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2005 Explorer Eddie Bauer V8 Brake Lines and Hoses

mikeinri

Explorer Addict
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Year, Model & Trim Level
04 Explorer, 94 XLT (RIP)
What are the standard brake line sizes for this truck? Front and rear: length, diameter, fitting and flare types?

Also, does this have traction control? Seems to make a difference when ordering left rear brake hose.

I've searched, no one seems to have answered this. I know, take it off and measure, but I (like many before me) would MUCH rather have the parts in hand before starting.

Thanks.

Mike
 



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There are two options for doing your hard brake lines.

You can get a set of prefabricated stainless steel lines,

2002-10 Ford Explorer 4WD, Four-Wheel Disc w/ABS, 4 Door, Complete Stainless Brake Line Kit ($185 +ship)
The cost of the prefab kit has not changed as far as I remember. There are likely other brands you can get.

or you can buy 3/8" tubing, fittings, and a 3/8" inverted flare tool and make your own lines.

SUR&R BR-EZ400 3/8" Brake Line Tubing, 25' ($82 +ship)

When I did my lines, I could get 25' of UltraBend for about $40 shipped. 25' isn't enough it you want to do the lines from the master cylinder to the ABS pump. A decent version of the flare tool should go about $50 but I can't seem to find one in the 3/8" size that is the same kind I used. Given the increase in cost for parts you probably won't save anything by making up your own lines unless you go to steel polyarmour tubing instead of nickle copper (the OE is polyarmour). If you really want to do your own I will post a list of the fittings you will need.

As for the flex lines at each wheel, you will want to take off your wheels and look carefully at what is there. That should tell you if you have traction control or not. Make sure you get new lines that are the exact same shape as the ones that are on there now. Not everything you might buy will fit, even if it says it should. I used the Centric brand for mine but there are other good brands. Getting the OE shape is the main thing.

Be prepared that you might break the master cylinder trying to remove the old lines. They are not terribly expensive but it's just another thing to fix. Given the age of the truck it wouldn't be a bad idea to plan on replacing it anyway. It's your brakes, not a broken latch on the glove box.

LMHmedchem
 






Thanks for the quick reply. I was able to crawl under and see that this does have the three fittings on the left rear hose, confirming that it's got traction control.

The brake lines themselves (at least in the rear) look really good, I'm going to try to reuse them.

Will post follow ups later.

Mike
 






The brake lines themselves (at least in the rear) look really good, I'm going to try to reuse them.

So are you only going to replace the flex lines at the wheels?

If you look under the hood at the ABS pump you will see that there are some short lines that exit the ABS pump and go to a manifold about 12 inches toward the rear. The manifold is where you can disconnect the hard lines for removal without touching anything from the master cylinder to the manifold. Just after the manifold there are some short sections of flex hose in the hard line that are secured with pressed fittings. These reduce vibration in the hard lines and allow for easier installation and removal. These pressed fittings are one of the things that are prone to fail so you should look for signs of leakage there. The lines may have brake fluid on them below the pressed fittings or the frame right below may have an accumulation of brake fluid.

The flex hoses at the wheels are often left in place until the hard lines are changed because it is pretty difficult to undo the fitting between the hard line and flex hose without breaking the hard line. The fittings are not very hard metal so they round off easily. If you want to replace the flex lines, start spraying the fittings with PB blaster every day for about a week before you do the work. Also spray the threads of the bolt that mounts the flex hose to the frame. I generally replace these bolts.

You can use a 6" pipe wrench, a basin wrench, or vice grips to loosen the fitting. There are some specialized flare nut wrenches that may work but I find something like a pipe wrench or basin wrench to work best, especially if it rounds off. Carefully try to loosen the fittings without breaking anything. Have an oil pan ready since you will get brake fluid to flow out.

If you are going to do all 4 wheels, it's a good time to flush your brake fluid so you would start with the passengers rear wheel (the one that doesn't have the 3-way fitting and is the end of the line). Let me know if you need a procedure for that.

Not to lengthen the list but this is also a good time to do service on the calipers, dust shields, parking brakes, etc.

LMHmedchem
 






Thanks.

Nothing is (currently) leaking, but the pads and rotors are shot. This supposedly had new brakes when I bought it around 50k miles ago (now has around 165k total).

Definitely doing pads, rotors, and hardware, all 4 wheels (including parking brake pads and hardware).

I believe the left rear caliper is sticking, so I'm replacing all calipers and hoses, mostly as a precaution.

I don't plan to touch anything else unless I break something. Until I crawled under there last night, I fully expected the hard lines to be completely rusted, but they "look" OK so far.

Getting ready to start working, will follow up later.

Mike
 






Left rear...

20230526_114357.jpg
20230526_123714.jpg
20230526_123658.jpg


Mike
 






Left rear, continued...

Caliper started leaking as soon as I compressed it to remove the old pads.

20230526_140240.jpg


Rotor was in three pieces.

71919.jpeg

71920.jpeg


E-brake shoes were toast.

20230526_140235.jpg


Dust shield rotted through at shoe-holding pin location (or broke free when I removed the rotor). Note to self: Just buy those in advance next time...

20230526_141243.jpg


Mike
 






Do you have the replacement hardware yet?

LMHmedchem
 






Yes, but I just realized that the hub needs to be pulled, and I don't have the tools for that...

EDIT: I can pull the hub, but it needs to be separated, that's where I'm lacking tools.

I see that 1aAuto sells entire hub/knuckle assemblies, but they won't get here until the middle of next week.

Mike
 






Yes, but I just realized that the hub needs to be pulled, and I don't have the tools for that...

EDIT: I can pull the hub, but it needs to be separated, that's where I'm lacking tools.

I see that 1aAuto sells entire hub/knuckle assemblies, but they won't get here until the middle of next week.
The hub and bearing are pressed into the rear knuckle. You need a hydraulic press to remove and replace those parts. You can also buy the parts and take them to a shop with the knuckle to have them do it. Why do you think that the hub needs to come out? Have you confirmed that the bearing it bad?
If you want to do it yourself you want the entire knuckle assembly as you suggested. In my experience, the 1aAuto parts run from not very good to pretty bad.

This is the one I would get,

SKF BR935001LK Rear Knuckle Assembly ($174 + ship)

Curiously this listing doesn't say if it's the right or left side so you would need to check on that. The Moog part is also good but cost $75 more for some reason. You can use economy parts but you may end up doing the job again in 6 months.

It is likely that you need to replace the lower tie rod as well. If you do, you will need to check the size because them come in some different sizes and the size of the tie rod has to match the bolt hole in the knuckle. At this point, you should check all of the ball joints and control arm bushings. If your rotor rusted into several pieces then there may be other compromised parts as well.

Take the time to put together a full list of what you will need before you go further.

LMHmedchem
 






I'm 90% on my way to getting tires back onto the rear, maybe changing out the front brakes, and towing it to a shop.

I'm cheap, but I don't have enough free time to deal with this, especially if it gets super-extensive.

The master cylinder is going to run dry, nothing I can do to stop that (caliper is dripping continuously, I've refilled the reservoir several times). I tried getting the hard lines off so I could replace the line and caliper, but got frustrated and decided to walk away before I destroy something.

I need to walk away and calm down for a few hours.

Mike
 






BTW, the bearings seem fine. The shield can't be replaced without separating the hub from the knuckle.

Dorman makes a 2-piece replacement shield (cut off old shield, install new one easy peasy) for some vehicles, but apparently not this one.

Do you know a source for a 2-piece replacement shield???

Mike
 






Do you know a source for a 2-piece replacement shield???
The OE design has a wide opening on one side. If you look up a picture you will see what I mean. I believe that this opening is there so you can put the shield on over the hub but I would look for a video on how to install one of these to be sure. All of the brands look the same so a video for any of them would be the same.

They are not expensive though they may not be in stock even if the site says they are.

Motorcraft 1L2Z2C028AB Rear Right Brake Backing Plate Splash Shield ($7.87)
Motorcraft 1L2Z2C029AB Rear Left Brake Backing Plate Splash Shield ($23.62)

LMHmedchem
 






Have you installed those before?

The YouTube videos I've seen all say not to damage the shield, or you have to separate the hub.

The videos showing the replacement also back that up.

The indentation is there for the entry point for the parking brake lever arms, I played with it for a while, it's not coming off without being cut off. Then, a one-piece new one won't go on without separating the hub from the knuckle.

Horrible design from Ford.

Mike
 






Horrible design from Ford.
It was the same with my van, the dust shields were actually bolted inside thehub and bearing assembly using the same bolts. I was replacing the bearings anyway so I was able to do it in that case.

I am wondering if you could get the shield off/on if you removed the lug studs from the hub.

LMHmedchem
 






No, the hole in the shield is smaller than the diameter of the outer portion of the hub. The studs really aren't the issue.

I looked at Moog (at the Moog site, and Advance Auto), and they only seem to build them for non-traction-control Explorers. Which seems odd, as I thought all 2005s came with standard traction control (but that's probably a bad assumption based on something I read online).

Mike
 






I've re-read your suggestion about that cutout and removing the studs. I will measure the new one and see what sort of gap that leaves. There isn't a lot of space between the outer hub and knuckle, so I don't know if I can twist the shield enough to slip it off. If that does work, getting the new one on would (obviously) be easy as well.

I'm only a few miles from a Ford dealer, I can stop in and ask them for a suggestion as well. They haven't always been very helpful in the past (they've refused to work on one of my older Explorers simply due to its age and mileage, and wanted to sell me a new truck).

ANYTHING would be better than having to pull those hubs.

Mike
 






I can buy Dorman hub/knuckle assemblies locally, do you have an issue with Dorman quality?

Mike
 






I've re-read your suggestion about that cutout and removing the studs. I will measure the new one and see what sort of gap that leaves. There isn't a lot of space between the outer hub and knuckle, so I don't know if I can twist the shield enough to slip it off. If that does work, getting the new one on would (obviously) be easy as well.

ANYTHING would be better than having to pull those hubs.
My guess is that at least 75% of the G3 explorers on the road today don't have dust shields on either the front or back anymore. It definitely isn't worth taking the knuckle apart or replacing it just for the dust shields.

I can buy Dorman hub/knuckle assemblies locally, do you have an issue with Dorman quality?
I would stay away from Dorman unless there is no other choice. I wouldn't buy any brand knuckle just to replace the dust shield. I thought you needed a new bearing or hub and that's why you were going to remove it. If I was going to have the hub off for some other reason I would definitely do it then.

I bought 2 knuckles mostly to replace my front dust shields which haven't been available for years. I got a pair used on ebay for $30 each shipped since I bough two. They were listed for more buy I offered $60 for the pair and they accepted. I could see that the dust shields were in good shape so I bought them, removed the shields, cleaned them up and painted them with POR-15.

If you really want to replace them and removing the studs won't work you might consider cutting them in two pieces in such a way that the mount holes are more or less equally divided between the halves. I would then drill and tap some additional mount holes into the knuckle. I would also remove the poor excuse for "paint" that comes on the dust shields, etch them, and paint them properly wiht POR-15 or some other similar coating that will give true rust protection for a long time. The new parts will rust pretty quickly if you live anywhere where there is winter road salt, which it looks like you do given the rest of the rust.

I like new, or at least new looking, parts on my truck so I do replace some things that I could live without. It's up to you.

LMHmedchem
 



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Unfortunately, these aren't cosmetic, the parking / emergency brake pads, springs, etc. mount to them.

The Dormans are made for the later years in this generation, and don't say "Exc traction control" like most others do.

Mike
 






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