I have a 97 F250 with 206K miles on it. This past weekend, when doing some preventive maintenance, checking fluids, etc. the brake pedal went to ground and a popped a leak in the rear brake line.

I had the truck towed away and had the line fixed which the mechanic said had rotted through and finally popped a leak. He stated that everything else was fine.

Later in the day when I went and picked up the truck, a different mechanic that was on duty said to "expect that the other lines would go soon also". Said that the harsh New England weather finally gets to them.

I asked him whether I should just leave it there and have the other front lines replaced since if they pop like the rear did, I'd rather not be out driving at the time.

He said not too worry. Just bring it back when it pops.

My question is whether it sounds like he's just trying to scare up more business or whether if one did blow, I'd be wise just to repalce them all?

All the postings I could find online seem to only be talking about the rear lines (which do seem to be more exposed to raod gunk.)

thanks

 

why take the chance??? if it were me I'd replaced all the lines so you know you will be ok.

As to whether the others will fail... its hard to say. Since the one lasted this long, it probably wasn't a failure due to a bad part. So if its a failure due to wear and tear, the other brake lines have seen the same wear and tear. Or maybe a rock happened to hit the brake line that failed, who knows.

But like I said, for the fairly minimal cost I'd replace them all.

 

X2. It's your brakes but why wait until they fail to fix them.

 

I personally would get them all fixed. Last thing you need is for something to go wrong during an emergency stop and because you put this off you caused an accident or maybe even the death of another motorist.

 

All have been replaced. Thanks for your advise.

My question was more just a check on whether the lines "really do rot" vs. whether the mechanic was just trying to scare up more business.

Anyway, I got over 10 years and 200K miles on the first set of lines . Hope I get the same out of this set.

Now..... wonder what's going to break next......

thanks again

 

Glad to hear its all worked out.

 

ohhhh... well, I don't think that "rot" is the correct term... but they do wear out and fail. The neverending cycle of pressure-release when you hit the breaks stresses the lines and eventually they fail. The failure would probably technically be due to fatigue of the material.

But either way, glad to hear you got them all replaced... you should be good for another 10+ years now!