Gotta vent!
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Gotta vent!
Well, yesterday I took the wife and 5 kids to the circus 60 miles away. Just as we were leaving a parking lot I absolutely blew a brake line. I had to have my brother in law come get the wife and kids, call a tow since I had no tools with me and tow to a garage that was open luckily (or not). I then had to wait for them to relpace the line. 70.00 for a new line just in parts and then 110.00 in labor for what they called 1.25 hrs of labor. Something I could have fixed myself with an hour of crawling under the truck in the dirt of my driveway and probably 20.00 worth of brake line from carquest. Happy I was able to drive the truck home safe with the family, but pi$$ed at having to pay so much and not be able to spend the day with the family. Worst of all the truck was on the lift for that 1.25 hrs but they only actually worked on it for maybe 45 minutes.
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you don't actually pay for the techs time, you are paying for the work, there are books out that say how much time the job should take, like all-data or motors, so say the book says it take 4 hours to replace part X, if the tech has done that job before and is proficient it might only take him 3 hours you still pay 4 hours, if the tech doesn't know what he's doing and it takes him 6 hours to do the job you still pay 4.
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There is no doubt I am lucky that the line ruptured in the parking lot. The worst part is the whole line was in good shape except for that one little spot that corroded where it was in the line clip attached to the frame. Time to go over the lines again with a very good flashlight and a fine tooth comb. Still P/O at the cost. To my way of thinking, it should have been no more that 100.00. Maybe I am living in the stone age. But I have read on this site before that a repair is worth what someone is willing to pay for it. I guess there is some truth to that now.
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From: Plano TX and Brentwood TN
There is no doubt I am lucky that the line ruptured in the parking lot. The worst part is the whole line was in good shape except for that one little spot that corroded where it was in the line clip attached to the frame. Time to go over the lines again with a very good flashlight and a fine tooth comb. Still P/O at the cost. To my way of thinking, it should have been no more that 100.00. Maybe I am living in the stone age. But I have read on this site before that a repair is worth what someone is willing to pay for it. I guess there is some truth to that now.
"Better to have it and not need it, then to need it and not have it".
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From: OR and UT
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From: Black Hills
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From: LONG ISLAND N.Y.
sounds like theres a story there...any pictures????
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+2 on this. On my previous truck I had a brake line rupture on westbound I-70 going up a long steep grade towing our fifth wheel trailer in Colorado. At the top of the grade, coming out of the Eisenhower Tunnel, there was a sign telling truck drivers to check their brakes. Brakes are something I’ve always taken for granted, except this one time. When I pushed on the brake pedal it almost went completely to the floor. Fortunately there was a truck pullout right there so I whipped into the pullout and used the trailer brakes to stop.
I still get chills thinking of what might have happened if I hadn’t checked the brakes and had continued down the six mile, 7% grade. After the six miles, the downhill grade continues at 5 to 6% for another two and a half miles.
Sometimes I think there was an Angel sitting in the back seat telling me to check the brakes.
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I had a similar thing happen on my old Crown Vic except that it blew out right down the street from my house. I was teaching my oldest daughter to drive on a friend's "hay wagon road" on his farm. I replaced the section of line with the rusted out spot, bled it and went out for a test run around the block. When I pulled back in the driveway I could see the oil line on the ground where it blew out in another spot at the next clip beyond the repaired area. I ended up replacing all the brake lines using single lengths where possible, cut and hand bent from a roll or two of hard line. I'd go over every inch of your lines and if you have rust at the clips at least consider replacing everything before it happens again. You could probably even buy the flaring tool kits and all the parts needed plus speed bleeders for less than that one emergency repair cost. Besides, with 5 kids safety is not something to take even the smallest chance on.
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From: Black Hills
Actually not really much of a story. My first vehicle 1978 Dodge RamCharger, Sophmore in high school 1988, My very first brake job EVER. Fortunately there was a bunch of rocks and crap under the waterline on the ramp so the truck didnt go too far in, just over the tailgate. Needless to say it became my project vehicle in auto shop. I think I had a camera in the truck, but no flash bulb cubes (remember those).