Ever replaced rusty brake lines?

[emmett442]

Except for me recent fleet, I've kept all of my vehicles long enough to blow lines on every single one.

My opinion is that by the time vehicles are blowing lines, the rest of the vehicle is in less than stellar condition as well. Not worth the investment in premium materals. NI-CU lines? [censored] no. The plain galvanized steel, which is yuor bottom of the barrel choice and used to be OE lasts a good 15 years, 150k+ miles...I won't have the vehicle in another 15 years!

I find that coated or not coated, rust proofed or not, the lines always rust under their retaining hardware. Coatings/rustproofing rubs right off. The rest of the line will look perfect, except for under the hardware!

 

[KrisZ]

Originally Posted By: Kestas

I've even replaced it on cars with rustproofing. Unfortunately, the lines rusted on the shady side of rustproofing.


I can see it with the black tar like coatings, but with oil rustproofing, the oil will creep to the uncoated side no problem. I have not seen rusty lines on oil sprayed cars.

 

[SeaJay]

I kept my superduty parked most of its life just down the block from large saltwater bodies of water. And drove it in the snow. The body stayed pretty much rust free but the chassis as you might imagine became very, very rusty After about 12 years, the brake lines started to get holes, needed to replace about three of them before I sold the truck several years later. Didn't get much for it even though the miles were very low.

 

[Trav]

I cant even guess at how many brake lines I have done over the years. I have done them on 5 year olds that were otherwise rust free and others that had no rust at all on the brake lines but the truck frame broke in 3 places. I use NiCopp exclusively unless its for off road then SS.

 

[Anon9283]

OP are you sure you live in MI?? We’ve had to replace lines on multiple vehicles due to rust. Just last year on our Jeep and a couple years ago my dad barely limped the truck home with a spongy pedal when it blew on the exit ramp on the freeway. He was really lucky!

 

[ZZman]

Originally Posted By: Aero540T
OP are you sure you live in MI?? We’ve had to replace lines on multiple vehicles due to rust. Just last year on our Jeep and a couple years ago my dad barely limped the truck home with a spongy pedal when it blew on the exit ramp on the freeway. He was really lucky!


Yes, all my life. Been lucky I guess!

 

[Claud]

I have probably replaced miles of brake lines over the years.
I don't know of any repair shop in the UK that DOESN'T simply make up cu/ni pipes as required.
Perhaps a main dealer will be obliged to use OE steel lines for warranty work, but 10ft lengths of tubing at £8 ($13) it seems daft not to use cu/ni.

Claud.

 

[Ursatdx]

Replaced a rusty old line on my A3.
Was able to bleed the system (Dot 5) myself using this handy home made brake bleeder.
Going to replace the remaining lines.
Used stainless and a HD flaring tool.
My bending/shaping skills leave much to be desired.

 

[CharBaby]

I guess it depends on what the lines are made out of and where they're located under the vehicle...how far away from the salt.

 

[Number_35]

Yes, I replaced one on my sister- and brother-in-law's '97 Ford Windstar c. 2011. I was surprised, thought it would be a caliper. The van was already very rusty from almost 15 years in the semi-rust belt here, and I think the brake line was one of the last repairs it got. It was past 300K km at that point, which is well above average for end-of-life vehicles here.

 

[OilFilters]

It just blows my mind how some people let their vehicles rust out. I've never lived where they used salt on the roads, but if I did I'd always have an electric pressure washer on standby and probably build some kind of drive over undercarriage wash. I get upset about some surface rust on the exhaust on my 1998 Jeep...which I still put in the "newer" category. It snows once a year here and if I have to drive in it, it gets heavily rinsed that day. I'll tap the hose off the water heater drain if I have to.

For a long time I drove a 40 year old chevy truck as my daily driver - everything original as far as I knew. The brake lines were fine. One day something blew in the master cylinder and the brakes only had enough power to barely hold it still on flat ground. I drove it another thousand miles like that - first gear was my brake...

 

[93cruiser]

Originally Posted By: OilFilters
It just blows my mind how some people let their vehicles rust out. I've never lived where they used salt on the roads, but if I did I'd always have an electric pressure washer on standby and probably build some kind of drive over undercarriage wash. I get upset about some surface rust on the exhaust on my 1998 Jeep...which I still put in the "newer" category. It snows once a year here and if I have to drive in it, it gets heavily rinsed that day. I'll tap the hose off the water heater drain if I have to.

For a long time I drove a 40 year old chevy truck as my daily driver - everything original as far as I knew. The brake lines were fine. One day something blew in the master cylinder and the brakes only had enough power to barely hold it still on flat ground. I drove it another thousand miles like that - first gear was my brake...


Sure, you can say anything, but doing it is another. I'd like to see you use a pressure washer after driving home in 9 inches of snow/slush, while its still snowing, and like 15 degrees. Going to do this in the driveway, with all the snow? In the driveway after you clear the snow? Either way, you, your vehicle, and the driveway are now a block of ice.

A drive over system? Ok, not. Same issues, frozen driveway, car, the system itself. Not feasible.

 

[KrisZ]

Originally Posted By: 93cruiser
Originally Posted By: OilFilters
It just blows my mind how some people let their vehicles rust out. I've never lived where they used salt on the roads, but if I did I'd always have an electric pressure washer on standby and probably build some kind of drive over undercarriage wash. I get upset about some surface rust on the exhaust on my 1998 Jeep...which I still put in the "newer" category. It snows once a year here and if I have to drive in it, it gets heavily rinsed that day. I'll tap the hose off the water heater drain if I have to.

For a long time I drove a 40 year old chevy truck as my daily driver - everything original as far as I knew. The brake lines were fine. One day something blew in the master cylinder and the brakes only had enough power to barely hold it still on flat ground. I drove it another thousand miles like that - first gear was my brake...


Sure, you can say anything, but doing it is another. I'd like to see you use a pressure washer after driving home in 9 inches of snow/slush, while its still snowing, and like 15 degrees. Going to do this in the driveway, with all the snow? In the driveway after you clear the snow? Either way, you, your vehicle, and the driveway are now a block of ice.

A drive over system? Ok, not. Same issues, frozen driveway, car, the system itself. Not feasible.



Yup, one has to live through few true winters and salted roads to understand what we in the "rust belt" have to deal with every winter.

 

[DejaVue]

Originally Posted By: OilFilters
It just blows my mind how some people let their vehicles rust out. I've never lived where they used salt on the roads, but if I did I'd always have an electric pressure washer on standby and probably build some kind of drive over undercarriage wash.

I don't wash under the deck of my lawn mower in the middle of summer, but now I'm supposed to wash under my car when it's zero degrees in the middle of winter.

If a vehicle is 10+ years old in a snow area, the lines should be inspected once in a while. Or even if not in a snow area, I guess.

On some vehicles with little room in the engine bay and brake lines in tight spots, I've removed the engine when I didn't necessarily have to to fix something so that I could have more room to also replace the brake lines at the same time.

I've heard of certain states in the northeast that put such an awful corrosive mixture of ice melt stuff on their roads that some people have to replace their brake lines every three years.

 

[Delta]

Originally Posted By: OilFilters
It just blows my mind how some people let their vehicles rust out. I've never lived where they used salt on the roads, but if I did I'd always have an electric pressure washer on standby and probably build some kind of drive over undercarriage wash.


I don't think it is a choice sometimes even with frequent winter washes. Some vehicles were poorly designed or coated (think 90's and early 2000's GM trucks with the foam in the rocker panels). Also washing below a certain temperature is not advisable.

 

[Warstud]

Originally Posted By: Char Baby
I guess it depends on what the lines are made out of and where they're located under the vehicle...how far away from the salt.


They also rust/corrode from the inside out.

 

[SHOZ]

The liquid salt/beet juice they use around me in Illinois on the bridges and spot places on the highway is like battery acid.

 

[AVB]

We don't have that problem here, brake lines normally last the life of the car. I did have to replace the lines on one truck after the owner moved here from Michigan.

 

[OilFilters]

Originally Posted By: 93cruiser
Sure, you can say anything, but doing it is another. I'd like to see you use a pressure washer after driving home in 9 inches of snow/slush, while its still snowing, and like 15 degrees. Going to do this in the driveway, with all the snow? In the driveway after you clear the snow? Either way, you, your vehicle, and the driveway are now a block of ice.


Like I said, I do it. We generally get a good foot of snow every year here. This last winter it hovered around zero degrees for a few weeks. They did put some salt on the road, and as soon as I saw white residue on my Jeep, it was removed. While it was around zero degrees. Yes, I had to hook the hose to the drain on the water heater, but I did it. In the dark I might add. If I lived in a place where this was common I would be much more setup to do it on a regular basis.

Even when salt is not an issue, I wash my vehicles inside a shop quite often. This way nothing dries while I'm working on it leaving spots.

I could have also used a commercial car wash, which are generally heated.

 

[Nick1994]

Here’s what the 22 year old brake lines on my Jeep look like.

Covered in dirt from desert driving.