Brake Hoses, Lines/piping, And Fittings problems of the 2003 GMC C2500

Brake line leaks, brake stopped working because of rusted brake lines. Also fuel and transmission lines are rusted badly.

I was driving my 03 sierra, approaching a stoplight at a busy intersection when I applied the brakes. The truck began to slow at first but then the peddle immediately went completely to the floor. I began to pump it but there was no response. I was heading toward the intersection, the light was red, with busy cross traffic. The street I was on is narrow and steep and I began to pick up speed. I shifted the trans into the lowest gear and stepped on the emergency brake. The truck finally came to a stop in the middle of the intersection, as oncoming cars luckily avoided hitting me. When I went to my mechanic to arrange to have the truck towed, he knew immediately what the problem was. He told me, sight unseen, that the brake line under the driver's side had ruptured. Later, upon inspection, he was correct. He also told me that this was a very common problem with that year. He replaced the line and I thought that had solved the problem; until two days ago. Again, I am driving down a hill and the same thing happened. I was towing a very large trailer this time and the emergency brake had little affect. Luckily, there was little traffic and I was able to ride it out without incident. I have since discovered that this is a problem with not only the 03 year but 4 or 5 years prior also. Another mechanic told me that the entire system of lines should be replaced since gm used a uncoated steel which begins to be compromised within just a few years where salt is heavily used in this area. It is obvious that gm used uncoated steel instead of coated or stainless to save a few dollars. Had my 17 year old son been driving, the outcome could have been disastrous. This is only one of many problems I have had with this truck. Another is erroneous speedometer readings. I will address these in another post.

On 09-30-2011 as I left my residence I got approximately one block away and started down a small but steep hill that intersects with an other subdivision street. At that intersection there is a stop sign, when I applied the brakes to slow for the stop sign the brake pedal went to the floor. I tried pumping the brakes and still had very little to no brakes. There were no other vehicle in the area, and was able to gear down and ended up slowing going into the intersection where I finally got the vehicle stopped. I was able to get the truck back to the house by going very slow in low gear and using the parking brake. Upon parking the truck and inspecting the system, found the brake fluid level was low. Upon further inspection I found fluid on the ground under the drives seat area. On checking I found the brake lines in the area of the brake controller area were extremely rusted and the line going to the rear brakes had rusted through. I will have all the brake lines to and from the brake controller replaced this week due to the extremely poor condition of the lines from the rust.

Fortunately I was in my driveway when my brake pedal went to the floor. I had it towed and the mechanic replaced a line. He went for a road test and another line blew out. This was fixed and I was told that all of the lines look bad and it would be $700 to replace all and this seemed to be common on the chevy and GMC trucks. This truck is garage kept - why would all of the brake lines be bad? this is a GMC sierra 2500hd extended cab 4wd truck.

On 9/17/2010 while on my way to work I was cut off by another vehicle when I applied my brakes and the system went into abs mode the vehicle stopped. However after that stop I lost brake pedal pressure. After checking the vehicle I found that the brake line blew out as a result of the stop. I found that the brake line had split. The vehicle I was driving is a 2003 GMC sierra 2500 hd.

Brake line rupture, 2003 GMC sierra 2500hd pickup. Total loss of braking while stopping for traffic at 60 mph. All lines were rotted and had to replaced. Crash was avoided because other cars realized I had lost braking and moved out the way. Did not report until now(Dec 2010) because I thought it was an isolated incident. Now finding out that it is prevalent, so much, that I have warned friends about it and am finding it to be quite common.