splash guard fell off, and it was a good thing that it did.....

My driver's side front wheel well splash shield (the little flexible ones) came loose, and alerted me to the fact that I had a brake line in need of replacement, and soon:
(this was hidden behind the rearmost left front splash shield)
Just got to find the part number for the 'tube'. I may replace the union also.

 

bit crusty

 

News that’s just cosmetic rust.

 

Until you need to remove the brake line...

 

do you never look under the hood?

I never understand how people are surprised to find stuff like this... if this spot is THIS BAD and this rusty, other even more critical spots are probably on their last legs.... do an entire onceover on the truck.

 

I have looked the truck over MANY times, except this particular spot was impossible to see due to the splash shield lying up against it.
The rest of the lines show nearly no corrosion, hence my surprise to see this.
I may have been able to spot it from under the hood with a flashlight (and younger eyes). No, it's not due to negligence, I have been inspecting my own cars for over 40 years. I've only owned this truck for a year and a half but I've examined it fairly thoroughly.
I suspect this particular spot developed corrosion due to a breach of the coating at the nut.
You are in So Cal? That explains why you'd be alarmed at this kind of rust. I'm on the east coast. This is very typical out here after a few salty winters.

My only reason to mention this here on the forum was to possibly help someone who may also have not spotted rust in this area due to it being covered by the splash shield.

 

I have some brackets all over my truck that while not quite as bad as this brake line are a complete rust mess. You only discover them over time because: 1: They are all over the place and in some pretty hidden spots... and 2: you're not expecting them. About 50% of them are still shiny and fine and the remainder are somewhere between "surface rust" and corroded with holes in them... and a good percentage of them are holding brake lines. Why they aren't all made of the same good metal is beyond me. They're just sheet metal brackets. The nuts and stud fasteners holding them are usually a mess as well and look like a Drake's Coffee cake... It's ridiculous.

 

Toyota would go out of business if they had super reliable engines AND basically rust-proof chassis components lol. We would all be rolling around in 50 year old trucks that only needed batteries, tires, and oil changes.

 

I'd hate to see other areas of the frame when the rest of that black $hit continues to peel away.

 

Parts have been replaced. Here's a tip (or two):
You have to disconnect the heater hoses and the brake booster vacuum line to get the brake line up against the firewall. Although it's obvious, don't try to fish the line through without disconnecting the above.
I tried, and ended up scratching some of the green coating off of the new line. Hopefully it won't rust too fast up where it's located (stays fairly dry).