Help!!!!!

[brianblack138]

I turn to you gentlemen in my hour of need. Today I drove my 1994 K1500 chevy to West Virginia to buy a horse trailer (I'm moving there and needed to haul our animals). On the way back, I stopped in an advanced auto parts to get a new wiring harness since the old one wasn't working. Ran in at 9:55 pm and got the harness, went in the parking lot, hooked up the harness, tried the blinkers and they worked, tried the brakes and WHAM!, brake line burst...

So i'm stranded in Martinsburg, WV. With tomorrow being labor day my chances of finding a shop to fix my brake line is slim so it looks like i'm going at it myself. I've done this fix once before on an old F150 YEARS ago and wasn't too successful. Fortunately i'm a lot more mechanically inclined now and more experianced. Also, I was fortunate enough to have my tools, a jack and jackstands, a creeper and a brake bleeding kit in the back of my truck! I was able to coast to a Lowes parking lot, eat some late night dinner at the waffle house and get a room at the Hampton inn (where i'm logging on from the business center) so the situation could be worse... (The brake line could have burst on those windy mountain roads when it had animals in it!)

What i'm wondering is this: what parts will I need for the job? I stopped at the 24 hour wal-mart and got some brake fluid and a flashlight (the two things i didn't have in my truck) but I don't know what other parts i'll need (part numbers, etc...) It was the rear right brake line near the rear axle that burst. Does anybody happen to know what parts to pick up? Any advice on how to do this job? Any special tools I should get from the auto-parts store? Knowing all of this ahead of time will save me a lot of time since i'm basically stuck walking back and forth to the auto parts store.

[SHEIDEN9]

well ,the line isnt really that much trouble to replace, you will neeed a 7/16 flare nut wrench to remove the line to the flex line (the one that burst) and an open end wrench to back it. up then you will have to bleed the rear brakes ,that may be a problem if you are alone ,its best to have someone hold the brake pedal down while you open the bleeders one at a time untill the fluid comes out in a clean stream with no bubbles .if you are doing it alone you could try opening one bleeder at a time and wait till there is a steady drip of fluid from the bleeder usually about 5 min per wheel .this isnt the correct way to bleed brakes .but i have done it in a pinch. once i broke a brake line in anza borrego and had to pinch the steel line and bleed the other three this way to get back to camp.it works but it isnt the recommended way .i hope you can get it fixed good luck, steve .

[DmaxMaverick]

Do you know why the line burst?

If the remaining, unburst part of the line appears to be in good shape, you can use the appropriate compression fittings (normally for copper tubing) and a section of line (if the burst area extends more than the length of a union) to patch it temporarily. These fittings can be had at Walmart or other store that has hardware. It'll be either 1/4" or 5/16", depending on which section burst. Be sure to get them very secure, and don't do a panic stop unless necessary. I've done this and used the brakes full on and it worked fine, but I wouldn't trust it for more than necessary. Once you get back and have access to parts, replace it.

[diesel65]

If an auto parts store is open you can get a lenght of tubing that has the flare on the ends, if it is long just bend it carefully to shorten it.
Being a 94 truck I would be concerned about trying to break loose the flare nuts.
Since you are stuck and a emergency, and luckly it is branch line, I would take a hammer and flatten about two inches of tubing and then fold it over at least twice so the fluid can't come out.
Make sure you have fluid dripping out before you crush the tubing, otherwise you will trap air and won't be able to bleed the line.
Now you will have just left rear brake.

[brianblack138]

Thanks for all the advice. Try as i might, the flare nut was too rusted to get off. Fortunately I found a shop right down the block that was open and they had me fixed in an hour for a VERY reasonable price.

[diesel65]

the flare nut was too rusted to get off

That's what I was afraid of, Glad you were able to get it repaired.