This is just a general question regarding my '97 Explorer. Got an estimate of $900 to replace the steel brake lines that come from the engine compartment to the rear brakes. They are extremely rusted, and burst a little while ago.

Should this job cost $900??? And take the entire week?

To me it sound ridiculous, or I may just be paranoid because I have personal issues with this mechanic.

 

its really a pain in the a== /it takes 1 to 1.5 days to do it .Done it lots of times . I usually charge 1000.00 but i replace all lines and do it right .if they are chargeing 900 for just 1 line its kinda high but ,until you done it you wont know how hard it can be

 

Typically a job like this is billed at whats called T&M, that is strictly time and materials. So brake pipe and some flare nuts are gonna run MAYBE, $50, AND IF LABOR IS $85/HR thats 10hrs of labor, seems a little bit high for just rear brake pipes, but not completely out of the ordinary or truly like thievery.

 

x 2 what maven says but if you buy from Ford the bundle of lines it could cost a lot. The brake line bundle for a J body cavvy are about 300 from the dealer and you gotta drop the rear of the cradle to stuff it in and its all rusty and stuff. Good luck....

 

I feel your pain. Last winter, I was parallel parking my 97 Ram 2500, Cummins powered truck, and the pedal starting going to the floor. Took a look underneath and found that it had rusted through 2 hard lines (one going to the back).

I had 2 lines replaced, but not nearly as expensive as your quote. IIRC, it was like 400.

Warren