Last Friday, I worked half a day from home and then packed up the boat and the Durango for a weekend trip to Maine. I drive to the end of my driveway, hit the brakes and the pedal went to the floor. We stopped, but there was obviously something wrong, so I told the kids the trip was canceled (they did not take it well) and I backed right back up the driveway to take a look at things. The brake line that runs to the rear brakes had rusted out and brake fluid was dripping from it. I thought, "there goes the weekend...", but figured I should at least see if I could fix it. I got out my tools, got the old line out, ran down to the parts store for a new line and some fluid ($28), swapped in the new line, bled the brakes and we hit the road after only 2 hours. Weekend saved (and what a fantastic weekend it was!). I'm so glad it happened in the driveway, next to all my tools.

Good deal. I prefer any breakdown occur in the driveway!

You'll need to post some pictures too.

Glad you got it fixed Dave.

Now, THAT is real spooky, "rusted out" brake lines. That's about as rare as DeepV snapping off a spindle...

Good for you Dave. I actually gave my last van away because I didn't want to fix a rusted out front brake line. After all, I had just paid $100 to have the rusted through rear service line replaced 5 years earlier!

I bet you it was the same person that broke Deepv's spindle that rusted out your brake line.

Glad that you were able to salvage the weekend.

Not in rusty New England... Pretty common thing here. Makes me wonder why they don't come with SS lines.

GM pickups are known for doing that. Right where the line runs above the fuel tank mud lays in there and rots the lines right off 'em.

Same with Ford Super Duty's. My truck was only 8 years old when I lost my hard line to the rear brakes.

It failed at 60mph coming into a red light in heavy traffic. Pumping did nothing, so I engine braked (sometimes it is nice to have a manual trans) and moved into the right turn lane and was lucky to have no traffic in the way.

We used to have brake failures sometimes with the race car, but having your daughter in a car seat behind you changes everything.

Funny thing is that none of my old cars ever had a hard line failure, even the 30 year old ones with lots of abuse...

somebody watching out for you. Driveway ok, offramp at 70+ not so good.

Especially when you think how much damage a 7,000 lb truck can do...

A combination of mostly luck and a little skill got us out of a serious jam.

Hi Dave:

Perhaps over the winter you may want to consider replacing the brake line with stainless steel lines.

But this reminds me, I better check the lines on my trailer b4 I go to pull the boat out for the season.

I was thinking about doing just that. I even own a double flare tool, so I can juts buy the tubing and fittings and make them all the correct length..