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# 10 Pucker factor

1516 Views 6 Replies 6 Participants Last post by  Skarch
Had a heck of a scare in my 94' k2500 Burb. I was working out of town in Northwestern Pa. I was comming down a 2 mile long, steep hill early in the morning when I tried to hit the brakes to slow down. Too my surprise the pedal went straight to the floor. I tried to pump it several times but with no luck. I pulled the E-brake release handle and kept it pulled while I tried to use my E-brake to slow my decent. Imagine my suprise when I heard this loud snap as the cable broke.

Now, it's about 5 am, dark, going down a very steep, very long, winding road and picking up speed. Gotta tell ya, I about had to change my drawers and thank the lord when I made it out of this one alive. Thank God there wasn't anyone else on this road at this time in the morning. At the very end of the pedal, about a 1/2 inch before it hit the floor it seemed like it was engaging a small amount of braking force. This is probably the only thing that saved my life. By the time I got to the bottom of the hill I think I was doing between 55 and 65 mph. I don't know for sure because I didn't have time to look at the speedometer.

I got to the bottom of the hill and had to make a sharp left hand turn. The only other option was to go straight into the Ohio River. Did you know that you can get a Burb up on two wheels? Neither did I. When I finnally leveled out, I was able to coast her to a stop and call a tow truck. I found out latter that I had burst one of my rear brake lines. As it turns out, Chevy does not install stainless steel brake lines stock. So, if you live some where that you get snow in the winter, you might want to have those brake lines checked out. Before you share my same experience.
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The first thing I did when I purchased my 1990 Suburban in 1996 (@100,000 miles) was to chagne out all of the brake hoses, that was 230,000 miles ago. I have changed all of the brake hoses on my other car, as well, which is 25 years old. as I had a couple of those hoses go out on me, but not under your condition thank goodness!
Had a heck of a scare in my 94' k2500 Burb. I was working out of town in Northwestern Pa. I was comming down a 2 mile long, steep hill early in the morning when I tried to hit the brakes to slow down. Too my surprise the pedal went straight to the floor. I tried to pump it several times but with no luck. I pulled the E-brake release handle and kept it pulled while I tried to use my E-brake to slow my decent. Imagine my suprise when I heard this loud snap as the cable broke. Now, it's about 5 am, dark, going down a very steep, very long, winding road and picking up speed. Gotta tell ya, I about had to change my drawers and thank the lord when I made it out of this one alive. Thank God there wasn't anyone else on this road at this time in the morning. At the very end of the pedal, about a 1/2 inch before it hit the floor it seemed like it was engaging a small amount of braking force. This is probably the only thing that saved my life. By the time I got to the bottom of the hill I think I was doing between 55 and 65 mph. I don't know for sure because I didn't have time to look at the speedometer. I got to the bottom of the hill and had to make a sharp left hand turn. The only other option was to go straight into the Ohio River. Did you know that you can get a Burb up on two wheels? Neither did I. When I finnally leveled out, I was able to coast her to a stop and call a tow truck. I found out latter that I had burst one of my rear brake lines. As it turns out, Chevy does not install stainless steel brake lines stock. So, if you live some where that you get snow in the winter, you might want to have those brake lines checked out. Before you share my same experience.
:gasp:Glad you made it safely out of that one!
Glad you are safe. Did you try and downshift? I know sometimes it won’t go into a lower gear because of your speed but it might have given you the next gear down.

Stainless lines are a rarity on any vehicle as far as I know. And I have owned just about everything made in America, except Dodge.
Glad you are safe. Did you try and downshift? I know sometimes it won’t go into a lower gear because of your speed but it might have given you the next gear down.

Stainless lines are a rarity on any vehicle as far as I know. And I have owned just about everything made in America, except Dodge.
no, I was scared to because of the RPM's I was turning. I was afraid I'd screw up my Trany. I Know that it seems strange That I would be more concerned with destroying the tranny than whith stopping the Burb, but that was a last resort type of thing.
Wow, thats got to be scary! One minute you're fine, the next you've got no brakes and you're a 3+ Ton rolling missile.

Glad it turned out ok without anyone getting hurt!
Gaaah, that would scare the Jebus out of me. I'm glad you got it home safe.
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