check your brake lines
Senior User
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 423
Likes: 0
From: Providence, RI
A search brought this up, as I just faced the same thing with my '97 F-250HD. I replaced the front hard-lines, as they started seeping, but the rears looked fine, so I left them.
I was extremely lucky, as they failed RIGHT before I was about to tow a 7500lb-trailer on the highway (THAT would have spoiled my day). Turned out the top of the line rusted right above the rear axle.
So I've replaced all my truck's hard-lines, as well as all the rubber lines. I've had brakes fail from rust before, but NEVER at 9 years old!
I guess this is just one of those "quirks" that us rust-state pickup owners have to contend with...
So if you live where they salt the roads, replace your brake-lines BEFORE they fail...
Oh, and one other thing I discovered is that with the single-reservoir master cylinder, the dual-circuit braking system becomes a no-circuit braking system once all the fluid drains out the leaking circuit.
I was extremely lucky, as they failed RIGHT before I was about to tow a 7500lb-trailer on the highway (THAT would have spoiled my day). Turned out the top of the line rusted right above the rear axle.
So I've replaced all my truck's hard-lines, as well as all the rubber lines. I've had brakes fail from rust before, but NEVER at 9 years old!
I guess this is just one of those "quirks" that us rust-state pickup owners have to contend with...
So if you live where they salt the roads, replace your brake-lines BEFORE they fail...
Oh, and one other thing I discovered is that with the single-reservoir master cylinder, the dual-circuit braking system becomes a no-circuit braking system once all the fluid drains out the leaking circuit.
