burst brake line, oh my

[Dylan Jenkins <dylan@vt.edu>]

Margaret and I were heading into town (Blacksburg, VA) to our favorite pub
for dinner on Tuesday night when the brake pedal of my 85 4kqs dropped to
the the floor. I heard a fairly loud pop just before the pedal took a dive.
We drove home using the emergency brake (remember this is mountain country
roads at night); fairly entertaining. This car has been through the ringer
lately, major damage to driver's side rear quarter, etc. She's not a parts
car yet!

When we got home I looked under the car and saw that the front passenger
side brake line had burst. This is a new (3 months old) braided stainless
brake line from Blau. I haven't had a chance to inspect the line for cause
of failure in daylight (ie, rubbing or rock temporarily caught between line
and half shaft?). I'm wondering: has anyone else experienced this type of
brake line failure? The split/burst was in the middle of the line, maybe
some minor rubbing near the half-shaft. Installing a brake line is a
no-brainer and really not much to go/do wrong.

Dylan.
Virginia Tech - Department of Forestry  
216B Cheatham Hall (0324)    
Blacksburg, Virginia 24061   
(o)540/231.6391	     
(f)540/231.3330