the good, the bad, the ugly

markbrit · 06-01-2010, 08:32 PM

The Good
We went camping on Saturday and pulled the camper up to North NJ.
Saturday afternoon drove around locally and caught some trout.

The Bad.
Sunday morning I sent my brother down the road with the Dodge to get some ice. He came back saying the brakes felt spongy. We look underneath and the rear brakeline is spewing brake fluid. The metal line had corroded and sprung a leak. I am pissed but then realize how lucky we are that it happened while we are parked instead of towing earlier or my bro driving windy roads to get ice. A bit scary when I thought about the possibilities.

The Ugly
I called Allstate club and had the truck towed to a local gas station within 45 minutes. Got the call today from the mechanic and decided to have all brake lines/hoses replaced... $1k

Overall a nice trip but pretty scary to think how close I was without brakes while towing.

EMD_Driver · 06-02-2010, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by markbrit

The Ugly
I called Allstate club and had the truck towed to a local gas station within 45 minutes. Got the call today from the mechanic and decided to have all brake lines/hoses replaced... $1k

Wow!

That price is unbelievable... I do know that brake hoses are expensive though..

markbrit · 06-02-2010, 08:05 PM

Yeah expensive but it is a lot of labor/time.

I need to stop

Honda03842 · 06-02-2010, 08:53 PM

It certainly seems strange to me that metal brake lines corrode after 10 years. Is this common?

markbrit · 06-02-2010, 09:10 PM

Mechanic says he has seen it with those Dodges before, also certain years of Fords. I guess they use cheap steel. my truck has seen north east snow and sleet.

wagonman76 · 06-02-2010, 09:32 PM

Not sure how they are mounted but if the steel line is in contact with any steel part of the truck it will usually rot out right there sooner than anywhere else.Good to know you caught it in time and made it safe.

Gene · 06-04-2010, 07:09 PM

I had a brake line blow out on me a couple of years ago on a Jeep GC while I was in Maine. I was pulling up onto the leveling blocks, my wife signaled stop, I hit the brake and it went to the floor. Saw a pool of fluid next to the tire and thought it was a wheel cylinder let go. Called AAA, the tow truck driver got under and looked and said rusted/blown brake line. He called the local Jeep dealer who said 3 days. He mentioned a place in town that he trusted, he called and they said next day by 1pm. (That driver for MDI Towing in Bar Harbor was a real gem.)

Local garage replaced 2 brake lines and said Jeep brake line rusting was a common problem. Total cost was under $200 and that included him having to drive 25 miles each way to get one of the lines.

markbrit · 06-05-2010, 07:22 PM

Well brought my Sunline home today. Picked up the truck yesterday and slept/fished overnight.

Truck is solid as new lines all installed. Expensive but I have piece of mind.

EMD_Driver · 06-06-2010, 06:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by markbrit

Well brought my Sunline home today. Picked up the truck yesterday and slept/fished overnight.

Truck is solid as new lines all installed. Expensive but I have piece of mind.

Peace of mind is priceless!

Glad you got it all fixed up..