Hey, my dad's 01 4x4 is leaking fluid from the brake line in rear where the steel line connects to the hard rubber line, it goes through a metal bracket on the frame but I'm not sure if that bracket is part of the line itself? Is that bracket welded to frame? It's pretty rusted up where rubber line is, so I can't tell but the steel line is fairly new. Thanks for your time and knowledge!

 

Usually, the leak occurs somewhere in the rear steel line. The rear steel brake line comes as a long one-piece line from the factory. Best to find out where in the steel line the leak is happening. For a quick fix, you can cut out the rotten portion of the steel line and use compression fittings to fashion in a new piece of steel line.

You can also purchased the entire rear steel brake line from the dealer's parts department.

 

NO! Compression fittings are illegal on brake lines.

 

To my knowledge, they are not illegal in this area and I see them quite often installed in brake lines. I agree that they aren't the best fix and shouldn't be used, however, folks perform these types of repairs given the current economy.

 

Well, when you hit the brakes hard in an emergency and it blows off, the result won't be good. I would not give people advice to use them. That's pretty much what I'm saying.

 

Advocating that kind of repair is foolish whether someone can afford the proper fix or not. Property and lives are put at risk when an improperly repaired vehicle is on the road.

 

Please don't get me wrong. I'm certainly not advocating that kind of repair and do not do it on my own vehicle. All I'm saying is that folks do it quite frequently. In addition, the rear brake line blow-out has been an issue with Dodge trucks for many, many years. I advocate replacing the entire rear line, however, some folks only replace sections of it and those that do will likely end up revisting the issue in another section of that old brake line.

 

1. the factory does brake lines the way do for a reason. 2. SOMETIMES the factory does things RIGHT. YA THINK?

 

Just because people "do it" does not make it correct, or safe. Think of the "If everyone jumped off of a bridge" analogy.

A hack fix is a hack fix, so no matter how often it's polished, a turd is still a turd.

 

In many places, use of compression fittings on brakes is strictly forbidden, and will be an automatic fail on inspection.

I have been doin' the wrench thing for 30+ years. I simply will NOT use them. I have seen too many of them fail for various reasons. I can deal without those kinds of surprises, and I am sure my customers feel the same way.