My ABS light started coming on about december, but never stayed on long. I was the in the middle of changing jobs and we didn't have alot of money, I asked a mechanic and he said it could wait a couple of months, nothing serious.

Well now my father an Ex-Mechanic tells me that i could be destroying my brake system by letting this go. The light now comes on and stays on more than it's off. When i brake there is some very noticable vibration but not always. Do i just need new brakes or is something else wrong?

 

when the abs lamp comes on, you simply have a truck without abs brakes, pre 87 style. something is wrong though. sounds like you have a weak wheel speed sensor but need to eventually have it checked, although many times a wheel speed dont trigger codes.

 

already hooked up to a decoder, no codes...

 

well this makes it a little more challangig. if your speedo works ok, its probably one of your front sensors or tone rings. you can replace them one at a time or hook 2 volt meters to the front sensors and drive about 3 mph. the one with the lower reading will be the bad one. they should read very near the same driving in a stright line.

 

so just changing the brakes won't make this go away?

 

NO