Brake Hoses, Lines/piping, And Fittings problems of the 2003 Chevrolet Tahoe - part 1

Descending a grade approaching a t intersection brake peddle went nearly to floor. Cause was a severely rusted rear brake line. This line is routed above the left frame rail in a nearly inaccessible area, so the notion that this is an owner maintenance issue is garbage.

While driving the brakes totally failed. Pedal went to the floor with no brakes at all. Vehicle had to run off the road and stop using the emergency brake. As soon as the brake pedal was pushed it went to the floor and then warnings light to service abs started flashing and beeping. There was no warning prior to the failure of the brake system. After the vehicle was towed we found that there was no brake fluid and a large rupture was found in the brake line on the drivers side towards the front of the drivers side door.

I have an 03 Tahoe z71 200000 mile and brake lines are rusted out, now I have read over several hundred complaints on this vehicle ranging from 40000 mile all the way up to 280000 mile, even complaints back to where this truck was a few years old, why are you still allowing gm to mass produce these vehicles with no punishment with faulty brake lines. There where 2015 model silverado's, and Tahoe with this issue. Demand a recall on this issue please.

While braking a little harder than normal to avoid hitting a deer, the brake line just below the drivers area blew and the brakes went to the floor and the service alarms went off on the dash. I was going down hill at the time but still had enough brake to stop. I was going about 35 mph at the time of failure.

Front brake line blew out just as I was pulling in my driveway. I bought the truck used in July of 2015 the brake lines rusted and peeling.

I was on the highway when I had to slam on my brakes and the pedal just went to the floor I had no brakes at all. I was forced to steer into the ditch to avoid a collision. After having the truck towed home I discovered a brake line had popped due to rust. I understand this is an ongoing problem with these vehicles.

Metal brake line under truck burst . Looks like it rusted through. All other lines rusted also. Vehicle was parked in driveway.

Driving on icy road anti lock brakes activated and brake line ruptured, adn was not able to stop.

My wife was driving our 2003 chevy Tahoe to the doctor¿s office without any warning brakes totally went out, god must have been watch over her because this could have been deadly, thank god for emergency brakes. Gm state that the vehicle will stop when the brake line give away will that bull shit! this is the second vehicle that we have had brakes line go out on first my 2002 chevy silverado with 41000 miles on it and now our 2003 chevy Tahoe with approximately 90¿000 both within a week of one other. Also my stepson has a 2006 chevy silverado that the brakes went out on two weeks ago is a hospital parking lot that was almost devastating.

1) 12/23/2014 - sitting in pharmacy RX drive-thru with foot on brake. Without warning, brake pedal went to floor. Assessed problem and determined brake line feeding rear brakes burst from corrosion. Fixed brake line next day. 2) 1/27/2015 - ironically, sitting in fast-food drive-thru. Exact same as above occurred. Determined all 4 brake lines leading to the front of vehicle were split and corroded causing loss of fluid and full braking capability. I was fortunate (and lucky) that I was at a stand still each time this happened. Could have been catastrophic if I had been traveling at any speed. Especially with the size and weight of this vehicle.

My 2003 chevy Tahoe, due to premature corrosion my brake lines failed suddenly causing complete break failure. Thankfully I wasn't traveling at high speed so I was able to stop the vehicle safely and luckily my child and fiancé werent in the vehicle. This could have been a very fatal accident if I was at high speeds. Let's get this taken care of and make sure people are safe.

I backed out of my driveway and I started down the street. I got to the first stop sign in my neighborhood hood and when I pressed the brake I lost all pressure and my foot went to the floor. Upon further investigation,rite behind the driver side rear tire where the brake line is attached to a clip is where the line has a hole in it. The clip had worn a hole in it. The clip that holds it, has 2 peices that are bend down that hold it down,and that's where the hole was worn into my line.

First incident occurred 9/05/2014. Second incident occurred 09/06/2015. First incident brake line was rusted and fluid pooled under truck. Brake line broke in driveway. Second incident the brake line was rusted and the truck was driving 20mph with children in the car on a busy street. There were no brakes to be used.

I was towing my RV (travel trailer) to a campground for labor day weekend festivities utilizing the heavy duty tow package that gm installed on these vehicles. I arrived at the campground and was driving to my campsite when the brake pedal went to the floor followed by a loud chiming and a warning light. I was going down a hill and the 2 ton travel trailer was pushing my Tahoe as I tried to stop. I barely had any front brakes and no back brakes at all. I had to use the emergency brakes and use the gear selector on low to try to stop, which it finally did after much effort. It was labor day weekend so there were lots of people camping. There was a crowd of kids riding their bikes on the camp road in the drive path of my Tahoe however the kids moved out of the way only when I screamed out of my window that I could not stop my truck. This incident could have caused death or major injury. Luckily it did not otherwise I would not be able to live with myself. I now have my Tahoe at a local mechanic that I trust. He is stating that he has to replace all of the steel brake lines because they are all in bad shape and will eventually go. I am waiting to hear from him about how much this will cost me. I am a single father and do not have extra money to spend. My nerves are shot and that incident ruined our family camping weekend. I have nightmares that the kids on the bikes did not move and I ran them all over. I am definitely scarred for life.

Rusted brake lines resulting in failure of braking system. Brake lines should last longer than the service life of the vehicle. Hence no brake lines should ever be made out of steel. Especially on on a system as critical as the braking system. This failure could have costed me my family. The the ethical thing for any company to do. Is rectify the problem. I really don't understand why this would be an issue. We are talking about the braking system on a vehicle that by itself weighs 5,000 pounds. Without a trailer or any payload attached to it. Many of people have not been as fortunate as myself. The vehicle is. Otherwise in excellent condition. To this day. If faulty ignition switches get recalled it's common sense to recall a brake issue. Especially since the brakes totally fail without any warning. I have been building cars since I was a kid. And this is a first. To see a brake line burst. Because of the corrosion. If gm doesn't want to recall these vehicles. The at least let the owners buy the parts and gm install them. And for gm to state that this a normal wear and tear issue. When was the last time anybody thought to check for rusted out brake lines when. They were changing the oil or doing a tune up . Or changing brake pads or tires. Those are normal wear and tear owner maintenance issues. My 2004 Ford f350 has 220 thousand miles. Runs great to but the brake lines aren't rotting out of the vehicle. What gm is claiming is a extremely weak argument. Thanks for your time.

As I was backing out of my driveway I hit the brakes and the truck didn't stop causing me to hit my neighbors tree. . . The brake system failed with no warning or signal light or a sound. As I looked under the truck there was brake fluid all over the street. I called a buddy mechanic of mine and stated my brake lines are rusted out.

I saw fluid on the driveway so I checked the truck and discovered the brake lines were rusted and leaking.

I have not had an accident yet, but the brake lines on this vehicle are badly rusted. Since it is used to tow a boat, it could become unsafe to drive if the lines should rust enough to fail. A braking accident while towing a 3000 lb. Boat could be particularly nasty. The brake lines on this vehicle have corroded far more than other vehicles of the same approximate age.

While driving down a hill with my kids in the car I went to apply brakes and the pedal went to the floor. I was able to turn my truck into a side street and slowly come to a stop. When I got out I noticed brake fluid everywhere. I looked under the truck and the brake lines are completely rusted through. After researching this I see that this is a common problem and shame on gm for not notifying people of this serious safety concern and endangering my children's life!!.

Getting on an interstate ramp I applied my brakes to reduce my speed. As I applied my brakes in a normal manner to slow down, my brake pedal sank all the way down to the floor. The truck wouldn't slow down or stop. I brought the truck to a stop my dropping down in gear and applying the parking brake. I pulled the truck over to the left shoulder (only shoulder available on this ramp) and stopped. I opened the hood and looked in the engine compartment and checked my brake fluid. Didn't see any problems from that angle. I checked around the truck and noticed leakage of what appeared to be brake fluid coming out from the front, passenger side. I called for a tow to my preferred service shop. After a day my mechanic called and said that one of my brake lines was fully rusted, had busted and was leaking. He said that upon inspection of the rest of my brake lines, they were all very rusted and in danger of also busting open. He recommended immediate replacement of all brake lines at a cost of more than $2,200. 00. This vehicle is less than 11 years old. In all my years of driving, nearly 40 years, I've never seen a vehicle with rusted through brake lines at the 11 year mark. I believe the design is flawed and that using steel (corrosive) versus a non-corrosive material such as stainless steel is a "cutting corners" technique which put drivers at risk and into life threatening situations to themselves on onto others. I'd like to request that gm be required to issue a recall on this issue and that owners of these vehicles are either offered a no cost repair for the entire brake system or full reimbursement for repairs made to their vehicles to correct this clearly dangerous flaw.

As I approached a traffic light in town and prepared to stop, the brake pedal suddenly and without warning, went to the floor. I managed to use the parking brake to stop the vehicle within inches of the car stopped in front of me. The warning light on the dash illuminated indicating a brake system failure. It had never come on before. One of the steel brake lines running along the frame, approximatly under the drivers door, has rusted through and burst. It was a miracle this did not result in a crash. Had this happened at a higher speed or exiting a freeway ramp, I fear the outcome would have been very bad.

Tl- the contact owns a 2003 Chevrolet Tahoe. The contact stated that while attempting to stop the vehicle from driving 35 mph the brake line broke. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where the technician diagnosed there was erosion on the brake lines and they needed to be replaced. No repairs were made to the vehicle. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 143,000 and the current mileage was 143,050. Sr.

The 2003 Chevrolet Tahoe was driven on u. S. Highway 10, in minnesota, for approximately fifteen minutes on the incident date. The Tahoe was taken home and, as it was parked, the brake line to the passenger side front brake assembly ruptured. It's interesting that the Tahoe body and drivetrain is in good condition, not much body rust for it's age, but on further inspection it was discovered that every brake line has heavy rust on it. I don't know that I will be able to afford the repair of this Tahoe. It is unfortunate that Chevrolet used inferior materials in the production of the Tahoe's brake system. . . The most important safety system on the vehicle. But, also, it's a shame that NHTSA has taken six years to "study" this problem and has not drawn a conclusion or forced gm to do a recall? it's government bureaucracy at its best. . . What a sham.

Upon starting vehicle while vehicle was parked on a gentle downward slope, I stepped on brake pedal. Brake went to floor without resistance, red dash alerts lit up. Upon investigation, brake fluid was seen leaking out from a rusted brake line located along the car frame in the vicinity of the driver door area. No sign of other damage was apparent at the time. Digital photos of the leak area were obtained.

I was at a traffic light, waiting for it to change, and all of a sudden the brake went all the way down and all kinds of lights in the truck were flashing indicating trouble. I managed to pull to the curve, put it on park, and noticed that there was fuel coming down from underneath the truck. I called aaa, since I am a member, and they towed the truck to my local mechanic. The mechanic inspected the truck and noticed that both the brake lines and the fuel lines were corroded. I happened to read online about other chevy owners that were having issues with brake and fuel line corrosion on the same model and year chevy Tahoe I own.

While starting the vehicle, with my foot on the brake pedal, the brake pedal went to the floor. It was a sjrt drive to the repair shop. The brakes worked poorly with a much longer stopping distance. I kept the vehicle in first gear and drove slowly. The repair shop said the brake line failed. I have owned several vehicles with many more miles and many years older and have never experienced brake lines rusting out like this.

Vehicle has lived in the garage for the last 5 years only driving about 1200 miles per year. Took it out yesterday to get it inspected and the brakes failed completely at the stop sign a few doors down. There was no stopping power and I got it stopped with the emergency brake. The brake lines look awful, completely rusted. The rest of the truck looks like it did the day I bought it new, perfect. I can't believe this happened. This vehicle saw high mileage the first 3-4 years but has been stored inside since that. It looks new. This should not have happened and could have cost lives. This vehicle has no stopping power what so ever. I see now that there has been an active investigation on this issue but no recall. Are you kidding me, two and a half ton vehicles with no brakes aught to concern you.

I was sitting at a drive through waiting for food. Suddenly with my foot on the brake pedal, it started getting a mushy feeling and the pedal sank to the floor. When I got it home, I found there was a leak in one of the front bake lines which were rusted pretty badly. The next morning, I took the truck in to get the front brake lines replaced for just over $300. The rear are rusted pretty bad but my automotive shop said they usually don't replace them if they aren't leaking. I was very fortunate to not be dead or injured (along with anyone else) as I was on the high way earlier that night and driving around quite a bit. I heard there was an open investigation on this issue, so I wanted to offer my experience and inquire on why the investigation is still open and no recall has been issued? it seems like something so crucial to safety should be either more protected or be less prone to rust, even in the snow belt with all the corrosive salt on the roads. This is something the car manufacturers must account for.

My wife an I were traveling home from shopping as we approached a traffic light I went to apply the brakes the pedal went to the floor. I swerved to the shoulder of the road and put the vehicle in a lower gear. Passing three other vehicles in our lane and going through a traffic light. I was able to slow the vehicle on the shoulder of the road to a stop. Inspection under the drivers side door showed the brake line was rusted through. We had the vehicle towed home. The inspection there revealed the brake lines were rusted to the point you could collapse them with your hand. We could have been killed. The chevy dealer stated he had never heard of such a problem and said it was normal wear and tear.

Tl- the contact owns a 2003 Chevrolet Tahoe. While driving 45 mph, the consumer stated when he depressed the brake pedal, the brakes failed. The contact avoided a collision by driving on the grass. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic for diagnosis where it was noted the brake lines had corrosion. The mechanic stated that the brake lines were repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 49,149. - ll.

Brake failure due to a rupture in the brake lines caused by rust. The failure was in the left front steel brake line.

While traveling on a 4 lane us highway, traffic conditions required a rapid deceleration from 55mph to approximately 10mph. The vehicle slowed normally, but the brake pedal traveled much further than usual. With the assumption that the brake pedal travel was due to the abs activation, the trip was continued. Approximately 3 miles later a downhill sloping exit was taken at approximately 50 mph, and when the brake pedal was depressed, the pedal went full travel to the floor, a red ¿brakes� light on the annunciator panel illuminated, the driver message center read ¿service brake system� and an audible chime sounded. The vehicle was not slowing rapidly enough for the space remaining so the parking / emergency brake was applied. The vehicle did not stop within the confines of the off-ramp, but fortunately, the traffic conditions allowed the vehicle to continue past the stop point into an adjoining road without causing an unsafe situation for other drivers. The vehicle was towed back to the owner¿s residence, upon inspection a steel brake line was found to be rusted through approximately 12 inches forward of the abs valve body. Coincidentally, three other lines in the same area were in similar conditions and will have to be replaced.

This is the first of three (3) occasions that a metal brake line on this vehicle has ruptured. The results were an immediate and complete brake failure. I have to let the vehicle coast to a stop while using the emergency brake to assist. I live in a rural area so in all three times I was very lucky that were light or no traffic.

Brake line failure on 2003 Tahoe near the spare tire. Complete loss of brake line pressure. Vehicle only has ~ 84,000 miles. Vehicle operated in ohio and massachusetts. Reference existing NHTSA action number (ea11001) on Chevrolet vehicles.

I started my 2003 Tahoe up to drive to york and when I stepped on the brake the pedal went all the way to the floor. We took it down the road by using the emergency brake to our local shop. They said all of the brake lines were rusted and all needed to be replaced.