andrem

Alright to cut a long story short, my leaf spring broke a part of my brake line off and since it was starting to leak quite bad, i loosened the little brake line hub that sits on the axle (to get the broken line higher up).

On the "rear" side of the brake housing, there is a little nipple that connects to the line and that has a 10mm screw (?) that holds it in place, I tried to unscrew it but since the whole thing is quite old, the nipple and metal came right off! And no, it's no the bleeding nipple.

So, what happens now? Do i need a new axle, is it possible to fix? I have no access to power tools. A new brake line is possible but it's the little nipple thing i'm mostly worried about.

Any ideas?

Parsnip

The nipple is the breather for the axle. No its not something that requires the whole axle to be replaced but a picture of the damage would help

andrem

Huh? It was leaking fluid when it got broken so I find it hard to believe that it's only a breather. It's location is also very close to the bleeding nipple.

But yes, a picture will be uploaded later, I don't have a camera atm.

Parsnip

Yea I know ill need a picture because we are on two different areas of the axle lol

andrem

Alright, will try and get one later tonight.

But, any nipples that come out from behind the brake drum (towards the axle), does anything warrant a new axle? Or can most pieces be changed individually? For example, can you change out the whole brake housing on just one side of the rear axle?

And yes, noticed that I din't type which axle it is - the rear axle, driver side.

Parsnip

Ahh, facing out the back of the drum would be the bleed for the wheel cylinder. And pretty much you can replace just about any part of the axle, drums, shoes, hardware, about the only thing that warrants a new axle is a) need a stronger one or b) gears went asploding and trashed the housing somehow. Granted gears and whatnot are perfectly replaceable, but sometimes a new axle is just easier and could be an upgrade

andrem

Yeah, I thought it was the bleed for the cylinder but then i remembered that it's not connected to the brake line (why would it?). But i'll get a picture up later to show the damage and what i'm talking about.

Hopefully it's not an expensive fix.

Parsnip

The bleed screw isn't connected to the brake line, but it is connected to the wheel cylinder

andrem

Exactly, and it was a fitting that was connected to the brake line that broke, so, it wasn't the bleed nipple

But from what i've gathered i need a flare tool to make new hard lines and I think, maybe a new cylinder or perhaps it was just the fitting to the cylinder on the hard line that broke....I'll get a picture soon and you guys can confirm if i'm on the right track.

dwright98xj

You can get pre flared and outfitted lines by length. You just need to be positive on the size. Most good old fashion parts stores will have them. You will need a bending tool to bend the line like or as close to the original (so try to save as much of it as possible) you can make a template of the line with a wire hanger.

andrem

Alright - here are the pictures! The damage is the "grey" area, sorry about the mega blur, camera focus doesn't work but you should still be able to make out what it is.




The breather nipple is the bit sticking out in the second picture, with a small "dent" in it. Have I just broken off a piece of the cylinder and that is all break related i need to replace?

Also, the cylinder bolts were stuck, hard as a rock, do you need to take special care not to break them or can I just go ahead and replace them if i need to drill them out?

Outlaw Star

Just replace the wheel cylinder and bolts. Both will cost less than twenty bucks.

dwright98xj

an overnight soaking with some PB blast should free em up.

but this might turn into a fiasco, that's a lot of rot going on there. I would replace the line all the way up to master cylinder while going through the trouble. Not all that difficult nor take that long.

and do the other side while I'm at it.

andrem

Great, ill put in an order for a new one then.

The break lines are actually in very good shape, it's the hard lines that are a bit rusty. What you're seeing is the back of the brake housing for the drum and most of it is just surface rust actually - looks worse than it is. And, the jeep has an undercoating as well so everything has withstood rust quite well.

andrem

After a bit of searching, im now positive that i just need to replace the cylinder and get a pair of new hard brake lines but one thing I can't seem to find is what nipple to use for the wheel cylinder > hard line....