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.

 

You're in IL and it seems like you boys up that way and farther East deal with this issue on your brake lines. I guess it tends to happen to the lines around the fuel tank as well. You guys put some nasty shiz on your roads in the winter.

 

+1... Do the line running above the tank too. I live in NH and as rusty as the underside of my truck is from the salt, that line is holding up amazingly enough.

 

yep did mine about the 1000 miles after i got it.... at 43,000 miles,,, damn ohio salt

i it was leakin between the tank and the frame

 

Welcome to the club.

Mines a '96 also, but with 160K miles. I've replaced them all. First one to blow was the one near the gas tank. I just replaced the passenger side front hose going to the caliper as well.

 

thats why ill never move up north. lol. its real bad on the undersides of trucks. and if i did ever happen to move up north, id have the under side rhinolined, or line-x'd

 

when you fix that brake line, you should look in to doing the wheel cylinder mod to give you a more bite in your braking power.

 

what mod?

 

3500 or 2500 cylinders....dont remember which

 

or at the very least get the rattle can of undercoating spray from walmart.
i'm glad they don't salt the roads in NC.