Ok, I admit it, I flip-flopped and am going to fix the brake lines after all

[sehaare]

I posted before that the rusted out brake line was the last straw and I was done working on the 98.

All Good Things Must Come To an End

The cold hard fact is the SUV Isn't worth the money that I'll be spending to fix it, but I guess for sentimental reasons I'm not ready to scrap it. I'm the original owner, took many family vacations in it and both of my daughters grew up with it and learned how to drive in it (I did have to teach one of them how to drive a stick in a VW later).

Fixing the current leak is going to be easy it is just above the fitting where the hardline from the ABS connects to the driver side front brake hose. I'm not going to fool around with trying to break that fitting apart I'm just going to replace both the hard line and the rubber hose - I replaced both front calipers a few years ago so taking the hose off of the caliper should not be hard and I just verified that I can break the hard line free at the ABS.

The hard part will be replacing any lines going to other locations that might need it.

What really changed my mind is that I was able to order a complete prebent brake line kit. Once I get the first leak fixed I'll be able to drive the car up on 4 ramps and see what else needs replacing. I'm hoping to not need most of the kit, but the kit cost less than what I spend on any Costco run so I figured what the hell.

Full disclosure, at 62, after spending most of my life living paycheck to paycheck, I've reached the point where I have more money than time left, and if I get into this and everything starts falling apart in my hands, I'll just give up and chalk up the money I wasted on the kit to giving it one last try and be happy about it.

Here's the kit, I'm getting it from Amazon, it is on sale on the company's website but when they added shipping cost it was more expensive to buy it on sale from them than on Amazon.


Amazon.com

 

[V8]

It's cheaper than buying a replacement vehicle in God only know what condition. FWIW, I had the brake lines in my 95 Bronco replaced with a stainless line kit. That particular problem will never bother me again.

 

[C420sailor]

Just remember that the lines aren’t FULLY bent. There will be some sections where you’ll need to bend. The lines won’t go in if they’re 100% bent.

Still, it’s not a bad job. Check the rear diff hard line while you’re at it. They’re very easy to replace with a length of pre-flared line from the parts store and a decent set of bending pliers.

 

[Pete Deering]

I posted before that the rusted out brake line was the last straw and I was done working on the 98.

All Good Things Must Come To an End

The cold hard fact is the SUV Isn't worth the money that I'll be spending to fix it, but I guess for sentimental reasons I'm not ready to scrap it. I'm the original owner, took many family vacations in it and both of my daughters grew up with it and learned how to drive in it (I did have to teach one of them how to drive a stick in a VW later).

Fixing the current leak is going to be easy it is just above the fitting where the hardline from the ABS connects to the driver side front brake hose. I'm not going to fool around with trying to break that fitting apart I'm just going to replace both the hard line and the rubber hose - I replaced both front calipers a few years ago so taking the hose off of the caliper should not be hard and I just verified that I can break the hard line free at the ABS. The hard part will be replacing any other lines that need it.

What really changed my mind is that I was able to order a complete prebent brake line kit. Once I get the first leak fixed I'll be able to drive the car up on 4 ramps and see what else needs replacing. I'm hoping to not need most of the kit, but the kit cost less than what I spend on any Costco run so I figured what the hell.

Full disclosure, at 62, after spending most of my life living paycheck to paycheck, I've reached the point where I have more money than time left, and if I get into this and everything starts falling apart in my hands, I'll just give up and chalk up the money I wasted on the kit to giving it one last try and be happy about it.

Here's the kit, I'm getting it from Amazon, it is on sale on the company's website but when they added shipping cost it was more expensive to buy it on sale from them than on Amazon.


Amazon.com

Also replace all rubber hoses. It make it easier.
Two in front , three in rear. And there are (4) Flex lines at the ABS unit

 

[410Fortune]

So happy to hear! Roll
It till the wheels fall off

 

[sehaare]

It will never be a daily driver again, but just being able to make a homedepot run with it for bigger stuff, will make it worth the money. Also it has relatively new all terrain tires on it so it could get through some Chicagoland snow drifts in a pinch as a grocery getter.

 

[J_C]

That amazon kit looks... fun... trying to figure out what goes where.

I mean that even if the front passenger wheel run is two pieces, there's still an extra piece?

Did they break up the front to rear line into two pieces too? I recall running that line from front to the rear with bulk line and it didn't seem like two pieces were needed, but stainless is a bit harder to bend, definitely want a tool for that. I found running the front to rear line, easier with the crossmember near, and the tank skid plate itself, removed. The clips in the frame to hold the brake line, have an extra empty position you can use to mount the new line, without needing to remove the old.

Anyway the driver's side front is pretty easy, I had more trouble getting the wheel well liner back in, and wire loom brackets stuck back into it, but I'm not even sure if the liner needs to come out to just do the driver's front, as I was also doing the passenger front which is the most difficult of the 4 runs.

 

[sehaare]

That amazon kit looks... fun... trying to figure out what goes where.

I mean that even if the front passenger wheel run is two pieces, there's still an extra piece?

Did they break up the front to rear line into two pieces too? I recall running that line from front to the rear with bulk line and it didn't seem like two pieces were needed, but stainless is a bit harder to bend, definitely want a tool for that. I found running the front to rear line, easier with the crossmember near, and the tank skid plate itself, removed. The clips in the frame to hold the brake line, have an extra empty position you can use to mount the new line, without needing to remove the old.

Anyway the driver's side front is pretty easy, I had more trouble getting the wheel well liner back in, and wire loom brackets stuck back into it, but I'm not even sure if the liner needs to come out to just do the driver's front, as I was also doing the passenger front which is the most difficult of the 4 runs.

I'm hoping that it is labeled. I'm not sure if that is the exact kit shown in the pics. They have the right number of short links with 90 degree bends to come out of the ABS but I didn't see one that looked to exactly match the driver front that I have to replace.

This could still turn into just too much work, I expect to find clips rusted away or being broke when I try reusing them. I told myself when I decided to give it a go to fix it, that I was going to be ok with just walking away from it, if I ran into too many additional complications. Like I said earlier I've wasted more money at costco.

 

[J_C]

The clips are plastic (nylon?) and mine were fine, just a matter of contorting yourself to get under the vehicle, but not for the driver's side front, that one is easy. I can't speak for pre-bent stainless line as mine was all done with bulk copper nickel except the first fault across the back axle with AGS poly-whatever plastic coated steel pre-fabbed and flared from Autozone. PAX-351, it's a little longer than needed but better longer than too short.

My greatest concern was will I be able to make a good flare after cut to length, but it worked out fine, once I gave up on the autozone loaner flare tool and got an eastwood flare tool... but at the time they were half the cost they are now! There are cheaper versions of the same thing.

https://www.amazon.com/Eastwood-Double-Flaring-Tubing-Repair/dp/B07PN5RG1V?tag=seriouexplor-20

 

[sehaare]

The clips are plastic (nylon?) and mine were fine, just a matter of contorting yourself to get under the vehicle, but not for the driver's side front, that one is easy. I can't speak for pre-bent stainless line as mine was all done with bulk copper nickel except the first fault across the back axle with AGS poly-whatever plastic coated steel pre-fabbed and flared from Autozone. PAX-351, it's a little longer than needed but better longer than too short.

My greatest concern was will I be able to make a good flare after cut to length, but it worked out fine, once I gave up on the autozone loaner flare tool and got an eastwood flare tool... but at the time they were half the cost they are now! There are cheaper versions of the same thing.

https://www.amazon.com/Eastwood-Double-Flaring-Tubing-Repair/dp/B07PN5RG1V?tag=seriouexplor-20

I'd never had any experience flaring a brake line (or even bending it for that matter) but I had heard horror stories from those who did. Either the flare didn't seal, or the one that has had everyone who has ever done it cussing, make a beautiful flare then realize you forgot to put the nut on first.

I think that I'm taking the easy route, I should be finding out soon.

 

[J_C]

Copper Nickel brake line is really easy to work with, can be bent by hand unless you need a tight bend radius. It is softer and if the flare is near but not quite perfect, this also helps it to conform and seal when the nut is tightened down.

I haven't done it both ways so I can't really compare, but it might be easier to string bulk copper nickel than unbend and rebend pre-formed stainless lines. I mean the stainless are extra bent to fit in the shipping box, and then some extra bending will be needed to fish it through an already-built vehicle, whereas with the copper nickel, you just sort of pull and bend as you go, is not much different than working with 12ga solid copper wire, stiffer but not nearly as much as stainless line.

Here is my Official Copper Nickel Bending Tool, I just put a 1-1/4" piece of dowel rod on a drill press and held a chainsaw file against it to make a groove. That lets me do ~1" diameter bends, but I don't need it for most, more gradual bends. I don't think this would be effective with stainless line.

 

[410Fortune]

Well done you guys! Eventually we all have to tackle brake line replacement
Learning to flare just takes a bit of patience and well with YouTube these days we are all top notch mechanics

 

[sehaare]

Well I finally got the rusted out brake line replace (also did the hose while I was in there). The upper bend in the kit didn't match what was in the car (i think that I saw in another post here that the routing had been changed during production) but it routed OK. Also it had one fitting going into the abs where as the old line had two (one was basically and adapter). used a vacuum hand pump with a brake bleeder attachment to vacuum bleed the line and caliper. Now that I have brakes again next step will be to get it up on 4 ramps and crawl under and see what I find on the other lines. If I don't find anything that scare me, I'll go get it emission tested to buy more time to replace what needs to be replaced.

while it is hard to see, nothing is rubbing in the picture and the brake line fit into both clips further down.

 

[410Fortune]

Well done thus far! Saved from the crusher!!!

 

[Josh P]

That's beautiful work!

 

[sehaare]

In case anyone wants more info on the Brake line replacement kit here is what comes in the Kit. The front to rear one is going to be a whole lot of fun as I am not sure if I have access to it without having to remove things, and as old and rusted as my chicagoland 98 is, if I have to take remove something the rust would most likely prevent me from putting it back in. I've done the left front, and the right front doesn't look bad.

The rears would be easy except, that I'm not sure if I can break loose the fitting on the driver side rear hose without damaging the fitting on the front to rear brake line.

 

[Pete Deering]

In case anyone wants more info on the Brake line replacement kit here is what comes in the Kit. The front to rear one is going to be a whole lot of fun as I am not sure if I have access to it without having to remove things, and as old and rusted as my chicagoland 98 is, if I have to take remove something the rust would most likely prevent me from putting it back in. I've done the left front, and the right front doesn't look bad.

The rears would be easy except, that I'm not sure if I can break loose the fitting on the driver side rear hose without damaging the fitting on the front to rear brake line.

View attachment 456799

Remove all rusted existing lines. Don't leave them in place. especially in the Frame rail

 

[sehaare]

Remove all rusted existing lines. Don't leave them in place. especially in the Frame rail

You are right and if this thing was being driven even once a month I'd be doing just that.

But It has be become little more than a mobile storage shed in my driveway that only gets driven as far as the local Home depot (less than three miles from my house) when I need to buy lengths of lumber that won't fit in my other cars.

I'll have to look at that frame rail one again. Maybe just put the one side up higher on jack stands (instead of all 4 tires on ramps) to see if I have a better view to see if it can be removed. If I can get that one everything else would be fairly easy (the only hard part about doing the back brakes would be the rusted up fitting at the end of the frame rail on that they would have to attach to. .

While crawling under it to check out the brake lines I saw so much rust on everything that I'd say this SUV has just one more year left in it, And I'll be using that time to start unloading it. I'm sure there are worse rusted out cars on the road here, I see them everyday, but unlike those this one won't be leaving my driveway for it's home depot runs without being checked out each time.

 

[410Fortune]

You can cut the old lines into pieces if it makes them easier to remove
Then shove the new sections of line in past the fuel tank
There is a lot of
Plumbing and wiring in that area, but fishing a new brake line in can be done. I usually am using pieces from the auto parts store 36” sections with unions I have never ordered a kit like you did… might make things easier

 

[Pete Deering]

You are right and if this thing was being driven even once a month I'd be doing just that.

But It has be become little more than a mobile storage shed in my driveway that only gets driven as far as the local Home depot (less than three miles from my house) when I need to buy lengths of lumber that won't fit in my other cars.

I'll have to look at that frame rail one again. Maybe just put the one side up higher on jack stands (instead of all 4 tires on ramps) to see if I have a better view to see if it can be removed. If I can get that one everything else would be fairly easy (the only hard part about doing the back brakes would be the rusted up fitting at the end of the frame rail on that they would have to attach to. .

While crawling under it to check out the brake lines I saw so much rust on everything that I'd say this SUV has just one more year left in it, And I'll be using that time to start unloading it. I'm sure there are worse rusted out cars on the road here, I see them everyday, but unlike those this one won't be leaving my driveway for it's home depot runs without being checked out each time.

I did not remove the brake line the first time I had access. The factory line with the spiral wrap is a cancer, it take a little more time too remove it, but in the long run, its save you other problems.