Vehicle brake lines found to be severely corroded. Brake line material is not suitable for service in normal conditions and in my case the frame and other undercarriage do not exhibit similar corrosion. Investigation of the lines found corrosion throughout the brake system, particularly around the ABS controller, located at the midpoint of the vehicle on the drivers side inside frame rail. In talking with friends/co-workers I learned of two incidents, one with a 2002 silverado 2500 having a similar failure where the line failed at stop while the line was under pressure. Another friend had a failure in his 2001 silverado 1500 while applying brakes to stop a the bottom of a hill. The brakes failed due to a ruptured line and the owner was able to gear down, roll through the stop sign and turn onto a side road. A higher profile incident involved a co-worker with a 2001 silverado 2500 pulling a travel trailer. While coming to a stop, the brake line ruptured and the vehicle ran the red light. The owner was able to stop the vehicle using the travel trailer electric brakes. I work at a large chemical company headquartered in kingsport, tn. This incident was the subject of a safety newsletter that is circulated at the kingsport site in 2013. Searches of internet forums find multiple similar incidents due to brake line rupture some involving injury.
1999 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 brakes complaints
Page 3 of 14: complaints 41 to 70 of 373, newest first, as owners wrote them.
I was turning a corner a short way from my house. My brake pedal suddenly went to the floor. I tried pumping the brakes and got almost no stopping power. Luckily, I was able to coast up into my yard. I looked under the truck and their was brake fluid all over the frame rail and the bundle of lines. One or more had rusted through. If I was in traffic, this would have been a very serious situation!
When merging into highway traffic, off ramp, there was total brake failure. Other cars were approaching and I could not bring the truck to a stop. So I drove onto the shoulder off the road to avoid an accident. The problem was instantaneous with no prior warning. This is the second time this has occurred. The problem was due to corrosive brake lines....updated 10/22/14
Was approaching a stop sign at a busy intersection and brake pedal lost pressure followed by total brake failure. Thankfully no one was stopped in front of me and I somehow was able to make it across the intersection without getting hit. After coming to this site and seeing hundreds of recorded complaints about the exact same issue, I'm extremely disappointed that gm has not recalled this vehicle for faulty brake lines.
I while driving vehicle, it lost brake pressure causing the brake pedal to push to the floor, upon examination it was discover the brake lines that run from the master cylinder to ABS module were rusted out and the brake lines from the ABS module to the brake calipers where rusted out as well. The brake lines had to replaced.
After stopping quickly the broke pedal went to the floor and no longer had any resistance. The braking power was greatly reduced and appeared that only the rear brakes were functioning.
Driving about 30 MPH and approaching stopped traffic at a red light hit brakes to stop and pedal went to the floor with greatly reduced stopping ability. Had to steer off the road to avoid a rear-end collision. This is second time with brake line failure in a couple of years. I spent 30 + years full time, in-house as self-employed engineering consultant at the dayton, ohio gm / delco / delphi facilities and I know gm can do better. 10 siblings and we all have been gm customers - net research indicated $40 cost increase to go stainless steel on brake lines. ( only the most important safety feature on the vehicle ) gentlemen & ladies ? R e a l l y ! !
Driving east on ohio state route at 40 - 45 MPH slowing to make right turn applied brakes in a normal fashion and pedal went to the floor with minimal effect on vehicle velocity.
My 1999 chevy silverado pickup truck experienced a brake line failure in my driveway, I was going 5 MPH or less when both of my brake line failed causing me to rear end my daughters car parked in the driveway, lucky her car was there or I would have run into the garage door. I had the brake lines repaired, they must have only replaced the sections that broke since aprox. 1 year later one of the brake lines broke again when I was out of state, I had the section that broke replaced just before the repair shop closed and I was able to get back home. Today another section of brake line broke I am getting this repaired and any remaining old brake lines replaced, also my emergency brake is broken I'm not sure what the problem is yet.
While approaching a stop light to get on interstate 81 south in wv, I was applying the brakes and felt a "pop" and then I had no brakes. I coasted down the hill and entered a "park & ride" lot to evaluate what happened. A significant amount of brake fluid was pouring out from under the vehicle behind the drivers side about where the cab meets the bed. Brake pedal goes all the way to the floor and I have no brakes. I had to leave the vehicle in wv and get a ride home. Will need to have it towed in a day or two. Unable to enter VIN because the vehicle is still 30+ miles away from my house.
I went to stop to make a turn and brakes went out. Was able to slow enough to make it to the house brake fluid all over rear tire. This is not the 1st time the 1st time hauling a trailer when brakes failed the next time my son was driving and vehicle cut him off slammed on the brakes blew line under drivers door caused accident the next time was backing out of driveway and applied brakes pedal went to the floor at this time I am afraid to drive the truck as I never know when this is going to happen to me I do alot of highway driving and I feel that after replacing 4 brakes lines in less then a year and the truck gives no warning of any kind the brakes are low.
I am reporting yet another case of failure for the ABS module as well as the proportioning valve on my 99 silverado. There is an extremely high number of incidents reported throughout various forums on the internet, and the 3 mechanics I've spoken to are all very aware of this common issue with 99-02 nbs trucks. To my knowledge, there is no recall for this part, which is known to fail just as the original 60k warranty was up. This is a very important issue for those who have purchased these trucks used, especially. When the pump/module fails, there is a certainty that ABS function no longer works, and the high probability that brake line pressures are unequalized, causing the brakes to lock up even at speed.
I was driving the truck and when I to put on the brakes, the pedal went to the floor. I instantly had no brakes, no warning lights or anything. There was a car stopped in the road in front of me and was nothing I could do so I ended up rear ending them, totaling their car. When looking under the truck I realized the brake lines had busted due to rust. I have never had as much as a speeding ticket and now have a wreck on my record due to faulty lines that has happen to many people. After I looked into it I seen its being investigated but something needs done, this is very dangerous and is gonna kill people if not fixed and recalled.
The brake line went out and just about caused us to wreck. It was fine one minute then the brakes went all the way to the floor. Pioneer chevy in abingdon va said the lines had rusted. That cost us over $1300. That was in april and now it's august and it's happened again with a different break line. Pioneer now said it's going to cost over $800 this time. I'm so furious we really don't have this kind of money to spend on fixing the truck which we really need. From what I've read and researched apparently this is a common problem. Please fix this issue.
I was driving on my way home from work going 45mph when I saw a car a short distance ahead pull out onto the road. I tried to apply my brakes as the car ahead did not reach the speed limit fast enough. My brake pedal went straight down to the floor and all braking ability was lost. I lifted my foot to try to apply the pedal again and again the pedal went straight to the floor. I nearly crashed into the car ahead of me and had to swerve off of the road to avoid causing an accident. It was only after a long distance of riding on the shoulder and downshifting that I was able to come to a stop. Only just as I was stopping did the brake light and ABS light illuminate on the dash. I had no warning that this was going to happen or that I had lost my brakes, other than the pedal going to the floor. Before this, the brakes worked perfectly. Had I not had the room to swerve out of the way, I would have been in a potentially lethal accident and one or more lives could have been lost.
I happened to notice my brake line going to the rear brakes where wet, I checked in found the line had rusted thru. Upon checking the other lines I found they all where extremely rusted. Luck would have it I had just parked. I was forced to replace all the brake lines with new lines. This is a common problem with the chevrolet trucks from 1999-to the early or mid 2000's. I know several people who have experienced the same problem with rusted brake lines.
Rear driver side brake line burst during braking at 40 MPH. Swerved to avoid a collision. Extremely corroded brake lines upon investigation.
I went to apply brakes at stop sign, pedal went to floor and by luck no one was coming from other direction. I wasn't able to stop. I spent over 700 dollars to have new brakelines installed.
Leaving driveway brake pedal went to the floor, truck would not stop. Used emergency brake to stop vehicle. No ABS light or any other light viewable on dashboard. Even after parking the truck, starting it up, and depressing pedal, again went to floor, no warning lights came on. This is a 4wd truck with ABS.
The brake lines rusted thru and leaked out all the break fluid causing the brakes to fail. Brake lines should not rust thru so easily and so soon. I previously had a 1991 silverado with close to 300,000 miles and the brake lines on it never rusted thru. This is obviously a defect that is very dangerous. This is a vital safety component. For some reason this is a common problem in chevrolet silverados from 1999 to 2003. I had to pay $610.50 to get what I consider a gm defect fixed.
Monday july 7th, 2014, I was driving 55 MPH, traveling west on hwy 290 w., austin, tx just passed circle dr. (intersection has been called death trap). Deadly crashes on this stretch of highway occur frequently. Started to slow for next intersection when brakes failed - pedal was pushed to the floor. The hill helped me slow a bit, but switched to middle turning lane to avoid rear ending the vehicle in front of me. Thank god the light was green. One small car passed in front of me while I was turning in front of two lanes of eastbound traffic. Proceeded into lone star bank's parking lot missing a moving car. Turned right to avoid row of parked cars, drive up bays and curb that LED to a possible ravene. Turned into parking space, went up over curb & stopped in front of landscaping rocks and a tree. It all happened so fast - had no brakes whatsoever. As went up over curb, I depressed emergency brake. With only the emergency brake, slowly allowed truck to roll back down over curb. Called for aaa service. Looked underneath truck & identified two brake fluid leaks on concrete. Had truck towed to davis auto and was told today that all brake lines were corroded, with no way to splice, and all would need to be replaced. They weren't sure of what else would need replacing, such as ABS pump, but master cylinder was okay. I called ben white automotive & was told about another man with a similar situation, and that something needs to be done at gm. I saw on internet, an article dated july 7, 2014 (how ironic) where gm is resisting recall of brake lines on 1999-2003 chevy silverado pickups. Seriously, almost rear ending a small car with cars all around, swerving in between two lanes of oncoming eastbound traffic traveling 65 MPH, how many people could've been injured or killed. The brake lines on these trucks have got to be recalled by gm! *tr updated 03/19/2015
While driving, I depressed the brake and the pedal went all the way to the floor with minimal stopping power, I pulled over and saw a pool of brake fluid. After checking further notice the corroded brake line has ruptured.
The rusting out of this vehicle is so bad. Our brake line all have rusted through and our gas tank strap also rusted off. Luckily no accident have occurred.
I was driving east bound in the left lane. A car turned right into the right lane heading east bound. As I came through the intersection the car suddenly changed lanes into the left lane in front of my vehicle. The car that changed lanes in front of me was only going approximately 5-10 MPH. With my vehicle traveling 45 MPH I had to slam on my breaks and horn at the same time and the car switched back into the right lane. My breaks worked for about a second before the petal went to the floor. I tried the emergency break which did not work either. I was able to slow down and pull into a parking lot without causing a crash. The brake line busted right under the drivers door behind the front tire. The break lines were very rusted upon inspection.
I was operating my vehicle a approx. 30 MPH and when I applied my brakes, the brake pedal went to the floor. I had no warning . Upon inspection found that a brake lines had rusted and was leaking from the rear and front brake systems. I am aware that the system has a dual system for safety but never gave a warning. With both front and rear leaking, warning light never came on. All of the lines are very rusted. I have vintage cars with brake lines that never been repaired, and a newer vehicle with many brake problems.
Brakes failed on my 1999 chevrolet silverado in june of 2007 as my wife approached our driveway. My wife was unable to stop and had to coast to a stop and pull to the shoulder. If this brake failure had happened at another place or time, there likely would have been a catastrophic accident. Chevrolet dealer said that the front brake line had failed and fabricated a stainless steel brake line to replace the original. The incident cost me $1100 to replace the brake line. The silverado had approximately 46,200 miles on it at the time. In a second report to the federal safety agency, I reported that the rear brake line had failed about five years later and at 90,000 miles. This second failure resulted in another horrifying incident of being unable to stop the silverado when the brakes were pressed.
Was sitting at red light and brake pedal starting going to floor and started rolling, so I pushed harder and stopped pulled over in a parking lot . I got under truck and brake fluid was leaking under driver door, brake line was leaking , the lines were rusty. ,am going to replace all brake lines with stainless steel lines so they will not rust again. I checked internet and seen this was a common problem on chevy trucks.
I was driving with a potential buyer riding along. We had reached an open farm field at the edge of town and had engaged the 4x4 to verify it. After four-wheeling a bit, we headed back to the main road, but when I attempted to slow from 35 MPH to stop and disengage the 4-wheel drive, the brake pedal plunged to the floor without any failure warning, and we continued sailing out onto the state highway completely unrestricted and still traveling at about 25 MPH. I was able to turn enough to stay mostly out of the opposite ditch, but I had to immediately swerve back into the ditch, finally rolling to a stop as oncoming traffic passed. Thank god we narrowly missed being in a severe accident. We were both shook up by the near miss, and I sat for a minute trying to collect my nerves before heading back to town. I switched the 4x4 back into two-wheel drive, but kept the automatic transmission in second gear back to home. I took a route that had very few stop signs, but had to slow for those few by downshifting into first gear, using the tow/haul feature on the transmission to increase any available engine braking, and pumping the now useless brake pedal like a maniac. I got the truck and us back home without further incident, but also without any dash board warnings whatsoever. Needless to say, I lost the sale. I checked under the truck, and it was dripping brake fluid steadily from two different places. A faulty ignition switch warrants a safety recall, but total brake failure due to corroded brake lines doesn't? Brake lines and fuel lines should never corrode under any conditions! Gm put stainless steel exhausts on these trucks...... They should have known enough to do the same with brake lines, and it's about time the federal safety agency stops dragging its feet and makes gm accountable for the entire debacle of failures of this first and most important safety system!
On april 9, 2014 at about 9:00 am, I was traveling outside of my neighborhood in light traffic when I came to stop behind a car. My brakes failed on my 1999 chevy silverado 1500 without any warning. Luckily I know the area and I look for an uphill street and able to stop without any incident. Upon investigation I found the brake lines blew and dumped fluid on the ground. All brake lines corrode and need to be replaced. A local mechanical shop replaced all of them for several thousands dollars.
I had a brake line failure under a hard braking condition (firm, but not panic stop). The hard line from the ABS pump to the rear axle failed just above the flex hose coupling. I had believe it to be the flex hose at first. Upon inspection, the hardline and fitting to the flex line at the rear axle has become so corroded as to nearly be indistinguishable. Braking control was minimal. The pedal went to the floor even with the front circuit still intact. Even then, it could not completely stop the vehicle and I was forced to use the parking/emergency brake. Had I been towing at the time, I am convinced it would have been catastrophic.
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