95XJ_Krawler

Ok so my hard break lines rusted out and now I have no brakes, since I have to replace the one line that rusted out figured I'd do the whole brake system. I'd like to upgrade the lines on a budget, any recommendations?

Ralph77

Copper/Nickel Alloy Lines. So much better then steel ones. Hold up better especially if you live somewhere that they put that crap on the roads in winter. Also flare and bend so much easier. Thinking '95 would be the same as my '96 and '00. Going to need 3/16" line. You will need the fittings so bring the old ones in when you buy the parts. When you look at your rear lines you will notice the fitting going into the wheel cylinder is longer then the one going into the junction box on the rubber hose on top of the diff. Just duplicate the layout. Don't be afraid to use a connector to join two pieces together for the long line running from the proportioning valve to the rear. You can buy the copper/nickel alloy line in bulk. Comes in a 25' roll at Napa. Not sure how much you will need to do the whole job. Make sure you have some flare nut wrenches. Consider replacing the rubber lines too. Will need a T40 torx to get the bracket off for the front lines in the wheel well. You can rent a brake flaring tool at most auto parts stores but I recommend buying this. It will only do 3/16" line but is fool proof.

https://www.napaonline.com/napa/en/p/BK_6413347/

https://www.napaonline.com/napa/en/p/SER161A/

bad_idea

I haven't done the lines on my XJ as mine is a southern car, rust free. But I did do them on my 79 Camaro. I attempted to bend them myself, gave up, what a PITA. I found a company online that sold prebent stainless lines. I spent a couple more dollars, but worth every penny. Much easier install, and stainless will last forever, no dents from rocks, road debris. CN is great to work with because it is so soft, but it will also suffer road damage easier because it is so soft. I would suggest finding a set of prebent lines if you can, so much less head ache.

jhc7399

Just curious what you mean by budget. You can probably get almost every line you need online or at the dealer for $150 tops and not have to worry about it for another twenty years....

I know on my 99 just last week the main line from front to rear was only $39 from the dealer. The over the axle lines were maybe $20 and the soft line over the rear axle junction was $15 on Rock Auto. The four front could be too much more and not bending or flaring needed.

BlueRidgeMark

Yep.


And you can even use it for brake lines!

Turbo X_J

Last time you replaced a brake line (any) due to "road damage"?
CN is de ****.
Not flushing the water logged fluid from the lines is the first cause of failure. They rust from the inside out.

95XJ_Krawler

Thanks fellas for the inputs! Haven't gotten a chance to do anything with it, work got me going nuts! Buddy of mine told me he had a roll of the tubing and we could just use that and bend it as we go, hopefully it'll be done by this weekend!

BillyBoy

I only had to replace my driverside line. It rusted as well. I took three smaller prefaced lines and female-female connectors and put them together. It was easier to be done two little pieces than I long one. Cost about 15$ more. If you aren't doing ALL of them, it's the way to go.

bad_idea

Touche'. I've never had to replace a road damaged line, but I've seen more than one dented pretty good (worked at a scrapyard for a couple years).

The Ders

I have a question along these lines, nut going from the soft line into the hard line in the front, what size is it? And the hard line going into the master cylinder, what size is it?

The Ders

And by that I meant tube nuts

XJ9er

Save yourself a headache and buy the pre-bent and flared ones that are ready to go

Crow Horse

I faced this as well. Got the complete set from Classic Tube. All prebent stainless as well as braided ss brake hose. Not cheap but I'm done with steel their rust issues and I shouldn't have to mess with this again. In my opinion, brakes is not an area in which to conserve but I do recognize budgetary constraints........

Ralph77

Was curious about the Classic Tube ones. All that show up are ones for a Grand Cherokee. You bought ones for a Cherokee Sport from them? Also my experience has been that the front passenger and long rear line going from the proportioning valve to the brake hose on the rear diff can be a challenge to do in one piece. Not quite so much on the long line though. While I would have preferred those to be one line making it two with a connector made life so much easier.

Crow Horse

They make one for the XJ's. Their website isn't the greatest and it took some surfing to find it. Several things I didn't like about Classic Tube. The shipping cost was $45 and it came in a huge box but the long lines were bent to fit inside the box. The real challenge was the pass. side line which goes across the engine bay. Being that it was bent to fit inside the box it was difficult for me to determine where to rebend it. It also didn't fit exactly as the OEM did but I still used the OEM clips. The ss brake hoses required using Russel brake line brackets which aren't included. The OEM hoses have the brakets on them. For now I only replaced the front lines but when time allows I'll do the rear (I have the complete kit). One positive is that there was a 2 week wait for them to make it and I wanted to cancel my order when I found this out. They bumped me to the front of their job list and I had it in a couple of days. The total cost to me was a wee bit over $300 which included shipping but now I no longer have to worry about lines rusting and failing.... I'll try to find the part number........