This paper presents the sliding mode control methods for anti-lock brake system (ABS) with the friction force observer. Using a simplified quarter car model, the sliding mode controller for ABS is designed to track the desired wheel slip ratio. Here, new method to find the desired wheel slip ratio which produces the maximum friction force between road and tire is suggested. The desired wheel slip ratio is varying according road and tire conditions to produce maximum friction force. In order to find optimum desired wheel slip ratio, the sliding mode observer for friction force is used. The proposed sliding mode controller with observer is evaluated in simulation, and the control design is shown to have high performance on roads with constant and varying adhesion coefficients.