Winter ride costs me-- BIG!!

[SILVERHAWK]

I guess this may be a warning to some of us with Chevy trucks as winter rides while the Camaros take a rest. I have a 2000 Chevy Silverado X-cab Z71 with only 67,000 miles. I would like to think I take good care of it. I always keep up on the maintenance and tell the mechanic every time I go in, to give it the once over and let me know if you see something that needs attention. The other day it snowed here in DE and with all the wind and open fields here it drifted over many of the roads. This A--HOLE!! comes right at me down my side of the road because it was clear on my side causing me to SLAM on the brakes and bury the truck into the snow bank with my right side tires. I went about another 100 ft and was going to chase after him when I hit my brakes and had NO brake pressure!!!! Luckily I was able to nurse it 3/4 mile home and found a stream of brake fluid coming off the frame under the driver's door. Had to tow it to the dealer after my usual shop wouldn't mess with it. Come to find out, one of the metal brake lines rusted thru and the hard hit on the brakes caused it to rupture. Needless to say its been in the shop 3 days and will cost $1,315.00 to run 5 new brake lines. They all have to be custom bent according to them (Chevy doesn't sell them pre done as a kit), but I have no choice no shops around here will touch it. Just a warning to you all to have those lines inspected because it gave me NO warning what so ever. Not even a brake light on the rest of the trip home. I thought the calipers were just packed with snow or something. Luckily, it was early morning, I was coming home after my shift and no one was really out on the road cause this incident could have been alot worse. To the idiot that made me play chicken: Pray I don't find you!!! Just of pic of the ride.

[camarofanatic]

oh man glad to hear your ok. Chevy/Gm trucks will cost you. i have a 95 yukon with 111,xxx miles on it and now that i drive it more parts start to go. I actually had the same incident as you with a blown brake line. Kind of scary to be in that situation. Glad your ok and clean looking truck

[robsls3]

That sucks I remember this happening to me on the 79 TA. I was putting on a new exhaust system and tapped a brake line that was rusted. Didnt show signs of it leaking untill I drove it. 2 pumps of the brake and whhhheeeeee right through the stop sign. Brake light came on and was praying to god no car comes in front of me before I could stop.

The line was leaking at the spot I hit it at. I had to order new prebent lines from year one and cost me $750. I had a buddy with a lift install them when he told me I could have saved a ton of money as he could have made me a set.

[Murph0408]

that really sucks. i've been on here talking about how much i love my durango in the winter but i found out it has a water/antifreeze leak in the pump that will probably only get worse as time goes on and the mechanic says would take a good 7 hour job to do ($$$!!!!). these old trucks are great for the winter but unfortunately you do roll the dice with something that old

on the flip side, had you been driving your camaro you would've had to slam THAT into a snow bank and played chicken with it, etc. you'd probably be just as mad

[camarofanatic]

Originally Posted by Murph0408

that really sucks. i've been on here talking about how much i love my durango in the winter but i found out it has a water/antifreeze leak in the pump that will probably only get worse as time goes on and the mechanic says would take a good 7 hour job to do ($$$!!!!). these old trucks are great for the winter but unfortunately you do roll the dice with something that old

on the flip side, had you been driving your camaro you would've had to slam THAT into a snow bank and played chicken with it, etc. you'd probably be just as mad

hey at least you know where your leak is. I got a pin sized hole somewhere in the radiator

and good point better the truck then the camaro

[AFblueSS]

Sucks about the brake lines though. Same thing happened to my 19 year old son in upstate NY last September. He was driving his roommate's 99 Buick LeSabre and went down a steep hill, through a stop sign, across a highway and under a semi trailer which drug him over 400 feet before it came to a hault. All because a brake line rusted through!

Life Flight Helicopter ride to the E.R., 1 month in a coma, followed by 1 month in a Brain Trauma Rehab unit learning how to walk, talk and eat again. He suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury, but over one year later has recovered at least 90%! He's playing his guitar again and has just started driving again as of 2 weeks ago (with my wife or I in the car with him).

The thing was, another line rusted through and him and his friends lost brake pressure on the NY Thruway just 2 weeks prior to the accident. He called me, and I told him to use the e-brake pedal and release lever to "Limp" the car to the next exit to get it repaired. He took it to some brake / muffler shop, where he told me the guy "patched" the line.

PATCHED the line? WTF? He said it worked fine after that.
After the accident, the car was so mangled the front end was completely unrecognizable, so there was nothing left to "investigate". It went on record that he failed to stop, but I have my suspicions!

PEOPLE UP NORTH, INSPECT YOU BRAKE SYSTEMS!

YOUR LIFE IS HANGING ON THE INTEGRITY OF A PIECE OF 3/16" o.d. .040" WALL THICKNESS TUBING MADE OF MILD STEEL. AND LIKE THE MAN SAID, NO WARNING. IT JUST FAILS!

I'm just lucky to have my best friend (my son) still with me.

Even if he does drive a soup'ed-up Honda S2000!

[gmpartsman00]

My 97 2500 Silverado has 208,000 miles, and the same issues with rust. The older GM trucks are notorious for brake lines rotting out. It does suck, because when they go, you do have to have the lines made. At least you are ok, and you didn't wreck your truck.

[blackknight]

Yea my winter ride is costing me too....new water pump, new thermostat, new timing chain plate cover, gaskets all around.....now i need to check out my brake lines just to make sure....

its a 97 dodge dakota.

and to the OP i had an 02 silverado before my Camaro, and i didnt have many problems with it at all. I loved that truck!

[SILVERHAWK]

Originally Posted by blackknight

Yea my winter ride is costing me too....new water pump, new thermostat, new timing chain plate cover, gaskets all around.....now i need to check out my brake lines just to make sure....

its a 97 dodge dakota.

and to the OP i had an 02 silverado before my Camaro, and i didnt have many problems with it at all. I loved that truck!

Yeah except for tires and regular maintenance things, this has been the first "part failure" expense and YES I love this truck too.


Ya know I never thought of this before, but I always say we don't get alot of winter weather here. It never dawned on me that we live close to the Bay/Ocean and I used to spend alot of time at the beach with the truck before I bought my Camaros ie., sand/ salt---salt air and mist from the beach.. that probably helped it along so just cause you live in a milder climate doesn't mean you are exempt.

[coolman]

Brake lines are a common problem in Chevy trucks. We've had this happen several times with our fleet. No wrecks yet because mostly it's been with the back brakes. The lines rust were they go over the rear axle. You still have front brakes when this happens.

[GARYSSS]

My brothers brake lines just rusted out and broke on his 97 expedition and my fathers 94 explorer the same thing. They both live in Ocean City Md. I think the salt water and air are rusting these out also.

[heRS]

On the bright side, it wasn't your Camaro off in the snowbank!

[Blackhawk6]

I know it was not right for the idiot to drive on your side. But look at it this way maybe he also saved your life. Because if you had not found the brake problem when would you have found out about the rusty lines. In the summer time driving normal and a another idiot pulls out in front of you and you find out then you have no brakes. It could have been alot worse later... Thing always happen for a reason.

[cab2g]

in the last year my wife and I averaged $330/mo on car repairs for a 2000 truck and a 2001 car. One was a toyota. So technically, I probably could've leased a car for about $150/mo and had no maintenance besides oil... Sometimes used cars need to be replaced. I'm crossing my fingers that my wife's car won't break in 3 years before we can afford to replace it! We're hoping to pay cash for the next car. No need to have 2 cars financed.