I guess that plowing snow means salted streets.
My 1999 Dakota V6 AT would easily tow my 2,000 pound empty trailer (sold) with my 3,500 pound car on it with no trailer brakes… It would stop as good as when I used the old Power Wagon to pull it…
No need to guess, I explained the type of plowing in the very first posting:
I don’t salt my own driveway.
Around town, there are lots of wetlands protected areas where they are prohibited from using salt. But the truck over its lifespan has seen salted roads. But if this is to imply that the salt exposure made the lines fail, this was another mention earlier-
And later on, when looking more closely, the failure point was at the OEM line crimp where the hardline transitions to a flex line. It looks fine externally so no amount of visual inspection would have alerted someone to the impending failure.
Sometimes, things just fail without warning not because of something you did, or did not, do.
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You’re surprised? Don’t things rust out in your neck of the woods? I expect problems, check everything at least annually. I have only 1 vehicle, but if I had 1 sitting around the way this one was I’d check it carefully before driving it.
Yes, they are made of good steel and hardened at the outer bearing surfaces. So YES, very hard!
Whether the steel is chrome moly 4340 and heat treated (very strong steel) or 1008 cold drawn steel (very weak) it flexes with exactly the same stiffness below the yield point. The 4340 yield point is MUCH higher than the CD 1008 but the flex is the same.
To reduce the axle flex, it needs to be larger in diameter and/or the hub needs to be closer to the bearing. And neither of those was happening.
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Now the name makes sense. It’s plain to read what I wrote and I believe everyone here but perhaps one could comprehend what was written…
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Just a follow up for anyone interested. The truck has been repaired and the parking brake re-adjusted. Spoiler- the PB still sucks but is back to working as good as the design allows.
What I found surprised me. The OEM brake lines had a hard plastic coating on them. I assume to make them more resistant to rusting. All that coating did was hide the rust. Where the OEM assembly made crimps between the hard line and flex section, the rust started forming and crept up the line from there. Not a fan of the plastic coating. Give me an anodized line that I can see when it degrades…
Here’s another gem- the OEM lines are discontinued. You can buy pre-formed aftermarket lines but since I have all the tools, I’ll make my own. Where it gets interesting is what we talk about frequently- vehicles are designed to be manufactured as cheaply as possible and to last through the warranty period. Repairs are secondary consideration.
The distribution block is part of the ABS unit. Where is it? Up in the engine bay, near the master? NO… it is half way back on the driver’s side frame rail. Tucked up above a frame gusset with six or so brake lines with tight bends to clear the floor pan. No way you’re getting a flare nut wrench on those. Even if you could, it would rotate 2 degrees each time. This is probably great when they assemble the vehicle. The ABS unit is installed to the frame from above and then the body lowered down into the frame.
I had to cut and splice into the existing line where it was solid rather than attempt to extricate that d-block nightmare…
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Sound familiar? You will own nothing and like it. About 20, maybe 30 years ago, the local radio car talk guy said that manufacturers were heading in the direction that you would just lease or rent all the time. Everything would be done by the dealer. Then the surge in leasing wooing folks in with the lower cost (initially). They won’t be encouraging keeping vehicles for many years like the old days.
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Lease return vehicles will go to auction, purchased by dealers, then sold to the public for $25,000 each. Some people are unwilling to or incapable of leasing a $45,000 new car. If the brake lines rust through 15 years later, we can deal with it at that time.
The prediction of that radio host came true the same day he announced it.
Are you sure the adjuster was notg put in backwards, if not, the adjuster was not for the tight vehicle.
Hmmm, sounds like a GM truck.
My 2004 Avalanche had that layout. Since all the lines were rusted out, I cut all.the lines at the ABS and used a 6 point socket to remove the nuts. I had to fish the new line over the gas tank (3 channel ABS) leaving the old one in place. The fronts were a little easier.
I bought a line kit. So had all the parts. Postimgs on forums had people paying $3500 to $5000 to fabricate lines for the repair. I am sure the fuel tank was dropped for that.
Yes, I’m sure.
Bullseye 
Thought long and hard about that while laying underneath fending off the rust shower. Getting them off was less concerning than installing the new ones afterward. Those brake line nuts need to be pretty close to going straight in and so little room for your hand…I commend your patience and flexibility to accomplish that feat!
Wow. I have a threshold for pain when paying someone else to do work that I can do. That would be well over the top. For mine, I can purchase a full SS line set for under $200. Installing single piece lines on an already assembled truck, without benefit of a lift, would be a super frustrating experience. Heck even fishing the lines I bent from the master down to the d-block had me cursing under my breath…
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I invented a few new curse words screwing the new fittings in. Same for the one in the middle of the rear axle that is close to, but not exactly, vertical coming down from the top.
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Back in 1970 I blew a rusted brake line in our 1963 Corvair. It was during a panic stop. The car only had a single master cylinder reservoir. I was 100 miles from home, had no money for a tow truck, and it was a July 4th holiday.
Given the car had a 4-speed manual, and it had a decent hand-brake for coming to a complete stop, I drove it home. Careful slow driving, and it worked fine without any problems.
Separate from this, the two gas stations I worked at always used compression fittings for repairing sections of rusted brake lines. I was in my mid-20s when I began to learn how dangerous they were.
Imagine the fun of replacing that ABS hydraulic unit. Here in the rust-free Pacific NW it was bad enough…
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Not in the town I grew up in. They claim they salted. Never saw them. They were so cheap I swear that if they did, they spread the salt out of a kitchen shaker!
Huh? Average age of a car on the road is older than ever. 14.5 years for cars and 11.8 for light trucks in 2025. That’s the average age. To get an average line that there are lots of cars well over 20 years old.
I am pretty sure I’d have to break out the disk cutter to get that thing out. No way would it un-bolt. The fasteners are rust-welded to the frame. If I had not already replaced all the brake lines, I’d have to cut them off to get the fittings out.
Given the age of my truck, the rust on the frame and body, I’d drive with a dead ABS and a piece of black tape over the light.
We don’t need no steenkeeng ABS!