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I have a 2004 Ram 1500 that brakes suddenly for a split second while driving at highway speed, hasn’t happened while driving around town. I had the brakes check out and everything looked good. Has happened at least once a day since Fri. No change in RPM and it brakes hard enough for the tires to chirp. No pull to either side, just nose dip. Any help would be appreciated.
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I was going to say that there might be an issue with an active safety system that piggy-backs onto the ABS brakes, like Traction Control, Vehicle Stability Control, Accident Avoidance, or Electronic Brakeforce Distribution. After checking the specs for 2004 Ram 1500, though, it seems the ABS is rear-wheel only, and the only other brake-dependent safety system the truck has is EBD.
Which tires are chirping? I’d be surprised if it was the front tires, seeing as how your ABS isn’t connected to them.
I’ve checked with another Dodge specific website that I belong to and this rig is a 4 wheel abs truck which actually is good news. That means you can probably figure out what exactly is going bad and fix it. It is probably an abs component or sensor going bad.
After doing more reading, it seems that rear wheel ABS was standard, and front wheel ABS was an option on the 1500 in ’04. So, we can’t be sure at this point how the OP’s truck is configured.
Also, due to weight transfer, the nose should dip under braking, even if only the rear wheels are doing the braking. Now, given that the OP mentions that there’s no pull to either side when this occurs, it sorta rules out the front brakes for me. Front wheel ABS is always a two-channel system, with an independent channel to each front wheel. With no slew/pull, it would suggest that both front wheels are locking up at exactly the same time, and for exactly the same amount of time. That would be a damn peculiar failure for two separate brake channels to fail in exactly the same way.
It was common for truck manufacturers to use a single channel ABS system on live axle rear wheels, where both wheel brakes are controlled by a single input. This would cause the rear brakes on both sides to be applied, even if only one side triggered the ABS.
Something you might also consider checking is the transmission. If there’s an issue with the transmission it could possibly cause that situation. It might seem like a braking issue when it fact it could be a gear change problem. At the very least you might check for codes. If you don’t find any, you might check the fluid level and condition. At least that way you can rule it out as a possible cause.
http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/solving-transmission-problems
Good luck and keep us posted.
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