheels spinning in the sand? I'm fearing thousands at a dealer on this one. This truck is no use to me if I can't take it on the beach here on Long Island. Any help please.
Rob

If the brakes seem like they did before getting stuck in the sand then I wouldnt worry about it when the ABS light come on just meant that the ABS was shut off and you only had regular braking as far as why it would shut off not sure

If the brakes seem like they did before getting stuck in the sand then I wouldnt worry about it when the ABS light come on just meant that the ABS was shut off and you only had regular braking as far as why it would shut off not sure



I'm ok with that part but there was a lot of smoke and it seems I won't be able to go on the beach until I find out what type of sensor was hitting the brakes. The truck wasn't getting stuck. It just wouldn't go.
Thanks

I was always told to make sure and let air out of tires before driving on beach, so the wheels wouldn't dig in but would ride on top? Don't know if that was your issue? Is it still driving OK even after smoke?

I was always told to make sure and let air out of tires before driving on beach, so the wheels wouldn't dig in but would ride on top? Don't know if that was your issue? Is it still driving OK even after smoke?

Yes, everything is fine now. I had it looked at at there is a stored code for a sensor failure in the left front wheel bearing. Hope that is going to be it. My luck tends to make me think I'm about to spend $350 for nothing.

If everything is running good, I think I would disconnect the battery for a while and reconnect and see if the error code doesn't go away. Good chance you just got some sand where it shouldn't be. I'm not sure what a wheel bearing error code would be? Can't sensor a wheel bearing as far as I know. Wheel sensor yes! bearing sensor ??????

If everything is running good, I think I would disconnect the battery for a while and reconnect and see if the error code doesn't go away. Good chance you just got some sand where it shouldn't be. I'm not sure what a wheel bearing error code would be? Can't sensor a wheel bearing as far as I know. Wheel sensor yes! bearing sensor ??????


It was explained to me that the ABS sensor for the front wheels are integrated into the wheel bearing in the 4 x hub. I had the left front one changed yesterday . Hoping to get to the beach this weekend to see if that was it.But, I'm real gun shy now.

Does anyone else take this style Explorer on the beach?

How is it?
Rob

I know what you are talking about now. There is a, for lack of knowing correct word, star wheel attached to wheel. A magnetic sensor is flagged by the teeth of the star as the wheel turns past it.
The beach is fine, but if you're going nuts, spinning the wheels and such, the AWD tries to compensate. If it were me, I'd drop a few pounds of air out of the tires to stay on top of the sand and I'd probably switch to 4 wheel drive. At least that way the AWD wouldn't be trying to compensate for slippage.

I know what you are talking about now. There is a, for lack of knowing correct word, star wheel attached to wheel. A magnetic sensor is flagged by the teeth of the star as the wheel turns past it.
The beach is fine, but if you're going nuts, spinning the wheels and such, the AWD tries to compensate. If it were me, I'd drop a few pounds of air out of the tires to stay on top of the sand and I'd probably switch to 4 wheel drive. At least that way the AWD wouldn't be trying to compensate for slippage.

Thanks for the reply.
I,m with you,I wouldn't attempt going on the beach with AWD. I was in 4h and tried 4L too but no better.
That is the sensor that I had replaced but I didn't get to try it on the beach this weekend.