So tonight, I left work, came to a stoplight... and hit the brakes.... and pedal hit the floor. Truck is now (thanks to my lovely fiancee following me) sitting at a local shop, I blew my brake lines. Yes, LINES. Both. And he's not wiling to fix it and I don't have the knowledge to do it. Says he isn't willing to drop the gas tank. So we're waiting to see how much this places says they'll charge.

But I guess, I can kiss my paycheck Thursday good-bye.

 

Dont need to drop the tank. Cut the line ahead of the tank, cut the line behind the tank, use some unions, and a flaring tool (very handy to have...) and put in a repair section. Bleed the brakes, yer done. About 10 bucks in line and fluid, and a bit of time. (plus the tool if you need it, but, the tool is forever.)

There should only be one. I think...... unless the rears have a separate line for each side on the 99's? 4wal? or some such?

 

Thats to bad your local shop won't change it for you. Even if they run a brand new line, they don't need to drop the tank. Its 2 bolts with straps that hold the tank up. All they have to do is move the tank over a little bit with a jack after undoing the bolts. Maybe they should just stick with oil changes. Maybe someone on this forum that lives close can help you with it?

 

The local shop, I'm sure, would do it. It's my fiance that didn't want to do it.

But now he is thinking about doing it. I have no idea how to do any of this stuff, but if I had someone patient teaching me (aka, not my fiance) I'd do it myself and/or be able to do it next time something happens.

For now, my truck is sitting in front of my house, and I have my fiance's Jeep to drive to and from work. I just don't have $200+ to spend to have this fixed. We're figuring $30 max on this fix. Hopefully. And he's planning on 11 hours of work because he's not sure what all it's going to require. He's not going to drop the tank, he's going to cut off the current line in a certain spot and re-route the new brake line. Hopefully it'll work.

We decided (with the help of a friend) that the brake line problem is because of the fact that the truck is from Michigan (problem #1) and my fiance liked to tow with this truck up until 2 weeks ago. We know he was at the max reccommended towing capacity of the truck while towing the Jeep and trailer. We figure he probably stretched the frame while doing this and the line has been slowly leaking. Tonight, we added two bottle of brake fluid to the truck and it was empty (and spewing) within 5 minutes. It was... very interesting to drive around tonight to get it home.

So hopefully my truck will be back on the road in time for work Sunday... I already miss driving my truck... the Jeep leaked water all over me tonight.

 

This is what I thought.

But according to my fiance since there is two lines leading out of the master cylinder, he thinks there is one line going to the front axle... another going to the rear axle. I have one leak below the driver's side door, and a second one is under the bed between the cab and driver's side rear tire.

 

Probably both on the rear line.

Above the tank is one of the favorite places for the brake lines to fail. Mine already has. There is a repair section of line there. (and I am in Michigan..... )

For the 30 bucks you wanna spend, you can probably do it. Including buying the tool you need. Might want to check with the dealer, and see how much they want for a pre-bent section of line..... and replace the whole thing. If that is too expensive, you can get a couple sections of repair line, couplers, and nuts, for less than ten bucks at most any parts store. I would offer to come down and help ya out, but, I don't think my gas would be within your budget.

If you have a friend that is mechanically inclined, or a friend of a friend.... might wanna have a chat. I have been known to do work for as little as a home cooked meal.

 

I'm calling Hall Dodge tomorrow. I have a serious hatred toward Greenbrier Dodge.

Nah, gas to and from Michigan isn't in our budget.... for the next year. We gotta go up there for Christmas ourselves.

Hopefully at this point, I just encourage him to fix it. I really am not the type to drive a Jeep this size around. 5'4'' getting in to a Jeep with 4.25" of lift just ain't cute.

 

Matter of perspective. I suspect that I would find it very 'cute'.....

and 200 bucks to replace a brake line? That seems a tad bit excessive...... unless their labor rate is 150 an hour? I used to do them every day for 50 bucks or so, and that included parts.

 

That was what we'd been told it'd probably cost. $65-85/hour. 2 hours. Then parts.

And you sound just like my fiance, he says the same damn thing about the Jeep.

 

Must be a man thing........