1st Gen. Extended Brake Lines. Let's figure this out.

[Nedwreck]

Extended brake line kits are around, often in the $100 (and above) range. These are mail order from vendors, Duff and others.

That doesn't help us if somebody pops/breaks a line out in the world... plus who wants to buy two or three lines to get one?

I hear that some folks use F250 lines, and that interests me. Often cheaper and available at local parts houses. Availability is top priority.

After searching umpteen threads and other places, I ended up at NAPA Online.

It tells me that my stock LF brake line is 21".

It shows most all SD F250 front lines at comparable length except PN 381185 (25", but wrong "source" ends, drivers side especially)

So.... who's using what kind of lines?

Do I recall something about XJ or YJ Jeep lines?

The MAIN target is off-shelf availability, second is building "on the cheap".

Can we get this worked out to "sticky thread" grade information?

TIA!

 

[zjrog]

Well, here is what we did with our little Ranger project... 26" brake hoses from a Chevy truck. Purchased through Autozone. Though we also moved the hard lines a bit too.

 

[jmdirk]

Find a local hydraulics shop that can custom make them for you.

I had a local place here make me an extended rear line for about the same cost as an OEM one from local parts shop. I just took the stock on in a told them that I needed the same thing but 32" long. 10 minutes later it was done and they pressure tested them. I bought one spare just in case.

 

[Nedwreck]

For the front of my truck (6" lift, 92 Explorer) I made some brackets to drop the source end of the line. Holes are 3 1/2" center to center. There was plenty of line to make the distance. I just kinda gave the hard line a tug and gently bent the route down to the bracket. The bends are a little tight. Downward travel is perfect, just a tad of slack fully extended, with wheels strait or turned. Need to check at max compression as a precaution, but I think that'll be cool.

Wish I had a digital camera. The dog made a chew toy outta mine. heh

...

The 26" chevy brake lines is a good idea.
...

I hadn't visited any Hyd. shops. I think one of the local auto parts places does that, for the farmers in the area. I'll visit them.



Thanks for chiming in folks.
...

 

[Four0Sport]

i purchased 05 f-250 brake lines for a mono beam (solid axle) non abs truck. the caliper ends of the lines were the same, but the difference in length was only about 2 inches. i had some drop extensions made from hard line but i cannot get the pass side hose off of the metal line at the top of the spring tower, it is stuck!

 

[Nedwreck]

Four0.. keep that PBlaster or other good solvent on there! Mine were stuck and waay overtight. They came loose eventually.

On your drivers side line, did the F250 line have the "T" configuration, where the line assembly had one permanent, and two lines attaching to it?

I'm kinda in the mind of using the lines you mentioned, along with a drop bracket that is shorter than the one I'm using. The source lines wouldn't need to bend so sharply and they wouldn't rub the frame and spring tower.

My home made "brackets" are just a flat piece of metal, 2" wide, 4 1/2" long, ~1/8" thick, with the (as mentioned) two holes 3 1/2" center to center. I did drill the lower hole (that the wheel line goes thru) smaller, and filed, so that it would have the flat portion to keep the line from rotating. Took time, but it was free!

 

[Four0Sport]

when i had the drop line i made on the drivers side i was going to use a metal wire tab and drill a hole in the coil tower to hold it in place. as far as the f250 lines, they were exactly the same as the explorer ones, just 2 inches longer. a lady came in work one day last week with a 93-97 ranger with stx drop brackets and the person who had it b4 her had some sort of aftermarket brake hoses on it. the drivers side had a block at the top where it meets the hard line that had another hard line threaded into it, not sure where it ran to though, weird. women with lifted trucks are hot.

 

[Maniak]

I went to a local speed shop and got Earles brake lines, I chose the length that was long enough for me. That worked great for the passenger side. For the drivers side I took a factory line from a junk yard and then cut the fitting for the flex line that went out to the caliper. I then used an npt to brake line fitting (forgot what it was called). I know your not supposed to use npt fittings but they have worked great for many years.. cybergasn also has one of those modified lines.

I had to go through all that because on at least the '92 the drivers side has an odd fitting.. The line from the Master cylinder comes down to it.. At the connector (still drivers side) that connects the hard line to the rubber line there is another connector to run a line over to the passenger side.

I can take pics if someone needs them.

~Mark

 

[Four0Sport]

yeah take a pic of that dr side fitting, it sounds like what i saw on a ranger that stopped in at work. on my 93 sport the hard lines are standard male 3/16 and the end of the hose is standard female 3/16.

 

[Nedwreck]

Ya my 92 lines are like the ones Maniak are talkin' 'bout. One line in the top, the caliper feed out the bottom, and one out the backside that goes to the passenger side. Which is part of the problem IMO, that driver side fitting/line.

I'll prolly visit the Hyd. shop idea... but I'm really all over the idea of finding (if possible) an off-shelf solution.

For the low-buck (that's me usually) I'm sticking with the drop brackets. With that it's just a stock item to replace a line.

I'll borrow a camera soon and post pics.


Edit to add: Still looking for a solution for the rear brake line!

 

[Four0Sport]

i dont have any problems with the rear line, even with shackles, aal, and 4dr leaf packs there is still plenty of slack back there.

 

[jmdirk]

I think the driver's side fitting issue has to do with the type of ABS installed.

I think the 91-92 have just rear wheel ABS so they route the from the master cylinder to the front caliper and split the line from there over to the passenger side.

93-94 have four wheel ABS and everything goes from the master cylinder to the ABS modulator. From there a single line runs to the rear and individual lines run to each front wheel.

 

[Four0Sport]

youre right.. that is how the lines are routed

 

[Nedwreck]

yea that's right jmkirk. I hadn't thought about it like that, and "her" X is a 93 with ABS too. heh

So for the 93 and 94 guys, they've got a few more options finding off-shelf lines.

I guess then we're looking at two different things. Options for the 91-92's, and the 93-94's.

 

[jmdirk]

The 91-92 stuff can work on a 93-94. The Skyjacker extended lines are made for 91-92, I just went and bought a plug for the extra hole.

 

[91exploreron37]

I have a 91 with just RABS and I am running the F250 lines. I was able to dig up the old boxes but the NAPA site lists them as being only about 18" long when in fact they're 24" long which is 4" longer than the factory line. I guess that 18" is only for the rubber hose part of the line and doesnt include the metal tube portion:scratch:. If you look the part no. up on NAPA and compare the pics to the factory line pics you can tell there longer.
You can go here(http://www.napaonline.com/NOLPPSE/(S(km4n0145vhpbajjy1iviso45))/Welcome.aspx?) and type in the part no.
LF-381186
RF-381184

 

[91exploreron37]

The passenger side fit perfectly on the coil spring mount whereas the drivers side had to be mounted on its side, which also allows the line to not hit the tire, but on both sides I had to grind a little bit of the tab on the caliper to get the sqaure portion of the line to fit flush. Also the passenger side line had to be zip tied because it was rubbing the tire.
I know I've probably confused some of you so I've included pics of how the top of the line mounts.

 

[Nedwreck]

I have a 91 with just RABS and I am running the F250 lines. I was able to dig up the old boxes but the NAPA site lists them as being only about 18" long when in fact they're 24" long which is 4" longer than the factory line. I guess that 18" is only for the rubber hose part of the line and doesnt include the metal tube portion:scratch:. If you look the part no. up on NAPA and compare the pics to the factory line pics you can tell there longer.
You can go here(http://www.napaonline.com/NOLPPSE/(S(km4n0145vhpbajjy1iviso45))/Welcome.aspx?) and type in the part no.
LF-381186
RF-381184

Thanks for your post!

Good deal!

So... did you you do anything special with the rear brake line?

 

[91exploreron37]

Nope I just unbolted it from the frame and it works just fine. But I just have a 4in lift.

 

[madbutcher]

The passenger side fit perfectly on the coil spring mount whereas the drivers side had to be mounted on its side, which also allows the line to not hit the tire, but on both sides I had to grind a little bit of the tab on the caliper to get the sqaure portion of the line to fit flush. Also the passenger side line had to be zip tied because it was rubbing the tire.
I know I've probably confused some of you so I've included pics of how the top of the line mounts.

I orderd F250 lines for my 92 now..

Dorman H381184 Front Brake Hose
Dorman H381186 Front Brake Hose