My luck w/ cars continues

[vilant]

Nearly crashed my 2003 Dodge Dakota tonight. The roads were wet and a light changed. Had to jam the brakes and the ABS went off. Then all of the sudden the pedal went to floor and I wasn't stopping,. Thank God it's stick, cause I managed to down shift quickly and finally stopped in the middle of the intersection. Drove forward again to see if it would stop. The pedal goes all the way to the floor w/ a minimal amount of stopping. Pulled over and popped the hood, and saw I was low on brake fluid, so I went Pep boys driving very slowly,lol. Filled it up, pumped the brakes, and heard something shooting out underneath. Got a flashlight and saw that my brake lines are completely rusted through. Brake fluid is shooting out of them! Now I have 2 unusable cars. Guess I'll buy a flaring kit and tubing tomorrow. Sorry, just felt like bitchin' about my crappy luck. Could of been alot worse.

[Kevin]

happened to my 97 accord with 247,535 miles on it too. dumped the car and bought a new civic. I figured out i lost mine coming off the interstate at 70

[vilant]

Originally Posted by Kevin

happened to my 97 accord with 247,535 miles on it too. dumped the car and bought a new civic. I figured out i lost mine coming off the interstate at 70

Holy. You were going 70 and lost the brakes? I would've been toast goin' that fast. Was only going 45 when it happened. Mine only has 60K mi.. Couldn't believe how rusted it was under there.

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by vilant

Holy. You were going 70 and lost the brakes? I would've been toast goin' that fast. Was only going 45 when it happened. Mine only has 60K mi.. Couldn't believe how rusted it was under there.

i had someone cut me out getting on the interstate, nailed the brakes, car stopped then merged onto the highway around 2200 hrs so there wasn't much traffic. had no idea there was a problem till i hit the brakes at 70 and my foot hit the floor. You should see the hills that i have to get past to get home...scary night that was. Blew both rear lines

[jimmy b.]

Seems to be a common problem these days, first my daughters 02 Z24 rusted out a brake line, then 2 weeks later my wifes 97 catera brake line rusts out and now my 05 Silverado fuel line going to the fuel cooler rusts out. Then I look at the rest of the fuel and the brake lines and they are all rusted too. Just gonna be one after another from here. Ya think for a few hundred dollars extra they would put stainless and not have any of these safety issues. Wait until all the fuel lines start spraying on all the hot exhaust parts, should be some nice barbecues.

[scottfab]

No salt is used on the roads in the NW.
No rust through problems.
I lived in Iowa for 4 yrs.
My new mustang rusted through in ONE YEAR
at the back end. Salt is just plain bad news.

[Corbusa]

At least you didnt get in any accidents !! and I hate salt and rust .. maybe my thinking is wrong but if people who live in an area with snow and if all of them had 4x4's then they wouldnt need salt. they should learn to drive or stay home . I think Big Automotive Corps own the salt mines..

[vilant]

So here was the offending brake line.
http://www.zr1.net/forum/picture.php...pictureid=1516
I couldn't believe how bad it was under my truck. Never realized brine was THAT damaging. I'll have to be sure to wash the undercarriage every time I drive it w/ the roads salted or brined. Bought a flare kit and 30' of plastic coated steel tubing. Ended up replacing all of the lines and the rear centric brake hose. Spent everyday this past week after work fixing it. Some of the nuts were fused, had to Sawzall them out. Got it all back to normal, everything works fine now. Some more pics of my rusted out brakelines.
http://www.zr1.net/forum/picture.php...pictureid=1520
http://www.zr1.net/forum/picture.php...pictureid=1517
http://www.zr1.net/forum/picture.php...pictureid=1519
http://www.zr1.net/forum/picture.php...pictureid=1518

[scottfab]

ah yes, brings back memories of the mid 70s in Iowa.
I remember exhaust pipes had to be worked on every two years.
They were the first to fail. I'd weld up patches for a few years then
replace the whole thing.

I think newer cars have better rust proofing and more use of stainless steel etc.

[vilant]

Originally Posted by scottfab

ah yes, brings back memories of the mid 70s in Iowa.
I remember exhaust pipes had to be worked on every two years.
They were the first to fail. I'd weld up patches for a few years then
replace the whole thing.

I think newer cars have better rust proofing and more use of stainless steel etc.

I think I'm going to have to go under there again and primer all the rust w/ rust-oleum. They didn't sell stainless tubing at the automotive places. The best they had was the plastic-coated steel tube. You think the manufacturer's would at least use that instead of just plain steel.