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Leaky steering box and a can of worms


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Welp here’s my first post so have mercy on me ?

 

I own and from time to time drive a 2005 Silverado 2500hd 4wd with 6.0/lq4

 

Now that is out of the way I’ll discuss the problem, recently I noticed a slight winding noise and didn’t pay it to much attention till last nite it was really noticeable.  After some quick deducing and judging by how the brakes felt I figured the brakes/power steering fluid was low.  Sure enough when I pulled into the Wally World parking lot my power steering reservoir was almost empty but brake fluid was good.

 

 The only fluid they had was the Supertech with stop leak which I’m a little Leary about.  Anywho I poured in the fluid and turned the wheels to try to get it back in the system.  It only wound up using half a quart and the system quieted right down to normal again, but the brakes still felt off.  

 

Today I decided to pull my truck into the garage and find the leak, which from what I could make of it was a very minor leak on the pitman arm shaft.  Which I guess is good news since the seal kit is only $20 but as I was pulling my truck out of the garage I pushed on the brakes firmly to see how it would react since they didn’t feel right and low and behold the pedal went to the floor.  

 

So I got out to check and the power steering fluid is still topped off  from last nite and the brake fluid is still in check.  Did my power steering being low mess up my hydro boost unit or something?  Does my hydro boost need bled ?  Just scratching my head as to what I need to do now ?  Any help appreciated 

 

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Most likely your brake lines rusted through. You got lucky and it failed in your own driveway.  You can take your Vin to a chevy dealer and get a brake line kit thats got new coated and pre bent lines in it.  Youll see the worst part is right behind the DS front tire on top of the frame, down to the abs module under the seat on the frame. When you bleed these after a kit install, I would borrow a mighty vac as it can be a pain to get the fluid to the rear .

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Pump the brakes a couple times.  If it keeps going to the floor, then yeah, you likely have blown a brake line.  You should be able to see where the puddle is under your truck.  If so, replace all the lines, don't just try to replace the one line, or splice/patch the line.

 

If you build up pressure, and there's no puddle of brake fluid forming under the truck, then bleed the power steering system.

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Well put it back in the garage today and turns out the line around the fuel take busted.  What’s the best way to get to it?  Is it easier to take the bed off or drop the tank ?

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Removing or tilting the bed is what I've heard works best, and insert the line from the rear, going forward and down towards the abs controller (from what I've read on other forums about doing this, as I've got a flatbed so I just had to remove a couple boards to replace the line on my truck).

Edited by davester
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Wound up tilting the bed up, which was super easy there’s several videos showing how it’s done.  I didn’t know about it and my buddy showed me there’s this new nickel/copper tube that’s easy to work with and that’s what we used to replace the old line.  Had to replace the caliper because the bleeder broke but everything seems good.  Appreciate the help guys.

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check out the front lines as well.  the front ones tend to rust where they run along the frame rail from the driver's side wheel to the abs controller under the driver's seat.  If the rear line failed, the front ones likely aren't too far behind...

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