Brake Line failure - 1996 Ram 1500
#1
Brake Line failure - 1996 Ram 1500
I noticed that my brakes have been getting weaker, and on a recent highway trip I scared the heck out of myself when I needed to make a panic stop and almost couldn't. At the next stop, I checked my brake fluid and the front chamber of the reservoir was empty. I added fluid and made it back home (leaving plenty of following distnace), but the truck has been sitting since then.
I got a chance to add some more fluid and start troubleshooting, and I found several points of failure. One of the hard lines going to the rear has a split or fail point right under the cab (there's no sign that this was a failure caused from rubbing against anything, either), and the hard line for the right front brake shows signs of oozing from the junction where it meets the flex line that then goes to the caliper.
I've picked up a small pipe bender and a double-flare tool, and I'm about to remove all the lines and replace them. It's what needs to be done...
Still, I'm a little stunned. Yes, this truck is a 1996, but it has <40k miles (those are true miles, BTW). I've had BMWs, Audis, VWs, and an old Porsche - many of them with 150k to over 200k miles on them - and never had a hard brake line fail. A rubber line I've replaced here and there...but never the hard lines. What gives? Seems like a brake line is the wrong place to try and skimp a few pennies...
Don't get me wrong. I like my RAM and it is staying around for a long time. I'm just a little disappointed in this failure.
I got a chance to add some more fluid and start troubleshooting, and I found several points of failure. One of the hard lines going to the rear has a split or fail point right under the cab (there's no sign that this was a failure caused from rubbing against anything, either), and the hard line for the right front brake shows signs of oozing from the junction where it meets the flex line that then goes to the caliper.
I've picked up a small pipe bender and a double-flare tool, and I'm about to remove all the lines and replace them. It's what needs to be done...
Still, I'm a little stunned. Yes, this truck is a 1996, but it has <40k miles (those are true miles, BTW). I've had BMWs, Audis, VWs, and an old Porsche - many of them with 150k to over 200k miles on them - and never had a hard brake line fail. A rubber line I've replaced here and there...but never the hard lines. What gives? Seems like a brake line is the wrong place to try and skimp a few pennies...
Don't get me wrong. I like my RAM and it is staying around for a long time. I'm just a little disappointed in this failure.