Chevy rusted brake lines

[saw dust kid]

If[] you tow with an older Chevy pickup and live in the Rust Belt it be wise to have your brake lines checked
I blew out of brake line towing my fifth wheel from Michigan to Florida
GM is aware of this problem (rusting brake lines) but said if you do lose partial brake you still have sufficient braking to stop
Maybe so unless you have a 14000 pound fifth wheel hook up to your truck I'm lucky I didn't blow this brake line going through the Smoky Mountains
The GM dealer around $3,000 to replace all my brake lines

[notanlines]

We live in Memphis area but still had the same problem with our Ford Excursion four years ago. $1100 to Firestone to have them all replaced.

[TLB]

Well if the brake lines went, your fuel line are not far behind.

We see this at the dealership all the time.

[saw dust kid]

There are four brake lines that run across the top of the frame on the driver side wheel well the innermost one that runs up alongside to wire harness as the one that broke

[Desert185]

Hmmm...lost a couple of fenders on my airporter 1977 K10, but never lost a brake line. I pressure wash the underside of my current Ram during the winter road salt season, and so far so good.

[14george]

Had a ram brake line rusted between the gas tank and the frame

[bsmith0404]

It's been a known problem for years, but to my knowledge they haven't been able to pinpoint why or which ones. My dad has a 2006 and his brake lines look like brand new after 80k+ miles in Wisconsin. Of course he always washes everything underneath very meticulously.

[MattHelm21]

Had the same problem with our 2004 Silverado. It is a know problem but not unknown to other manufacturers and trucks running in the North East. The explanation I was given is that the new liquid road de-icing solutions being used now get up where typical road salt never has before causing all kinds of severe corrosion. The bill for my repair was $2000. However, when they told me they were going to run the same brake lines again and that a large part of the bill was labor because the lines had to be custom bent, I asked my dealer to do some research and they came up with pre-bent stainless steel lines from a third party which I had installed for the same price.

[Desert185]

That's the way to go. Google stainless pre bent brake line kits. Lots of options. On older rigs, might as well go with braided stainless lines at the calipers, too.

Brake fluid changes color to look like Merlot over time. While I prefer a Petite Sirah, the discoloring brake fluid gets corrosive and should be flushed and bled from time to time. I always use a higher temp, synthetic DOT 4 fluid (not to be confused with DOT 5).