On Sun, 19 Feb 2017 10:54:58 -0500, Jack wrote:

On 2/19/2017 9:31 AM, Brewster wrote:

This was a few years ago, but I remember the old standby DOT 3 fluid
(maybe DOT 4?) was considered permanent and was not prone to being
hydroscopic. The newer fluids, synthetic (DOT 5 ?) was very prone to
absorbing moisture and had to be changed regularly. Given the much
higher cost and no real advantage for non-performance driving. the idea
of "upgrading" soon left my thoughts.
I had a number of vehicles from the 60's and 70's, all with non
stainless lines. Never any problems (though these were all southwest
vehicles).

Same here, except my vehicles were in the rust belt, and started in the
50's rather than the 60's. Actually my first car was a '49 Dodge Truck.
Everything in Cars from the '50s rusted except the frame and break lines.

Even if newer fluid is more hygroscopic, I still think the rust is
coming from the outside, not the inside of the lines.

The brake lines on the '57 Fargo (Canadian Dodge) P'Up rusted too. I
replaced them (and rebuilt cyls) for Dad before I left for Africa back
in 1972 - so they were only 15 years old. When my brother redid the
truck circa 1975 the mechanic doing the safety assumed the lines were
original and yanked them off saying they needed replacing. ( just to
show it was common to consider 15 year old lines to have passed their
"best before date") I tore a strip off him about 1/4 inch thick when I
came back from Africa in '75 and the truck was sitting on stands
waiting for wheel cyls and flex hoses, as well as grease seals (it was
a VERY rare Custom Express with heavy duty suspension (basically a 3/4
ton front axle) and the big 241.5 cubic inch flatty -(Same
displacement as the 53-54 Red Ram Hemi).
It was quite possibly a "one of". It took me just over a week to
source all the parts and re-install them - and I told the mechanic and
garage owner (both "family friends") they could tear up any bill
associated with the job AND sign the safety. (Still cost several
hundred dollars in un-necessary parts - as well as delaying my brother
getting it on the road for over 2 months).

I ended up trading my kid brother a 2 or 3 year old Colt wagon for the
truck a couple months later and drove and showed the truck for several
years after completing it.

When I rebuilt my '53 Coronet Sierra (a Van Nuys Californis car) in
1972 I had to replace all of the brake lines as well. - it was only 18
years old..
I scrapped my 1985 LeBaron T&C wagon in about 1994 (it was only 9
years old) when both the brake lines and chassis rotted away.
My 1995 Mystique lost it's brakes due to a rusted line in about 2004
- about 9 years old. It was only a section about 5 or 6 inches long
that had rusted, so I cut the line back to a solid point, flared it,
and spliced in a short hunk of CuNi line I happened to have left over
from another job.

Back when I was an apprentice machanic, back 1968 -1971) I replaced a
LOT of brake and fuel lines on cars from the fifties and sixties.
1959-!961 Chevies were BAD for rust, as were '57--63 Mopars and just
about any Ford newer than 1954. Brake lines, fuel lines, fuel tanks,
and unit bodies - rear spring shackles coming up into the trunk of
Darts and Valiants was pretty common - and Falcons too. And front
fenders developing "zipper fenders" on '63 Ramblers within 3 years.

I got rid of my '63 Valiant when I bought my 2 year old '69 Dart and I
replaced the brake line across the rear axle on that one too - so it
was less than 8 years old when I had to replace rusted lines - and
that was a single system - so when you lost fluid, you lost ALL of the
brakes.

My current vehicles are15 and 21 years old - with all original lines -
I DID need to replace the fuel tank on the 15 year old Taurus due to
rust perforation (just about the only rust on the car)

IF the newer fluid was causing brake line failure, you might think Big
Brother would be all over it, like they got over freon in air
conditioners, or VW for fudging the MPG stats.
It's not the fluid causing the line failures. It's a combination
of"cost engineering" and atmospheric conditions. (Road salt, humidity,
etc)

I'd have to say the problems are LESS pervasive now than in earlier
years. I BUY cars now at the age I used to have to sell./scrap cars
50 years ago, and then I drive them up to another 10 or 12 years!!!!