Hi from QLD

[Iantrial]

My Trialmaster had a catastrophic brake failure today after owning it for 5 weeks. The break line is braded and has a plastic cover. For some reason the brake line was rubbing on the right hand tyre. After 4,000 klm the brake line burst while slowing at a traffic light. The brake pedal went to the floor. I pumped the brake then the left wheel locked up. This launched the vehicle into the left lane. I pulled up the hand brake and had zero effect. I am concerned as I live on the top of a mountain in rain Forrest. Always wet and rainy. If I was on my way down the mountain when the brake line burst, I would have gone over the cliff.

Now I have to say I love the bloody car.
It’s great and up until the brake failure I loved it.
But, WTF!!

Has anyone else had this kind of problem?
Or is it just me?
Is it just unlucky?

So I’m looking for honest opinions, has anyone had this issue?

Regards
Ian

 

[NQ94]

The vehicle will have a dual brake circuit master cylinder so if a circuit fails due to a leak the other circuit should work using two brakes with extra travel and more force on the brake pedal. I am not sure if Ineos has a diagonally split system like Volvo or split front to rear. From your description of the left wheel locking up it seems that the ABS has not reacted effectively even though the hydraulic system has been compromised. Under the ADRs there should be a red brake warning light on the dash and likely a fault code logged with line failure due to the pressure differential between the circuits. For your hand brake it is pretty common for light commercial vehicles to have an ineffective hand brake at speed and does not actually really feel like it is doing anything until the vehicle is under 30km/h. The two main reasons is the cable and brake shoes or pads are not adjusted correctly to give an even application left to right and/or the driver does not apply enough force on the hand brake to slow the vehicle.

 

[Braydo]

Yes some vehicles have had the brake line and wheel speed sensor rubbing on the inner right tyre from factory. Really should be picked up in the PDI. Like yours, mine wasn’t. A couple of weeks in and the wheel speed sensor wore through. Got a dash full of warning lights. Brake line sheath had worn, but thankfully not the brake line. Yours was a much worse situation but sounds like the same issue. There’s been a few instances documented on this forum. Easy fix and won’t happen again once it’s corrected. Glad you’re okay.

 

[Iantrial]

Yes some vehicles have had the brake line and wheel speed sensor rubbing on the inner right tyre from factory. Really should be picked up in the PDI. Like yours, mine wasn’t. A couple of weeks in and the wheel speed sensor wore through. Got a dash full of warning lights. Brake line sheath had worn, but thankfully not the brake line. Yours was a much worse situation but sounds like the same issue. There’s been a few instances documented on this forum. Easy fix and won’t happen again once it’s corrected. Glad you’re okay.

Hi Braydo,

I was told by the mechanic that fixed it they received a memo last week warning to look out for warn brake lines. I was told mine is the second one to fail completely warn through like this. Apparently the Ineos team are working on a fix and there will be a recall at some point. As I was told. I’m am GM of an engineering company that does robotics and automation. Some of the engineers and I looked at it this morning and we can see if the brake line gets knocked by something like a sand rut (I wa on the beach on the weekend) then once the brake line is pushed backwards while turning right, then when turning back left there is little room between the tyre and the brake line and it can get stuck in the position and could remain there running against the tyre. One fix might be a small flexible lanyard from the middle of the brake line to the sway bar so it can never reach the tyre.

 

[anand]

Hi Braydo,

I was told by the mechanic that fixed it they received a memo last week warning to look out for warn brake lines. I was told mine is the second one to fail completely warn through like this. Apparently the Ineos team are working on a fix and there will be a recall at some point. As I was told.

The "fix" is just the positioning of the line at the time of install, it doesn't move once it is tightened down. At least for MY24 North American vehicles this has been near the top of the "make sure you check this at PDI" list since shortly after deliveries began about a year ago

 

[Iantrial]

 

[Iantrial]

See in the photos there is nothing holding the brake line in place. This is on full lock right. When on full lock left I can still have 3 fingers between the sway arm tyre. Not a lot and the brake line can easily rub. So some kind of flexible bracket between the sway arm and brake line would stop it hitting the tyre, but I would rather have Inios do the tests and come up with a solution.

 

[Braydo]

That already looks heaps better than what they did to mine. Mine is really only a temporary fix, and they added an additional protective sheath. I’ve got wider tyres than stock though too, so I’d like to see any fix by INEOS account for that.