Saved $ B11 parts

[rookieshooter]

I'm working on replacing about all of my brake lines. I needed to get a new rear brake hose that goes from a connection above axel then drops down to a tee mounted on axel. Went to Nappa and asked for an 84 B11 hose. Have to order one and they have two different Co.s that make them. One was over $30 and the other very close to $30. Then I said well it's actually a first gen. X axel thats under it, but the threads are the same. Do you have one for that? Yes I do he says and I took a look at it. It was allmost the same thing except an inch shorter. The only differance was a slight angle that the lines screwed into and an extra bolt hole in the part that bolts on axel. I asked how much? He says $12, and I said I'll take it. That one inch is no biggie. What I'll most likly do is put a 1" or longer spacer between it and the axel. Just thought I,d let you know. If any body knows of a longer then stock length of 18" that someother ford truck uses and bolts right in, please post. A custom SS is out of budget right now. In mean time I'll use this one. Might be a good idea to have a place where we can post some $ saving ideas to keep these things up and running.

[410Fortune]

I have a stock explorer line on my 8.8, with 4" leafs and 2" blocks and a whole bunch of flex it does fine.
All you have to do is unclip the body mount that holds the hard line and soft line that drops to the axle, let it float in the air, it will allow plenty of droop, never had an issue and I know many others on this board that run it similar.

[MountaineerGreen]

I got a universal 12" hard line from auto zone and and a coupler to connect it. I bent the line to clear obstacles under the truck and drop down, then connected the flex line. I have plenty of slack and it only cost $5.

[EMG7895]

Napa was out of explorer ones and couldnt get them for a week and I needed it so the napa guys ended up giving me the B2 one for the explorer price. Instead of putting a spacer on it I would move the braceket that it attactches to closer to the center to regain that inch and then some.

[rookieshooter]

That's 3 different ideas on how to mount that hose. All good. But being that I'm going to replace the steel lines anyway that come from the tee to the left and right brakes. And I do have that axel truss that goes to top of that 8.8 housing. I'm leaning now on EMG7895 idea. With that truss the way it is I can even mount it on that and really gain a whole lot of length.



This is an older pic. Plus the truss is steel and not cast like that housing. And would be easier to weld the hose bracket to. I could move it directly under where it attaches to top. The way it is now the hose comes down and goes to the right because of the way the housing is located to the right of where the hose comes down.

[MountaineerGreen]

Nice truss!

[rookieshooter]

Love those Managers Speacials. This was one of those truck and van covers. Was over $50 and then had it on sale for about $20 something. Then days later went on Managers Speacial sale. 75% off and got it for 6 bucks. Worked great on the B11. It's not waterproof but water repelent. Since there is no windshield righ now and I allways keep the vynel windows off. It works great. Not mentioning all the leaves and crap that just seems to fall into it. This was at Advanced Auto

[410Fortune]

yes but the real question is........





















can it be powder coated?

[rookieshooter]

My first attempt faild miserably. The powder coating oven uses a lot of current and my electric bill is too high. So i made a oven using superconductor heating elements. Well the first porblem was the extreme cold for the superconductor to work. About -700 deg. But the cover just strarted to crack when we removed it. Also the heating elements never got hot. I guess that was due to the zero amount of resistance. So know I did not PC the cover.