Brake Failure

[really stuck]

hello,

We really are entirely dependent upon our LandCruiser. Its a T registration. Yesterday the brakes failed. It was towed to a dealer by the AA. The dealer says the brake pipes are corroded and need replacing. Cost of the part 20 pounds. But they say the labour is 450 pound as they have to remove the body!

We can't afford this. I have two questions. Is this true, do they have to do this to replace such a lowly part?

Second is their a cheaper route Is there a smart mechanic in the Reading (Berks) area who could help me cut the cost.

Help!

Nick

[Andy]

Think they are talking utter boll***s, have never heard such crap in my life.

Have sent you a PM.

[Phoenix999]

I agree with Andy.... it is total rubbish.

The replacement of brake pipes is a job that any decent mechanic can do. Good luck :)

[john1944]

I agree with Andy.... it is total rubbish.

The replacement of brake pipes is a job that any decent mechanic can do. Good luck :)

Reading some of these stories does not give me much confidence in the Toyota garage franchise.

[Phoenix999]

I agree with Andy.... it is total rubbish.

The replacement of brake pipes is a job that any decent mechanic can do. Good luck :)

Reading some of these stories does not give me much confidence in the Toyota garage franchise.

This can happen at any garage/dealership :(

[MISTER MECH]

Reading some of these stories does not give me much confidence in the Toyota garage franchise.

Yeah, thats right. Blame "rip off" main agents. It's bad enough the tabloids spouting off when some "poor" merc or BMW owner being billed £100 for a headlight bulb to be replaced and this is usually the outcome. What most of the general public don't realise is that on our modern cars with their nice episoidal lamps and plastic "embellisment" covers over the engine and the grille / slam panels is that most (but not all) of the time you need to remove them to get a chance of even seeing where a problem lies. In the case of a passenger side headlamp bulb I changed on a Renault Megane recently I had to remove the front bumper first so I could then remove the whole lamp unit just to gain access to the bulb at the back as there was a "very helpful" ABS modulator bolted directly behind the lamp.

Anyways, rant over, back to the topic. :D

I bet the brake pipes in question are right above the O/S/R top spring mount between the body and the chassis and go into a load sensing valve right ?? Easy enough to replace without lifting the body off as I did one of these last week and changed both pipes as one had burst and T'other was on the verge of going. Just had to undo the union nuts off the valve, bend the pipes till they broke off above the spring mount, cut them back to good metal along the chassis and fit new union connectors before flaring the ends to accept the new copper nickel pipes I made up to the original lengths and then passed them between the chassis and floorpan before bending and clipping them back to the chassis. 10 mins on the vacuum bleeder later and we had brakes again. Total time of the job took around an hour and fifteen (damn rust on the unions at the valve). Customer was billed 1.5 hours as I roadtested it afterwards to make sure it was safe. So you see, not ALL main agents are :arrgg-matey: just as some independant's aren't.

MM