Brake lines

[john112deere]

Helping a buddy do some work on his truck today (reference: "Toyota help" thread), I got to thinking...

How long have people's factory brake lines lasted? And what/how did they fail- steel lines rotted from the outside? steel rotted from the inside? rubber hoses cracked?

 

[blacksnapon]

Helping a buddy do some work on his truck today (reference: "Toyota help" thread), I got to thinking...

How long have people's factory brake lines lasted? And what/how did they fail- steel lines rotted from the outside? steel rotted from the inside? rubber hoses cracked?

Most generally, it depends on the use of the truck. A lot of mudding/off road use, more possibility of rust causing deposits around brake lines. Vehicles only used on pavement may never have a rust issue.

 

[john112deere]

I also wonder how much it varies by where you'd live.

My guess is that in Arizona the ratio of hoses failing to hard lines failing is a lot higher than in Maine...but I don't really know.

 

[89frankenford]

i beleive the brake lines on my truck and the hoses for that matter were all original from 1989( and with 250,000 miles on her)

 

[CowboyBilly9Mile]

Around here, I've never seen anyone replace a steel line due to corrosion; they appear to be life of vehicle parts. Rubber lines on the other hand, that's a different story. They do age and crack. I've replaced them starting at 125K miles but then again, I'm pretty picky about taking care of stuff. Some suckers have been known to run them until they blow.

 

[john112deere]

On my Ranger, I blew out a hose at 10 years/235k miles. The fittings on the steel lines were rusted to the lines, so that the line twisted off rather than the fitting spinning like it should. Meaning it got all new steel lines, too. Maybe with a lot of penetrant, heat, and patience, I could have saved them...but I decided I was better off with all new.

 

[O'Rattlecan]

All original on my 1994 with 212K.

Ryan

 

[LEB Ben]

Anytime I've ever had an issue, it's been the rubber lines crack and disintegrate. But usually when I get a new rig and plan on keeping it, I swap everything before it becomes an issue.

 

[racsan]

my '93 blew the hard line going to the rears, somewhere behind the fuel tank. ran a new one in behind it and left the broken one alone. mostly its stell lines around here. the '93 had under 100K on it when it went, but my '88 had over 200K with all stock lines, no problems. dads '96 bronco bought new has had almost every steel line changed. it doesnt get driven much (about 70K total miles on it) and every time its needed it seems like something needs attention, once we had to put a new rear diff cover on it! and dad has had to braze the oil pan.