The other day, in preparation for our first local warm up show, I hitched up our smaller trailer and moved it near to the house for cleaning and stocking supplies. As I rounded the upper drive at a speed of less than 5 MPH, I braked for a stop. Suddenly the brake pedal quickly headed for the floor. I pumped the pedal, got some pressure and slowed almost to a stop. I pumped again, and as I put the selector into "Park" the pedal went to the floor.

My truck has 31K on the odometer, is not used as a daily driver, is stored inside and remains parked during the winter months. The fault occurred when the brake line to the rear wheels rusted away and failed.

On the SD trucks, the brake line exits the engine compartment after the ABS unit, and runs a course along the driver's side rail, under the gas tank, and ends at a  union before the rear axle. The rusted area was approximately under the driver's knees. The fault area was easy to spot by the exiting wet fluid, and a later inspection of the line, revealed almost half of its thickness was eroded by rust.

Thankfully we were not at highway speeds or away from home, when this failure occurred. It could have been deadly or at best, a major inconvenience. $25 in parts, an hour and a half labour, and we're back in business.

This is a second occurrence of rusting on this vehicle that could have caused significant damage. The first happened about a year and a half ago, when the cover plate for the rear differential rusted enough, to allow the gear fluid to escape. Fortunately it was discovered before enough leaked to cause damage. A local fellow that has a similar truck, was not as fortunate. While pulling a utility trailer, his axle seized at speed. His leak was undiscovered until the mechanical failure, and then his repair bills were ~$1500.

I don't know about the Ford "F" series, but I would highly suggest that any SD owner visually inspect the rear brake line from union to union for any indication of  rust damage. Changing the line isn't too bad a procedure, but proper bleeding of the brakes is difficult with the ABS system.

For those members who have chastised me, for daring to say the new American vehicles don't have rust issues, I still say that our part of the world differs from yours.

The oil pan also rust out, it is not a $25.00 fix, but a $1,750.00 fix. The motor has to be pulled.

Gard,

Same thing happen to me (F350). We were loaded and going out the road to a stop sign. Fortunately the stop sign is at the top of a small grade, and I was going slow. The ride for that day was promptly aborted!

Brenda

What is the quick fix?

A friend of mine used 3/4" long, self tapping stainless steel screws with a neopreme gaskets on his 2000 7.3... Same type screws used on post steel buildings to attach the metal siding....  Just run the screw into the rust hole and snug it down. He's got four or five in there now.