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Front Brake Lines

C420sailor

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City, State
Long Island, NY
Year, Model & Trim Level
98 XLT SOHC, 99 EB 5.0L
5.0 AWD Ex

PO had corroded brake lines and spliced a bunch of improperly sized, horribly bent tubing sections in with compression fittings. Makes me nervous, and I’m 99% sure it’ll fail inspection.

Motorcraft still sells pre-bent front lines.

Is it a ***** to weave these things through the engine compartment? Any gotchas? Am I going to have to bring the Trucklet to Ford to have them run the ABS motor to bleed it?
 






Pre-bent brake lines are probably harder to put in rather than easier. They are designed for a shape that can be put on when the vehicle is a bare shell on the factory line.

Now, you'd have to take parts off or bend them out of shape to cram them in.

You're better off getting CuNi lines (copper nickel) in bulk which not only resist rust but also bend, even by hand, pretty easily.

The catch is you have to practice and/or get a good flaring too. I never had much luck with the loaner tools, the butterfly knife style at auto parts stores, but there are multiple better tools out there with different designs, practically any other design is better than the butterfly type, and yet, some people get ahold of a good specimen of that type too and can get the job done with them, but if the flare isn't perfect it will take a lot more torque to keep it from leaking if it makes a seal at all.

It's not a big deal to weave it through any area once you keep something in mind. It doesn't need to necessarily travel the exact same path, bends don't need to be as sharp, etc. It just needs to get from point A to point B and not vibrate and chafe against anything else, and of course not sit too close to the exhaust so it gets hot.

An ABS module in good condition will not lose the fluid in it and wouldn't need bled. If yours is leaky and air gets in, there is the possibility that you may need to bleed it. However if it seals enough that it's functional as designed, you'd not notice from a spongy brake pedal - that would be air in the rest of the system without any regard for there being ABS. Air in the ABS module will only show an effect when ABS is activating.

The short answer is pretend there isn't abs and do the repair, bleed brakes, and get it out on a slippery surface such as ice or snow and lock the wheels up to purge air. If the pedal is then spongy, bleed each wheel again and repeat. If the abs works and there is no increase in pedal travel you are done. If you cannot get a repeatable abs result then it is time to take it to a shop, or to do the work that far and being detailed, report back what is going on.

Supposedly an OBD2 dongle and Forscan app can cycle the ABS to bleed it but I have no experience doing that. More info:

Anybody using ABS features for brake bleeding? - FORScan forum
 






Awesome, thanks!
 






Follow up.

Front left brake line was cake.

Front right was more tricky. I happened to have the front diff removed, so I took advantage of the opportunity with the extra room. It’s a pain, but doable. Work the line up from below. A little bending is required—the lines come pre-bent in such a way that facilitates installation...but you won’t need a bending tool.

Very happy with them.

Now I just need to do the one on the rear diff.
 






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