Brake Line Corrosion/Failure

[almo]

If you live in road salt conditions or by the seashore and have a 9 year old or older Silverado check your metal brake lines running to the back. My 2004 rear line just went after I got home towing a 5th wheel. I was lucky.

[Robyn]

Thanks for sharing.

Salt will do that sort of thing.

Using salt on the roads is criminal.

Here in a PAC NW we don't have that stuff and rigs last a looooooong time, even though its wet

Missy

[More Power]

Brake line rust and corrosion has been a problem for GM as well as other manufacturers. Fault is shared by both the vehicle manufacturer and those states that use corrosive compounds on winter roads.

If you search for this problem: https://www.google.com/search?q=GM+brake+lines+corrosion+rust

You'll discover that this brake line problem is well known.

Visit the following link to learn more about what GM is doing for its customers regarding brake line kits.


GM Lowers Price on Replacement Brake Line Kits For Rust Prone Vehicles

According to a GM spokesman GM dealers will be offering a low price brake line kit for their most corrosion prone vehicle, the GM full size pickup trucks and SUV’s, including the Sierra, Silverado, Tahoe, Suburban, Escalade, Avalanche, and Yukon. The kit is said to cost just $500 according to the spokesman. This should lower the usual $1,500-$2,000 price tag for the brake line replacement on these trucks.

Ten’s of thousands ofChevy/GMC/Cadillac pickup truck and SUV owners that are experiencing corrosion problems. There is a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) investigation going on related to the premature rusting out and failure of the brake tubing for model years 1996 – 2009. This problem can also affect fuel supply lines. NHTSA is focusing its investigation on 2000 – 2003 models in northern states, as it says most failures involved those models in rust belt states, where liquid salt is sprayed.

Read more: http://www.safebraking.com/gm-lowers-price-on-replacement-brake-line-kits-for-rust-prone-vehicles/

[leolkfrm]

for $300 you can get a a complete set of ss lines from summit, however there is a soft high nickel line in bulk form to make you own, @$60 for 25 ft....the preformed lines are a pain to install with the body intact

[More Power]

A bit messy, but I heard once about a fleet mechanic in the Midwest who sprayed the underside of the pickups with an oily solution every year. This, it is said, prevented a lot of rust and corrosion.

The downside to this is the mess, but it can be powerwashed every year then dried before the next application. You have to keep it off the brake rotors and rubber parts (motor mounts, coolant hoses, body & suspension parts, etc.) because it can attack rubber (make it soft and spongy).

[DickWells]

Until Howard A. retired from a local service station, I made it a firm practice to take any new-to-me vehicle in, and have it done with Texaco Undercoating Grease. The messiest stuff you could ever hope to see, but it worked sooo much better than any other prep., simply because it stayed on. My Sierra got the treatment as soon as I got back to Vermont in 06, and it's still rust free. When I showed up in Texas, that Fall, or early Winter, the heat left it dripping grease under the truck, because Howard used to put it on thick, and put it everywhere I asked him to.

Two years ago, my son bought an 04 Suburban, which was pretty much rust free. Took it to the same station and had it shot with Texaco. We just took a good look at it, after he had a gas line/fitting rust out on top of the tank. The jerk who replaced Howard when he retired, did the spray job for him had only put enough product on, in enough places, to look like he had done the job. He should be ashamed of what he did. Now, we're blasting and scraping and using rust converter, and doing some patching, just to get another couple of years out of the thing.

GM's aren't alone in their rusting brake lines. In 2006, my friend from Nova Scotia lost his brakes on his 2003 six-liter Ford while he and I were headed for a gun show. Hand to pussy-foot back to the campground. All his brake lines were shot.

I've spent a lifetime hating salt! When we talk about the car companies not making them "like they used to", we have to be thankful that they're making them better, body-wise. The 50's through 70's were awful as regards rusting.

[Kennedy]

My trucks avoid daily commute, but they still run in the slop (except the '02) on weekends and park inside heated. WI is not shy about using salt or mag chloride on the roads. I've seen them salt away a 1-2" overnight snowfall when a sunny day is just beginning that would melt it all away.

I make it a point to do 2 things whenever possible:

1) Run through a car wash with underflush as often as possible year round.

2) Find the roads with the worst cupping and drive them in the rain. Let mother nature do the work for you. Unfortunately this primarily does the RH side whereas it is the LH side that gets it worst.

No issues with brake line corrosion on any of my trucks. Heck my 2005 is still running the KD exhaust (aluminized) that I installed in early 2004? when it was new.