Silverado gas tank strap failure!!

[njsteve]

It already works better. We just have to figure out a gentle way to remove the old drums that are rusted to the flanges. I have all the new rear brake parts ready to go.

[budnate]

Steve, set up your sprinkler head aimed at the axle flange and the rust remover sauce and let it go for a couple days might work?.

[njsteve]

It already has the built-in, leaking axle seal, gear lube, rust preventative, sprayer that has been working for the past 18 years. The portions of the lines where the gear lube didn't hit, were the spots that ended up rusting!

[budnate]

I had one of those also for awhile but up front it coated the whole underside of the truck well before I could fix it, decided to leave it as a rust preventer, pita to work on now but that's the trade off,

but seriously my thought is to help get the drum off the axle using that liquid rust remover you used on your resto on the TA.

[njsteve]

Finally got around to the rear brakes today. We had the torches, die grinder, and big sledge hammers ready to go. I was dreading the labor that was going to be involved in this endeavor.

Something miraculous happened, though: I sprayed the wheel studs and hub area with PB Blaster, waited a couple minutes and then rung the mounting hub area of the 18 year old drum with a 2 lb. sledge hammer several times. I heard thud, thud, thud, RIIIIIING! and the darn thing came right off! I tried it on the other side and the same thing happened. Both drums slid right off the hubs! HOLY S@&amp;T! [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/shocked.gif[/img]

Even with 121,000 miles, the original rear brake shoes had 80% of their material remaining. But they were polished from the years of barely being used due to the defective original combination valve. Since I already had the brand new 75 pound cast iron drums in the boxes, I used them, along with the new set of 13&quot;x3-1/2&quot; shoes, springs, adjusters, and wheel cylinders. (all bought from Rockauto.com). Hopefully the scrap metal guy won't get a hernia picking up the old drums next week.

The truck stops noticeably better now. When you hit the brakes, it is a much quicker and &quot;flatter&quot; stop, instead of the previous nose diving when 90% of the braking was being done by the front discs.

So now the truck is ready for the haul to MCACN in a month.

[Alss]

Guys..also check the spare tire cable on GM trucks..they rust and break also..had a spare come out from under the truck in front of me while pulling the trailer..was a puckering moment for sure!

I have fords and gms..both are suffering from line failures both brake and transmission from corrosion..check them good..lines may look good, but check under the clamps..NE stuff for sure

[black69]

hey on a similar vein to the gas tank straps, our 2001 chevy tahoe lost its brakes the other day. 180K miles, spent 3 yrs in dry california, and the rest in chicago suburbs. They went out immediately, and we lost control of the car, <span style="font-weight: bold">we got very lucky</span>. One of the rusted lines blew out mid section that sat on the frame.

I am on day 3 of replacing 4 of the crispy lines and I am replacing the hoses to the calipers. <span style="font-weight: bold">The originals I could just grab with a glove and rip off the frame and they came off in pieces, they were that brittle</span>.

If you have a GM 2000-2001 vehicle, check your lines for scaling.
The old rusty 71 cuda I used to have, had better brake lines than this dam tahoe!

[Donnie]

I have an 04 with NO rust, but I do preventive maintenance. http://www.rustcheck.com/

[PxTx]

I would love to see some pics! I've got some rusty lines, but no failure yet. Sure would be a great proof to the products you use if things actually appear as I'm expecting them to.

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

I'm starting to worry about my '04.....