2001 Suburban - Brake lines leaking

[VAfan]

Having trouble with brake lines blowing on my 2001 Suburban. Happened twice; both times while towing my travel trailer. The most recent was last Sunday with the trailer hooked up for a trip to Fort Clinch, beach site #5. Fortunately happened on the road I live on and I was able to turn around.

First vehicle I've had with this problem; apparently this is common in Northern States.

Anyone with experience and have a recommendation for a brake line kit? Having a hard time finding one for a Suburban.

[spadoctor]

To the OP....at 15 or 16 years of age it is time for all the lines and hoses to be replace along with a total system flush and refill...I would also do the master cyl. Brake fluid is the least stable fluid in a vehicle. Over time it absorbs water from the air and as such become less effective. Its far more important to change then coolant.

[Thunderbolt]

I forgot where I ordered my lines, but they were a little long even being pre bent.

LIKE2BUILD wrote:

VAfan wrote:
Trying to find a pre-bent copper-type line kit. May need to custom fit the copper-type (understand it's easy to work with) or go with a stainless kit. Thanks for the heads-up regarding the need to remove the gas tank.

The stainless alloy in these kits is malleable. The kit I got came with the correct bends, but it was doubled over on itself to fit in the shipping box. The tubing had colored tape on it showing you the bends that needed to be straightened for installation.

Oh, one more thing. The plastic inner fender well needs to be removed on the driver side. It's held in with plastic buttons and takes about 5 minutes to remove. It makes it so easy running the lines from the master cylinder to the ABS block and also running the lines forward that feed each front wheel.

KJ

[Thunderbolt]

One more thing. Don't pump the brakes when pushing or it will take longer to bleed. Just put pressure on the pedal , open bleeder, close bleeder and release brake pedal and repeat.

[Thunderbolt]

I know you can do it that way, but it is very time consuming because if there is air it will never come out the first time.

dodge guy wrote:

Thunderbolt wrote:
I just put all new lines on my in-laws 2000 Chevy. They crumbled when i touched them. I am anal about washing under my 03 all year and thankfully my line still look good. I put all stainless steal lines on and it was not a fun job!! I hope to never do it again. Besides the work you have to have the scan tool to bleed the anti-lock brakes properly.

You can do it without the scanner. if you have the original ABS unit it doesn't need to be bled because it was already done when installed. but if you want to do it anyway, bleed it once, take it to a gravel lot and stop hard a few times to run the ABS, then go back and re bleed, same as what a scanner would do, just cheaper for you!

[LIKE2BUILD]

Yes, ABS bleeding can be done making hard stops on gravel. To bleed the lines I highly recommend one of these Motive power bleeder. It makes brake bleeding a 1 person job and is extremely easy. I'll never bleed brakes again without one of these tools.

KJ

[dodge_guy]

Thunderbolt wrote:
I just put all new lines on my in-laws 2000 Chevy. They crumbled when i touched them. I am anal about washing under my 03 all year and thankfully my line still look good. I put all stainless steal lines on and it was not a fun job!! I hope to never do it again. Besides the work you have to have the scan tool to bleed the anti-lock brakes properly.

You can do it without the scanner. if you have the original ABS unit it doesn't need to be bled because it was already done when installed. but if you want to do it anyway, bleed it once, take it to a gravel lot and stop hard a few times to run the ABS, then go back and re bleed, same as what a scanner would do, just cheaper for you!

[Thunderbolt]

I just put all new lines on my in-laws 2000 Chevy. They crumbled when i touched them. I am anal about washing under my 03 all year and thankfully my line still look good. I put all stainless steal lines on and it was not a fun job!! I hope to never do it again. Besides the work you have to have the scan tool to bleed the anti-lock brakes properly.

[fireman41]

I'm doing this right now on a 2003 avalanche. I got a complete kit from classic tube.

I could strangle the engineer that put the abs unit where it's at.

[LIKE2BUILD]

VAfan wrote:
Trying to find a pre-bent copper-type line kit. May need to custom fit the copper-type (understand it's easy to work with) or go with a stainless kit. Thanks for the heads-up regarding the need to remove the gas tank.

The stainless alloy in these kits is malleable. The kit I got came with the correct bends, but it was doubled over on itself to fit in the shipping box. The tubing had colored tape on it showing you the bends that needed to be straightened for installation.

Oh, one more thing. The plastic inner fender well needs to be removed on the driver side. It's held in with plastic buttons and takes about 5 minutes to remove. It makes it so easy running the lines from the master cylinder to the ABS block and also running the lines forward that feed each front wheel.

KJ

[me_camper]

Check with the dealer GM makes brake line kits for all the trucks and full size SUV's that are coated with plastic and won't rust, cost about 120.00 for the kit all pre-bent.

[BenK]

Staying away for a while...and just checking today...this is a safety
issue that must comment on

Pure copper tubing is illegal because it will work harden and fracture
Maybe your state, but not here in Calif the last time I build or restored
a vehiclle

Loss of brake fluid and PSI...AKA no brakes

If they are talking about an alloy with copper, then it might be okay

Check it the material or assembly has a DOT logo on them. If not, then
pass on them...

Good luck

[VAfan]

Thanks everyone....typical great info from this forum. Trying to find a pre-bent copper-type line kit. May need to custom fit the copper-type (understand it's easy to work with) or go with a stainless kit. Thanks for the heads-up regarding the need to remove the gas tank.

Great comments - after the first blow out should have replaced all the lines. Like I said..never had this problem before.

Like one of the posts I just replaced all the brakes/rotors and inspected all the lines. It was driven ~50 miles when the line going over the rear differential blew.

Obviously a potentially dangerous problem. Having the trailer brakes helped me limp home both times; my emergency brake was useless and even though still had fluid in one side of the master cylinder the pedal went to the floor.

[LIKE2BUILD]

BurbMan wrote:
That's a heckuva deal on that Dorman kit, .....I can tell you that the main fuel tank has to come down to get to the brake lines that run rearward,

Tank removal probably is necessary on the SUV platform. on my old 2500HD we had room to snake the rear tubing around the tank without removing it. Things are a lot tighter on the SUV so the tank would have the give some wiggle room to work.

KJ

[BurbMan]

That's a heckuva deal on that Dorman kit, when I replaced my lines in 2013 I got my stainless kit from Classic Tube. I also got a set of pre-bent stainless fuel lines and did the whole job front to back. Consider new brake hoses also. Whole package from Classic was about $800, including stainless braided brake hoses.

I can tell you that the main fuel tank has to come down to get to the brake lines that run rearward, and plenty of PB blaster and good set of line wrench crow's feet are a must for the ABS fittings. GM in their wisdom routed the ABS controller inside the frame rail under the driver's door...

The fuel lines were really special, both fuel tanks had to come down, and the torsion bars had to be removed and the rear crossmember moved to access where the 4 fuel lines route along the inside of the frame.

It took me a couple weeks working on/off nights and weekends, but I suppose if you're good you could get it done in a Saturday. Took me a whole Sunday last week to replace the rear two brake lines on my daughter's 98 Grand Prix.