Catastrophic Brake Failure - Dont Wait for it to happen to you!

[J33Pfan]

Has this happened to you yet?

Change your Brake Hoses before someone gets hurt!

Luckily my daughter blew out this front right hose in the driveway while in park. Otherwise there would have been a big collision! God is with us!

2002 V6 4WD 165k miles. The hose looked great on the outside. The Rust was hidden until now. The fluid went totally out so much so that the rear brakes didnt have any fluid or brakes. No Brakes other than the E brake. In 40yrs, I've never seen a Catastrophic Brake failure like this!

2 front hoses were replaced along with the MC. The rear Hose is next!

I have to check the old MC to see if there are actually 2 chambers inside.

Looks like just a rust issue where the rubber is clamped to the steal line.

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[ltd02]

My 02 did this to me once on the way to the store about 5 miles from home. No traffic so I managed to gently get home. Probably around the same mileage as yours.

 

[flytonehundred]

Funny you mention this.

A year ago I had my driver side front hose blow catastrophically (where the hard line connects to rubber) I still had rear braking, however (it's split front and rear). A week ago, I was thinking about it and replaced the passenger side just in case...

 

[LibertyTC]

This is great that it blew in the driveway!
So was the rust alone responsible? Where did it rupture at fitting?
Sure makes me want to get out the brake hose magnifying glass ! :gr_grin:

 

[J33Pfan]

This is great that it blew in the driveway!
So was the rust alone responsible? Where did it rupture at fitting?
Sure makes me want to get out the brake hose magnifying glass ! :gr_grin:

I finally got a pic up

Looks like just a rust issue where the rubber is clamped to the steal line.

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[Sephiroth]

are this the lines behind the wheels or under the hood? I replaced mine with braided lines a couple of years ago, I'm driving 1100+ miles next weekend wouldn't want this to happen.

 

[tjkj2002]

I these types of failures at least 2-3 times a week,they are much more common then you think depending on where you live and how well you have actually maintained your braking system.You must replace the brakes fluid every couple of years in these modern brake systems with aluminum parts otherwise they will rust from the inside out.

 

[LibertyTC]

^ Interesting...So what is really going on is basically brake fluid likes to absorb moisture, therefore creating water in the brake fluid= rust from inside..= eek.
Thus the need for bleed/replenishing with all new fluid every few years.

Interesting to note that even though DOT3 is specified DOT4 seems to be a better choice as has a higher temp rating than DOT3.
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[Billwill]

I am about to get my brake system checked out due to the age of my Jeep (2002)

The rear drum brakes haven't been serviced for years so I am sure that the friction shoes will be pretty bad and maybe drums will need some machining. Front pads and disks I replaced myself not too long ago.

In line of this post of the brake lines bursting I will get them checked/replaced as well and have the brake fluid replaced.

I have been topping up the brake fluid for some years with Dot 4 fluid....looking at some other sites I have seen some concerns about whether we should use synthetic Dot 4 or non-synthetic? Any advice on this please?

Once this work has been done I will see if I can fix the Park Brake problem that all these KJs have...I have to park with the manual transmission in gear as the park brake is totally useless. Here in SA this is called an Emergency Brake ie. supposed to help bring you to a halt if main brakes fail...this Jeep of mine would never pass a Road-worthy Test here.
Lost has some good ideas on this Park brake problem which I will explore namely fitting two small springs at the brake handle to pull the two cables forward constantly.

 

[flytonehundred]

^ Interesting...So what is really going on is basically brake fluid likes to absorb moisture, therefore creating water in the brake fluid= rust from inside..= eek.
Thus the need for bleed/replenishing with all new fluid every few years.

Interesting to note that even though DOT3 is specified DOT4 seems to be a better choice as has a higher temp rating than DOT3.
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Be aware that DOT4 may actually require more frequent changes than DOT3, so may not be a better choice.

http://www.stoptech.com/technical-support/technical-white-papers/brake-fluid

"This does not mean that DOT 4 fluids are necessarily better than DOT 3 fluids. Remember, the boiling points listed are minimums. There are certain DOT 3 fluids with higher boiling points than some DOT 4 fluids. The real differentiating factor is that DOT 4 fluid should be changed more often than a DOT 3 fluid, because of the effects and rates of water absorption."

 

[Billwill]

Thanks, I get that Dot 3 is better than Dot 4 due to having a higher boiling point and absorbs water less.
But while I am shopping for this Dot 3 should I choose synthetic or not?
This is assuming that synthetic is available here.

And can these fluids be mixed or should there first be a complete drain of the old fluid?

Thanks.