Had to stand on the brake pedal in the rain. The brakes worked for about a half a second then the pedal went to the floor and I had 0 brakes. Nada. Had to coast to a stop. I still have some fluid left in the master cylinder and there's fluid leaking down the driver's framerail and front left brake line. Any ideas? Something that feeds both front and rear brakes?

 

Sounds like a brake line gave out. Check the left front rubber brake line to see if it ruptured. If this is not the cause, move on to the metal tube that feeds the rubber line. The metal lines can rust and rupture when they get bad enough.

 

I can check on that. It was hard to tell where the leak was coming from because I was driving in the rain and everything was wet. Isn't the point of a split braking system if your front brakes crap out you still have your rears? If I blew a front line and still had half a reservoir of fluid why did I lose the rears too?

 

when a line pops, the pedal goes to the floor. don't matter if it is front or rear.

 

The rear brakes on these trucks aren't usually adjusted right anyway.

Glad you didn't have an accident. Hopefully it's a simple fix and you're back on the road.

 

Thanks. The front passenger line just exiting the junction rusted and blew. The driver's doesn't look any better. Is there a place to buy these or do I need to make them/have them made?

 

You can buy kits or make them.

 

Probably time to replace ALL the lines... hard and soft. Stainless braided soft lines; hard lines in either stainless or cupronickel. Kits mean you don't have to measure, bend, and flare your own... and then cut off, reflare, and hope you have enough length when the first attempt leaks. For the price of a good flare tool and materials, you probably can buy a pre-formed kit. I used an Inline Tube stainless kit, but there are others available. No cutting or flaring, and all the critical bends are pre-made. Just a little nudging to adjust, and some easy hand S-bends to adjust the length of the frame rail line to the rear brakes so I didn't have to cut and make a flare.

Much of your labor is going to be bleeding the lines, and doesn't change much if you replace just one line or all lines, calipers, rear wheel cylinders, and master cylinder. If you replace just one line, you'll have to bleed everything when the next one lets go. I got a NAPA Carlysle brand vacuum pump to pull fluid through the bleed screw, and it works well. Figure on having a generous amount of fresh fluid available, and just keep bleeding.

You might also consider a hydroboost setup. There are bolt-in kits available that eliminate the headaches of junkyard sourcing. I think I used Hydra-tech. But a hydroboost will find every weak spot in your lines; I blew a line and had sticking front calipers. So I ended up replacing all the pressure parts (incl master cylinder) except the RABS module, and replaced all the small parts in the rear drums. I like the results.

 

I got the Inline Tube stainless steel kit on order. During the bleeding process I'm going to hopefully find out why I didn't have any rear brakes either. FWIW the ABS light has been on since I got the truck.

 

Don't forget the flexible lines. Spend the extra few bucks for stainless braided lines. Several sources.

Since no one else has responded, I vaguely recollect that some folks reported that the rear anti-lock brake system module (RABS module) sometimes fails and dumps all pressure... resulting in no brakes. I also vaguely recollect that some folks have bypassed the RABS module. I don't know what that does to the ABS light, but it should get your rear brakes working... if the RABS is the problem. I don't know if this is a good option or not. Hopefully some folks who know more about the systems can offer you better advice. If you do bypass, all you should need is a coupler fitting to connect the two tube ends that would go to the RABS module.

 

a failed RABS unit will not result in no brakes at all, just real sloppy brakes.

 

Thanks for bringing this up. I've been trying to look up what can go bad with the RABS module and what issues they can cause.

 

I went with Inline as well. Fit perfectly and arrived quickly. I know you said you already ordered but throwing this out there for anyone else, if you make an account and put them in your cart then leave them there for a day they email you with a 10% off coupon. Good luck with the replacement!

 

Any of y'all who have installed the Inline Tube kit remember the front/rear line that goes between the fuel tank and frame rail being longer than original? The one they sent me is bent the same, just has a longer straight stretch on the front side.

 

Ah, I just noticed this kit, which is the only one they offer, is for a LONG bed, and I have a SHORT bed, Crew Cab. How do I compensate for this excess length? This line is going to be a booger to put in, being that I have to fish it between the fuel tank, frame rail, fuel lines, etc., so I want to get it right the first time. The excess length is not at the flexible part of the line.