Down hill toward intersection with light that turned red. I braked fairly hard and then all of a sudden, brake pedal goes to floor and I go through the light. I pump brake once or twice and still nothing. Luckily I made it through without hitting anyone and eventually stopped with emergency brake. Turns out the line to the rear brakes blew. It was probably weak and maybe the pressure from braking hard blew it. This was sudden. There was no warning whatsoever. Reservoir was empty and practically no brakes in the front. There was enough front brakes to keep the truck from idling forward, but that is it. I thought that I should have had full front brakes with a modern day master cylinder. Looks like Ford blew it with this one. Very dangerous design.

Is there an upgrade available? I never want this to happen again.

 

I have no idea if there is an update but I had the exact same failure, only I was pulling a #7000 trailer into Atlanta traffic on I75 at @70 mph when a semi cut into my lane and slammed on his brakes. I hit my brake pedal and then...it went to the floor, luckily I could stop on the trailer brakes and the emergency brake. The problem is that Ford used a single line that is @12-13 feet long to go from the front proportioning valve to the rear splitter. Mine was replaced by Pep Boys with an upgraded HD line that they custom bent to move it farther away from the exhaust and driveshafts. I still don't like that it is one line but I needed it fixed so I could get home. Good luck with a solution. If you find one you won't be alone in doing it.

 

Glad you didn't hit anything! That must have been quite an experience.

Stainless Steel Braided lines are my choice. There are several brands available I like Goodridge or Russell.

00-up Ford Excursion Brake Lines from Russell at Andy's Auto Sport

These are the calipers I want!

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-calipers.html

 

Sorry you had the problem and real glad you got it stopped safely! I'm not aware of an upgrade but there are definitely options on the type of line to use. I use nickel/copper line at my shop and eventually will use it on my Ex but so far the lines are in good shape with no exterior corrosion present all of the way back. The stainless line is a good option but a lot of shops do not have the flare tool for it. Stainless requires a single 37* flare while steel or alloy lines are a double 45* flare.

 

I have never had a brake problem on any of my Super Duty's, except for warped rotors. With that being said: I will go inspect my X now that I know that there could be a problem. Thanks for sharing and glad you were able to stop safely.

Where exactly was your break in the brake line? Do you have any pictures of the broken line?

 

Thanks for sharing, agree pics would be great so we can be proactive.

 

Thanks for the input Riko. Stainless it will be. Looks like the kit we need is the 696490 for Russell.

If anyone else is considering them also, Autoanything has the same kit for $164 with free shipping.

 

Wow ... I guess my family and I have been protected. Looks like it is more common then I thought. I will have to start adding this to the oil change regiment.

Googled "Brake Line Failure" on FTE

 

I have had this happen many many times because of rusted lines and I agree the way the system is designed there should be some front brakes yet. But somehow ford designed the master to totally rely on the rear brakes to make the peddle and send fluid to the fronts. Your lucky your E-brake even worked! That is another ford failure.

 

I'm gonna guess he blew out the flex hoses that go from the solid line to the caliper....just got done replacing all my brake lines with stainless braided lines and new fluid....better safe than sorry....

 

Thanks for all the info. My insurance company towed truck to nearest dealer and the dealer replaced the line made up with 2 pieces. I never got any photo's. The 2 piece line that failed was located along the drivers side frame rail between the engine and the rear axle. It rusted through in one spot near the rear axle and was severely rusted in another spot somewhere in the middle. This truck has never been on the beach, has very little rust underneath and only has 107,000 miles on it, so be careful regardless of mileage and condition. When this line fails, there are no brakes.

 

Wouldn't one think that this is a big enough problem for a recall? It seems a little too common for my liking. I crawled under and looked at mine, it's spotless so I am guessing it's been replaced by the previous owner.

 

I've probably said 1000 times stainless brake and fuel lines should be standard on every vehicle!

 

My brake line split open along the frame rail above the transmission crossmember. I couldn't see the split, only the massive amount of fluid it blew all over everything. The tech brought it out after he removed it and the line only had a few spots of minor surface rust and those weren't by the split. They custom bent a replacement 1 piece line out of a 25' roll of brake line instead of splicing several smaller pieces.
I will say I had been awake for 23 hours at that point (thats why I let them do the repair) so my memory could be a little fuzzy...

 

Stupid computer double post!!