WARNING! Catastrophic brake failure!

[bundubasher]

Hi
Out on the Wacky Highway the other day: hit the brakes the other day and they were mushy. Came off the highway, close to home, and when I hit the breaks again the pedal hit the floor...

Nursed the truck home and found that my brake pipe (OSR) had burst spilling brak fluid down the side of the fuel tank. Dropped the tank and found that although ALL the rest of the pipes on my '94 4Runner were in great nick, one part to the OSR wheel had been "flattend" and had rusted through. When I applied some serious pressure the pipe had just burst, my lucky day...

Just a warning to get the pipes up behind the fuel tank checked if you ever get the chance - but you will have to drop the tank to check them properly as mine past a pressure test only the week before.

Go well,

[AndyLala]

Glad to hear that you got away with that one...

Even more glad to hear that no one was hurt...

[dave95979]

every now and then i give the brake pedal a good push while my truck is
stationary of course i figure if the pipe is week it will burst then !
well that is my thery eneyway

[TonyN]

I know of it happening a few times, mostly on older trucks that stay muddy though, but like you say, you can't even see the pipes where they run along side the tank.

Just try and wash the mud out that collects there after you've been playing.

[NFC]

Thanks for the warning.

Does the Surf not have a dual-circuit system then, so that half the brakes still work if a pipe goes? Auto boxes can't be forced like manuals into stopping the car quickly

[TonyN]

You slow down with the Auto in 2 and then L, then use the handbrake. Just not as quick as a manual.

[That Ruddy Squirrel]

You could use a Chavmobile in front to slow down - how could they claim as you are doing a public service ?


Trev

[Vagrant No2]

then use the handbrake.

Handbrake !!!!! wot handbrake .

[bundubasher]

Hi Guys - sorry not have been around to reply to your comments but we went down to Amboseli National Park to see Mt. Kilimanjaro and the ele's.

Glad I got the brakes done as the road to the park is atrocious (once again) and I had to keep coming off the muram road to try and avoid all the corrugations. Problem is that everyso often some "helpfull" individual will place a f@cking big rock in the middle of your path and you have to hit the brakes before you swerve to avoid it (otherwise you WILL roll!). We finally got fed up of creating our own bush track after I didn't swerve enough and a biggun hit Sumo's Ali bash plate. Bent it into a nearly perfect semicircle and snapped both bolts holding it to the cross member.

Back on the murram though we had to drive at about 70-80 kmh so that instead of hitting each corrugation individually, you actually just skip across the tops. A bit hairy on corners as either end can start to drift but 4WD high helps alot.

Got to camp with the bash plate rattling away like a b@stard and I got a local jua kali mechanic to weld a couple of HT bolts onto the cross member so that we could, straighten and then, bolt the bash plate back on. We only had one puncture - which we changed at the park gates - but another guy, in a Range Rover, had a catastrophic tyre failure: one of the Cooper ST's he was running on the front axle actually split both side walls! From the rim to tread in the same place on both sides! Lucky he bailed out into a big patch of sand otherwise he would have rolled too.

Anyway, will be looking to replace the Michelin XZL's I've got soon - the long rainy season is coming and we want to travel to the coast - so we are thinking about some Firestone Trans-Lugs - not pretty but $$$$$$ tough!

One other thing: the corrugations were so bad at one point (before I put foot) that the battery I was using popped one of it's lids and acid got all over the air filter housing and engine bay. I've washed it out of course but is there anything else I should look out for?