Brake lines busted on my F150

[offthepaper]

A few weeks ago my Ford F150 ('95) had the brake pedal go to the floor as I pulled into my driveway (lucky!!) Sent the truckto a shop and was told one of my rear brake lines had corroded through and needed replaced, The guy told me that they normally replace both side when they work on brake lines. But, being the cheap idiot I am, I told him "I hardly ever drive it, It's right after Xmas, and on and on. well, long story short, I climbed into my truck last week (only drove it 50-60 miles since last repair) and sure enough my brake pedal was on the floor. had it towed back to the shop and wa told that now the front lines are corroded and that section of my lines are so soft they can be semi-crushed with bare fingers, Going to cost another $500 + to replace the rest of the lines. I talked about this at work and was told bt others that this is a common problm with Ford 150's.
Has anyone else had a problem with this? Anyone have a suggestion of someone who replaces these at a good price. After this is done, I'll be into this brake line replacement for a bit over $725, which is about 3/4 of the Blue Book price of my truck.

 

[pumperp5]

My '93 did the same thing last year. It had 180,000 miles on it and was severly neglected. i retired her to the junk yard when that happened. Got $200.00 for it though.

 

[iriden]

I'll give you $250 for the truck and pick it up

 

[Half-cocked]

Don't weigh the cost against what your truck's "blue book" value is; weigh it against what a reliable replacement would cost. An occasional $500 repair tab is nothing, compared to a $500/month car payment, each and every month. Good reliable transportation is worth far more than its blue book price.

Also, fwiw: it's good insurance to bleed your brake system completely, at least once every 5 years. Once the fluid picks up moisture is corrodes lines from the inside out.

 

[tttongli]

Didn't Ford have a recall on some F-150 not so long ago because of break line?

 

[Wiley-X]

Didn't Ford have a recall on some F-150 not so long ago because of break line?

I had the rear brake lines on my 92 Roadmaster wagon rot through on a rainy night. Stopping was fun after that. Even though the rear only do about 25% of the work, that 25% makes a difference.

Had all metal lines replaced at that time. If one rots away, the others will too.

 

[mcflyszx7]

yes this is kinda normal for that style and year truck. sorry for the news yes the repair is expensive but the brakes are important. the repair is mainly a parts and time repair as the lines are no longer available from factory.

 

[DieselDent]

$500 for brake lines is high have you shopped around?

My '93 did the same thing last year. It had 180,000 miles on it and was severly neglected. i retired her to the junk yard when that happened. Got $200.00 for it though.

$200? crazy rays gives $300 if you can roll it in there.

 

[K31]

I would suspect an ex-wife/girlfriend.

 

[Half-cocked]

I would suspect an ex-wife/girlfriend.

Well, considering how many you've dumped, whaddya expect?

 

[hvymax]

Check Autozone. They will be considerably less there and with a few tools is only a 3-4hr job for an amatuer with a few handtools.Then all you need to do is fill and bleed the system and you should be fine. You should probably replace the rubber lines while your at it.

 

[livefast1]

Brake lines are not fun and are pretty time consuming, more so if its in a spot where they converge which becomes a liability to only replace one. Let me explain, if i have to replace brake line a which is rusted out, but it is only inches away from brake line b,c, and d the possibility of damaging the rest of the brake lines (which are also rusted out) is very likely. Seen this alot in 00- Silverados, Sierras, Tahoes, Suburbans where the brake lines pass over the frame and into the abs module under the driver seat. My suggestion to owners of such vehicles and what i do for alot of our customers is spray these lines with an epoxy paint that will form a layer of protection.

 

[redmudjeep]

This is a common problem. Have you considered tackling the job yourself? All you need is a tubing bender, a double flare tool, some line wrenches, the tubing which can be bought in a 25' roll, some fittings, and a weekend.

 

[KMK1862]

I was riding with a good friend in his Ford Ranger (sorry don't know the year, mid 90's maybe) and as he stopped at a red light the warning chime when off and his brake warning light came on. He said, thats not good, the pedal shouldn't go to the floor like that. We stopped at a gas station and got some brake fluid. I watched as he worked the pedal, lots of brake fluid came squirting out. He's a mechanical/hands on guy so we very gingerly drove back to his place. I can't remember if he fixed it or dumped the truck. He had several vehicles at the time.

 

[jmiller320]

My 89 F250 had the same issues a while ago. 145k on it now. mostly sits except in the summer to pull the boat to the ramp.

 

[bean93x]

do them yourself and save $700

 

[LostSoul]

If you do the job yourself, make sure the bleeder screws on the wheel cylinders/calipers aren't rusted up also and seized. It's a real pain to spend a bunch of time and cussing replacing lines just to find you can't bleed it when you're done! Ask me how I know...

 

[Streetgang]

Don't weigh the cost against what your truck's "blue book" value is; weigh it against what a reliable replacement would cost. An occasional $500 repair tab is nothing, compared to a $500/month car payment, each and every month. Good reliable transportation is worth far more than its blue book price.

Also, fwiw: it's good insurance to bleed your brake system completely, at least once every 5 years. Once the fluid picks up moisture is corrodes lines from the inside out.

Sage advice.

do them yourself and save $700

Or do this. I have done 3 Jeeps this way. Not hard, just dirty, and sometimes a bit awkward getting the lines fished. Be sure you practice double flares a couple times so your sure you have it right before trusting your life to your work.

 

[damifinowfish]

Had the same problem on my 1995 Chevy 1 ton. Lost the rear brakes going over the bay bridge. Good thing Its got the big braking system.

 

[Maryland Hunter]

Had it happen on my 97 Chevy a while back. Mine happened while approaching a red light though. Rear-ended a van and pushed it into another vehicle. No injuries, fortunately. Turned out to be a small section of line, the rest looked fine. This one appeared to be a different material than the rest. Insurance looked into it, but I never heard back if it was a problem that Chevy had or not. Allstate called it my fault though, and raised my rates.

MH