Author Topic: Rusty brake lines, GM sucks! I'll never buy a GM vehical again.  (Read 19045 times)

Offline Conrad

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I went to pull my '03 Silverado 2500HD diesel out of the garage yesterday. As I was backing out I applied the brake and the peddle went to the floor, no brakes! WTF?    :o

I managed to get the beast stopped and then checked under the hood. Oh crap! The brake reservoir is half full. I look underneath and it's dripping brake fluid and there's a big puddle. I crawl under to have a better look and the brake line that feeds the front right tire is blown out and it's rusty as hell. I check the other lines and every brake line under there is rusting!!!

I check online to see if others have had this issue and it turns out it's a VERY well known issue.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2015/04/09/gm-recall-brake-lines/25546309/

Holy crap! GM says that this is a normal 'wear item' and that owners should wash under their vehicles if they live in the 'rust belt' states.

The good news is that there is a brake line kit available for under $60. The bad news is that every brake line under the truck needs to be replaced. If you've ever seen how these brake lines are routed you'll know what fun this is going to be.  :'(

This is the second GM vehicle of mine that this has happened to. The first was my '99 Grand Prix. The same thing happened.

If I had been on the road with my truck when this had happened...  Who knows? I could have been pulling my 5th wheel at the time and that would not have ended well.

:censored: ing GM will put a stainless steel exhaust system in their trucks that is designed to last the life of the vehicle but they won't put SS brake lines in that could save someone's life?

I'll never buy GM again, NEVER.
« Last Edit: August 26, 2015, 10:18:45 AM by Conrad »
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Offline gPink

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Re: Rusty brake lines, GM sucks! I'll never buy a GM vehical again.
« Reply #1 on: August 26, 2015, 05:28:42 AM »
Government Motors....where we buy life saving parts from the lowest bidder.

Offline JoeRau

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Re: Rusty brake lines, GM sucks! I'll never buy a GM vehical again.
« Reply #2 on: August 26, 2015, 07:51:35 AM »
Conrad
2 years ago I had issues with my '08 Silverado & ended up replacing rusted lines.  Then on to the trans & oil cooler, & power steering lines.  I gave up & traded it off.  So far my Ram has been a superior truck in every way! 

My dad has been battling his '05 GMC 2500HD for years with rust issues.  His started with brake & power steering lines (POS Hydro-boost system).  He gets the power steering pump replaced at least once a year and none of the dealers/shops can tell him why they fail so often.  Back to the rust... last spring he noticed the truck frame is starting to rust through!  Not good, especially for the HD truck he needs for snow plowing and pulling heavy trailers (14K # trailer with tractor).  This will be the last year he will have this one. 
Anyone looking for a low mile (50K) '05 2500HD? 
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Offline jettawreck

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Re: Rusty brake lines, GM sucks! I'll never buy a GM vehical again.
« Reply #3 on: August 26, 2015, 08:29:18 AM »
At least it didn't happen in a emergency stop situation!!
Replaced ALL the brake lines on my Dad's Ford F250 a couple years ago. Every different size/ type of thread fitting known man on that thing. Not just a GM thing.
So far my old (and getting rusty) '99 Suburban has all original brake lines on it. Those new body style Silverado series trucks all are rusty around the rear fender wells and rocker panels in this part of the country. 
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Offline jamiemac

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Re: Rusty brake lines, GM sucks! I'll never buy a GM vehical again.
« Reply #4 on: August 26, 2015, 08:11:37 PM »
Rusty brake lines happen on all makes. I've replaced rusty lines on American, Japanese, and European makes over the years. Most, less than ten years old.
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Offline Nosmo

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Re: Rusty brake lines, GM sucks! I'll never buy a GM vehical again.
« Reply #5 on: August 26, 2015, 11:00:11 PM »
The brake lines on my 2006 GMC Sierra 4x4 truck are still in good shape, in spite of the highway people's best efforts to destroy my vehicles.    My 1990 Toyota 4x4 truck had ZERO rust on it until about six years a go when they started using that liquid deicer crap.  Now it is rotten from end to end, and I will need to sell it soon before the frame and floor pans disintegrate completely.  The GMC is starting to rust all over underneath, just not the brake lines yet.  If you think that new deicer is less corrosive than the old salt stuff (which is what the highway people and the sellers of the deicer would have you believe) all you have to do is look at the metal guard rails on the state highways.  Those things are heavily galvanized, but after one winter, they are dark brown, rusted every square inch.

The Connie has a lot of corrosion on it now, also as I ride year-round and the Wee-Strom will need to have several things replaced next summer (or sooner) due to corrosion for the same reason.  The water pump housing has cancer as does the center stand, bottom of the swing arm, brake cylinders, radiator, etc. 

PLUS that deicer fluid crap actually makes the road surface slicker, so what's the use?  All it does is placate the soccer moms who want to drive their Subarus to Charbucks for a latte when there's 1/2 inch of snow on the ground.
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Offline Conrad

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Re: Rusty brake lines, GM sucks! I'll never buy a GM vehical again.
« Reply #6 on: August 27, 2015, 04:37:27 AM »
Rusty brake lines happen on all makes. I've replaced rusty lines on American, Japanese, and European makes over the years. Most, less than ten years old.

After it happened on two GM products that I owned, I'm done with GM. I'm just lucky that both times it happened in my driveway.

Anyways, I have new stainless steel brake lines on the way from Rock Auto. I'm really surprised at how inexpensive the entire line kit is. $61 to replace EVERY brake line on the truck! All the new lines are pre-bent and have all the necessary fittings installed. When the brake lines blew out on my Pontiac the price for just one of the OEM lines was over $100!

I called my local Chevy dealer (where I bought the truck) to ask about how much it would cost to have them do the work. The service advisor said that they haven't done a 2500 but did do a 1500 recently and the cost was $1,200.    :o

You folks who live in the salt belt states should crawl under your vehicles and have a look at your brake lines. 
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Offline twowheeladdict

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Re: Rusty brake lines, GM sucks! I'll never buy a GM vehical again.
« Reply #7 on: August 27, 2015, 06:09:16 AM »
My GMC trucks have been flawless.  I only keep them to about 180,000 miles or so though. 

You must live where salt is applied to the roads and it sounds like you don't rinse the underside of your vehicle. 

Compared to my co-workers who own Dodge and Ford trucks the GMC trucks are definitely the best quality, longest lasting trucks on the road.  Those guys are always complaining about transmissions, fuel rails, etc. 
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Offline Conrad

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Re: Rusty brake lines, GM sucks! I'll never buy a GM vehical again.
« Reply #8 on: August 27, 2015, 10:13:16 AM »
My GMC trucks have been flawless.  I only keep them to about 180,000 miles or so though. 

You must live where salt is applied to the roads and it sounds like you don't rinse the underside of your vehicle. 

Compared to my co-workers who own Dodge and Ford trucks the GMC trucks are definitely the best quality, longest lasting trucks on the road.  Those guys are always complaining about transmissions, fuel rails, etc.

I do live where salt is applied to the roads, a LOT (Northern Illinois). And yes, I am very conscientious about rinsing the underside of my vehicles (my wife calls it anal). But one can not always wash underneath. Below 15f degrees the carwashes around here turn off the water. I can't rinse without water and at those low temps the water tends to get a little hard. Even when I rinsed the truck off at temps above 15 I still have to drive the thing home!  My garden hose would be frozen solid below 32 so it's hard to rinse with that.

As for my GM truck, it's been nearly flawless in every other respect except for the brake lines. The fuel lines run right next to the brake lines and there are almost pristine. Why can't the brake line be made the same way?     
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Offline just gone

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Re: Rusty brake lines, GM sucks! I'll never buy a GM vehical again.
« Reply #9 on: August 27, 2015, 01:18:19 PM »
ThreadJack....or...How a rusty brake line saved my life.

During my salad days, I'm in the city (Chicago) visiting my parents in my well salted cancer riddled VW beetle. The floor pan has rusted out under the drivers feet and I have an old Ouji board covering the hole under the rubber mat. In the alley behind my parents house I'm trying to park in front of the garage door on the apron so as not to block the alley. I back up and then step on the brake and the bug rolls right into the trash cans. WTF! The brake pedal went right to the floor and my right elbow is soaked with brake fluid. I step on the brake again and see a small stream of fluid shoot up between the seats like a squirt gun fountain. The VW brake line for the rear brakes runs through the inside of the car and it has a rusted out pin hole right below my right elbow. I have to be in Aurora (about 40 miles away) at work in two hours and I've already missed a few days. So I cut the line further up in the front where it's less rusted and crimp it in a few places and flatten the end and fold it over a few times and clamp some vise grips on the end. Top off the brake fluid and test the brakes to see if I need to bleed them. Not like I'd have the time for that, but it seemed like the adult thing to do even though I was an adult only in chronological terms (upper 20s, maybe 14 or 15 between the ears). Front brakes worked, so off I go headed for work with the thought in my mind going over and over "DO NOT SLAM ON THE BRAKES". I'm on the Kennedy Expressway (I-90) headed towards the airport doing about 55 mph and traffic is tight because the left two lanes are barricaded off with the dead battery blinking light horses (that you never see any more as replaced by orange plastic barrels) for construction. I'm keeping a prudent distance (because my brakes are questionable and I am an "adult" after all :nuts:) behind a big white airport limo when he slams on the brakes in a panic stop. I swerve left and pull between the barricade horses into the nearest closed off lane and come to a stop maybe a car length a head of the limo and then hear a loud noise. I look back over my right shoulder and see a 10 wheel semi truck with its front grill where the rear window of the limo used to be. It occurs to me that the limo's now non-existent trunk probably had more viable steel in it than my whole VW does, and that if my brake line hadn't rusted out that I would have just panic stopped instead of swerved out of the lane.  :o  I never did see why the limo panic stopped, when I looked back there was nothing in front of the limo, maybe someone spilled their hot coffee?
Yes, I was late for work, but it was OK.  :thumbs:

...sorry folks about the threadjack, I was overwhelmed with a sudden need to share. I get that a lot but it usually comes out the other end.  ::) ;D

OK, back to the sucky GM talk.

Offline Conrad

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Re: Rusty brake lines, GM sucks! I'll never buy a GM vehical again.
« Reply #10 on: August 27, 2015, 02:07:16 PM »
The subject line starts out with Rusty brake lines, Marty, so you're not threadjacking at all.  :)

Your rusty lines may have saved you in but look at it this way. If your brake line had not rusted through then you wouldn't have had to take the time to mess with it right? If you had that time back you would have never been behind that limo to start with and you would have not been nearly made into a sandwich.
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Offline just gone

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Re: Rusty brake lines, GM sucks! I'll never buy a GM vehical again.
« Reply #11 on: August 27, 2015, 02:48:15 PM »
The subject line starts out with Rusty brake lines, Marty, so you're not threadjacking at all.  :)
OK, Cool! Thanks OP, ..always good when I can avoid the wrath of the guy with the sword.  :D

Your rusty lines may have saved you in but look at it this way. If your brake line had not rusted through then you wouldn't have had to take the time to mess with it right? If you had that time back you would have never been behind that limo to start with and you would have not been nearly made into a sandwich.

Normally a valid argument, however there's that "adult" part I mentioned. Not likely I would have left any earlier as back then I always thought I was 5-10 minutes closer than I really was. I probably would have been behind that same limo only maybe closer and with less rust under my fingernails. ::)


Offline stevewfl

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Re: Rusty brake lines, GM sucks! I'll never buy a GM vehical again.
« Reply #12 on: August 27, 2015, 03:06:35 PM »
Move to Florida in the winters and do the summers up there and its a non-issue  ;D
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Offline B.D.F.

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Re: Rusty brake lines, GM sucks! I'll never buy a GM vehical again.
« Reply #13 on: August 27, 2015, 05:47:10 PM »
So what are you saying, the truck had a KiPass failure?

Brian

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Offline Conrad

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Re: Rusty brake lines, GM sucks! I'll never buy a GM vehical again.
« Reply #14 on: August 28, 2015, 04:36:04 AM »
Move to Florida in the winters and do the summers up there and its a non-issue  ;D

With all those old geezers down there?  ;)
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Offline VirginiaJim

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Re: Rusty brake lines, GM sucks! I'll never buy a GM vehical again.
« Reply #15 on: August 28, 2015, 05:44:14 AM »
Aren't you one?  You'll fit right in.
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Offline stevewfl

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Re: Rusty brake lines, GM sucks! I'll never buy a GM vehical again.
« Reply #16 on: August 28, 2015, 06:28:07 AM »
With all those old geezers down there?  ;)

and all the "10 wiminz" on 1800 miles of beaches.  south beach being my favorite
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Offline stevewfl

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Re: Rusty brake lines, GM sucks! I'll never buy a GM vehical again.
« Reply #17 on: August 28, 2015, 06:31:51 AM »
and I forgot to mention we have palm trees here in FL too  ;D

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Offline Conrad

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Re: Rusty brake lines, GM sucks! I'll never buy a GM vehical again.
« Reply #18 on: August 28, 2015, 07:36:25 AM »
Aren't you one?  You'll fit right in.

You're older than I am...
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Offline Conrad

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Re: Rusty brake lines, GM sucks! I'll never buy a GM vehical again.
« Reply #19 on: August 28, 2015, 07:37:23 AM »
and I forgot to mention we have palm trees here in FL too  ;D



Not sure what the gal on the back is holding on to but I'd like to give that a try.    :P
Northern Illinois   Silverdammit '08 C-14 ABS

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