Brake line was rusty and ruptured when I applied brakes. Brake pedal went all the way to floor.
2004 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 brakes complaints
Page 4 of 12: complaints 71 to 100 of 330, newest first, as owners wrote them.
After reading about so many multiple brake failures I decided to check my vehicle and was horrified to see my brake lines were so badly pitted and rusted. It looks like I'll have to replace all the brake lines in the truck. The truck is only 10 years old with about 54,000 miles. I don't understand why such an important system in a vehicle wound fail after such a short period of time.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 chevrolet silverado 1500. The contact stated that when the ignition was turned to the on position, the brake pedal was depressed and went to the floor board as the brake warning light illuminated. The failure recurred three times. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 160,000. The VIN was unavailable.
While servicing my brakes I inspected my brake lines since gm continues to ignore the issue of rusty and failing brake lines. Found mind rusting in the same critical area (brake line distribution box) that my daughters 2004 1 ton brakes were rusty and failed in ohio with a 4 horse goose neck trailer attached. She was lucky it happened in the driveway of her barn and not on the road to a horse show with a load of horses. How many accidents, brake failures and possibly people killed before the federal safety agency forces gm to recall all the trucks with problems including the 2004 year series. Gm uses stainless steel in the exhaust system but not brakes. Stupid. I didn't get killed in vn don't want to get killed or kill someone here because gm is too cheap to put proper material in critical areas.
I had to stop to wait for a vehicle making a left turn and as I applied the brakes they at first worked and then the pedal went to the floor and I had to go off the road over a small ban into a ditch. If safety is such an issue why are the car manufacturers not made to put the best quality brake and gas lines in their vehicles as there are better lines available than what they put in such as stainless.
Brake line ruptured at ABS unit under driver side floor panel. Total loss of braking. Luckily, was in a parking lot when it happened and used emergency brake to stop. All brake lines at this point very badly corroded and were replaced. Mechanic showed me that lines at this point were paper thin from corrosion and lucky that they hadn't ruptured causing an accident before this.
Brakes became very spongy while driving. When I stopped in my driveway I noticed brake fluid leaking under the truck. When I checked where the leak was I discovered my brake lines are completely rusted from front to back! They have leaked through under the cab. This looks like an expensive repair and is completely unnecessary had the company not used such cheap material to save themselves some money. The brake lines should not be in the rusty condition that exist on this truck.
Driving home from work on the highway I exited the off ramp and depressed the pedal. The pedal went right to the floor. The truck maintained about 15% stopping power enough to just get it stopped before I would have entered a busy intersection and would have probably been responsible for killing and slamming 6,000 pounds of metal into someone children. I know several people with this same truck within 2 years and all have suffered the same problem or had it fixed out of fear. It's not how it's when....
I was on my way home from work, traffic came to a sudden halt. I hit my brakes, which felt funny, so I pumped and the peddle went all the way to the floor. I swerved into an apartment complex with a circular driveway and thank god there were no cars or people in my path. I used the parking brake to stop my truck. Contrary to the statement being made by gm, that you still have brakes, this is bull, the peddle goes to the floor. After being quoted from the dealer, that my truck needed rotors, calipers, (of which this is the third time) pads, all fuel lines and all brake lines, with a total price of $5,600 plus, I decided to check for brake problems with gm trucks. I was shocked to say the least and then angry. Who the hell is believing all of the excuses from gm. I have been around cars all my life brake lines and fuel lines don't fail on this scale. I don't care what part of the country you live in. What genius decided it was ok to use steel tubing for something as important as fuel and brake lines. Steelrusts. The numbers being quoted for failure, I'm convinced after reading all morning, are very low. Do people have to die for someone to admit they made a mistake and correct it? This goes for the ntsb, and gm.
Attempted to stop for yellow light, brake pedal went to the floor causing vehicle to continue through intersection. Had to downshift transmission manualy to get the vehicle to come to a complete stop. All brake lines had to be replaced. @$400.00. People need to be made aware that total brake failure occurs in this situation. Thank you
When applying brakes to avoid another vehicle, the brake pedal went to the floor and there was little braking effort available. Avoided a severe accident by swerving into the opposite lane nearly colliding with another oncoming vehicle. Slowed vehicle with emergency brake and transmission downshifting. Cause was ruptured brake line due to corrosion. All lines are severely corroded.
My truck was standing in traffic with my foot on the brake pedal when suddenly the brake pedal went straight to the floor. I brought the truck to my mechanic and he told me that the brake lines had severe rusting and that the line had burst. He refused to fix it saying that he did not want to take responsibility. I then brought the truck to another mechanic who also said that he would not attempt to fix it either. Now I am stuck with no way to get help.
One day I went to stop on a dry road and when I was almost stop the brake pedal dropped and the ABS engaged. I had the brakes inspected and all of the rotors were almost gone from rust with chunks of the rotor missing on the rear. I had all of the rotors replace with new pads and I still have the same problems with the ABS engaging about 5 MPH when stopping increasing my stopping distance. I have no ABS light or check engine light.
I was traveling down the road towing my trailer and went to stop and brake pedal went the floor I was able to get off road in the grass and slow down to a stop looked under truck drivers side near front and brake fluid was pouring out at the plastic brackets the were rusted very badly all the lines. I was a gm mechanic for 10 yrs of my life and this is the worst I have ever seen. I can tell all the lines needs replaceing they are all the bends are very rusted from front to back .
Brake line rusted through and all stopping power was lost causing vehicle to run a red light. After having repairs done, it has now happened again.
As I was leaving a supermarket parking lot with my family in vehicle, I applied brakes and without warning brake pedal went to floor and I had a difficult time stopping vehicle. Once I was able to stop vehicle using emergency brake, got out of vehicle to try to determine why brakes failed and saw brake fluid leaking from underneath truck just under the cab. After further inspection, I found that all the brake lines (as well as the transmission fluid lines) were rusted very badly and one of them had ruptured. I purchased this vehicle new and it has been maintained very well and has only been driven an average of 4000 miles yearly with very limited exposure to the elements. It is my opinion that these brake lines should not have had this failure. It is also my opinion that the type of materials used for these brake lines are not adequate for this application and are a safety concern. I have owned other vehicles which were much older and have never had this problem before now. After further research, I have found that this is a common problem with other gm trucks of this year and feel general motors should be required to replace these brake lines at no cost to the consumer. Thank you for investigating this matter. *tr updated 3/3/16
I backed up to hook my truck up to the trailer, as I pulled ahead I stepped on the brakes and the pedal went straight to the floor. Brake fluid was leaking directly under the driver from the brake line that went over the frame into the ABS.
Catastrophic brake loss. While driving down the road, tried to put on brakes and the pedal went completely to the floor. Luckily managed to avoid collision. Limp truck off to the side of the road and called tow truck. While waiting for tow truck notice brake fluid dripping under the truck in the area of the firewall. Looks as if brake line rusted causing loss of brake fluid. Very lucky no to have caused a major accident. Truck is 10 years old and has excellent condition.
Step on brake pedal, line ruptures.
Steel brake line failure/rupture under little to no braking. In a parking lot, brake pedal went to floor. I immediately noticed the brake line cluster on the driver's side coming from engine compartment, heavily rusted along the frame rail. This is where the rupture occurred. Thankfully I just dropped off my three kids and this happened before loading the bed with a cord of oak firewood. I've worked on vehicles for 20+ years and have never seen brake lines rust like this. Normal road salt has never impacted any other vehicle I have owned and maintained over the years. I guess it was cheaper for gm to use aluminized steel rather than stainless at the factory. If my truck was loaded with firewood, and my three kids, the end result would have undoubtedly been catastrophic.
Brake lines just went, luckily they did when I first started truck up, they were rusted out. As I have come to learn, there has been many cases of this problem, I know of many cars and trucks that are 20 years old that haven't had rusted brake lines. I feel there should be something done about this, before it creates a major problem. It also cost 1000 dollars to repair lines, which I think is way to much.
Braking downhill at intersection red light. The rear brake line burst due to rusting. Luckily I slowed enough not to rear end the vehicles stop at the red light. Had the truck towed to repair shop. Replaced all brake lines. Checked online and saw many complaints about this problem with gm pickup trucks. Gm never issued a recall for the problem.
Was driving down busy highway when I went to slow down to stop at upcoming traffic stop light. Put foot on brakes and went to floor, no brakes, no warning. I was in a heavily congested traffic area and in the middle of a 4-way intersection that was getting ready to go down a hill, was able to turn up a street that was a hill and had to hit the emergency brake to get stopped. Had to have the truck towed. This could of been a deadly catastrophe considering the nature of failed equipment in the middle of this very heavily congested intersection. I have had several problems with this vehicle since I have purchased it on 04/25/2014. Have had to take it back to the dealership several times for repairs. It seems the problems never stop.
Driver side rear brake line rusted through and ruptured during operation causeing loss of brakes and run stop sign was able to stop vehical with e brake.
Traveling north on hwy 41 approaching construction zone north of new high school, semi truck decided to change lanes to avoid congestion ahead and did not check for traffic in the lane he moved to. I was approximately 4 car lengths behind him and required to jam on brakes. Pedal went nearly to the floor and virtually no braking power was felt. I pumped breaks but the pedal consistently pushed to about 1/2" from the floor. Fortunately I was able to avert collision by switching lanes (shoulder) and turned on flashers. I slowed to about 25 MPH on the highway and pulled over to the nearest safe spot. First I checked the brake fluid - which was down from the weekend significantly. Then I looked at the wheels and they looked ok. Crawling under the vehicle, there was fluid dripping from the gas tank area, from the cables for the emergency break, spray over the spare tire and spray on the inside of the passenger rear tire. All liquid (which appeared to be brake fluid) was on the left hand side of the vehicle. When I arrived home, I crawled under the truck & inspected more closely. There were apparently 2 spots where the brake lines had corroded (one was not visible - above the gas tank - but obviously the major leak was there). The second leak was from the steel line that joined near the rubber brake line on the left rear wheel. Truck is not drivable at 41000 miles.
Another 2004 chevrolet silverado 1500 ext. Cab brake line rupture. The line broke under the cab by the drivers door, and this left me with absolutely no brakes. General motors claims there will still be limited braking force, not so! I was stopping at a crosswalk pedestrian crossing and I started to stop, reduced speed to about 10 MPH and the brake pedal went right to the floor, there was no braking force left at all. I went through the cross walk and stopped with the parking brake down the street. I had to steer into the other lane to avoid the pedestrian and another car. I live in atlantic canada, similar climate to new england, I just though I would add my incident to your file as this issue needs to be address by gm, I am also informing transport canada, and gm canada. We all know brake lines corrode, but the braking system should have a redundancy, this is the issue with these vehicles the master cylinder does not work this way. We have annual safety inspections in new brunswick, canada and this was done at the gm dealership in march, 2014, the vehicle was also in the gm dealership in sept., 2014 for an oil change and the brake line broke a few weeks later. I realize this is an american association, but a lot of canadian cars are on your roads, I am adding this incident to the failure list, the truck was built in texas. I crawled under the truck after this incident and the brake lines are all rusted out and need replacement before this truck is safe to be on the road. I am sure there all lots of these brakes lines ready to fail on these trucks.
When applying brakes, the pedal went to the floor. Found ruptured brake line along frame below drivers side rear door. Inspected all other lines and found all to be in need of replacement do to rust.
Pulling out of the driveway onto the main road hit the brakes to stop for a vehicle coming down the road and the brake pedal went to the floor had all I could do to keep from hitting the vehicle after getting the vehicle stopped inspected the vehicle to find a ruptured brake line on the frame below drivers door.
Went to drive truck and when I turned the key to the on position the check brake light came on and alarm bell sounded. After checking under vehicle I noticed brake fluid under the left rear (driver's side) tire. I checked for the source and noticed that the solid brake line had corroded in that location.
Approaching a red light when applying the brakes the pedal went to the floor. Luck had it that I proceeded through the red light and the intersection without being involved in an accident. Upon inspection, brake fluid was leaking behind the front wheel driver side. The underside of the truck is in good condition with the exception for the brake lines. All the brake lines were extremely corroded. It is obvious in the appearance, that the material used to make the brake lines were not consistent with the corrosion resistance of the other components of the vehicle. The brake line failed to the front brakes. There was not enough remaining braking by the rear brakes to stop the vehicle.
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