hard brake lines
 

I was changing my rear (soft) brake line and the hard line connecting to it just disintgrated. Looking up the line, pretty much the entire hard line that runs to my rear looks terrible and is really corroded. The fronts dont look bad, but I will be changing the soft lines up there shortly, so we will see if I jack those as well

I have never done hard lines before, but it doesent look like it would be all that complicated. Is this something a DIY-er can do??

Before posting this, I used google, and it looks like I need a flare tool, bender, 3/16 brake line, and a couple of fittings.

Are the fittings a standard size, or are they specific to the jeep?

What type of flaring tool do I need? HF has a single and a double flare tool

thanks

When I watched my buddy do his lines, all he did was cut the bad part off with a tubing cutter (the fitting was attached to the piece cut off) and took it in to Napa. He showed the guy there and told him how much line he needed. The dude at the desk gave him everything he needed: brake line, fittings, tool, and fluid and showed him how to do it.

you need a double flare tool. you can bend the line carefully with just your hands, so no real need to buy the bender, unless of course you want it.
you can just reuse the threaded fittings from your old line to save you some money.

grab an extra piece of brake line to practice your double flaring technique. it's a little tricky at first. there are a few good videos on youtube to show you how to do it properly.

then just remove your old line from the master all the way back, and try to duplicate the bends to the new line. no real rocket science here, just get it as close as you can. it's not really that hard to do.

then of course you'll have to bleed the brakes. this is probably the hardest part of the job, as you may need two people.

When I did my hard lines in the back I used a double flare tool via AutoZone 'lend a tool' and had a crappy results. It was easier for me to just buy bendable brake line from NAPA. I measured the lengths of the old lines and bought the brake line alittle longer if they did not have the exact length.

I think they sell them in 6" increments. Use the old lines as a template to get the bends in the right place and any extra can be bent in a "U" shape where it's not gonna get snagged.

As stated above you will need a double flaring tool. I would not recommend the HF cheapy tool. I bought one trying to save some money and the center pin in the anvil broke off on the first flare. Craftsman has a quality one but it costs about $70. I doubt that you will find a pre-made line long enough to replace the drivers side rear to master cylinder. You can reuse the fittings but for about $2.50 for 4 fittings I would just replace them. On a 92 they were 3/8" standard thread fittings. If you only plan on doing one line you may be able to prebend the line and take it to a local garage and have them flare the ends for you. I will probably cost you $10-$20. It might be cheaper than buying the tool and a lot less aggravation.

Good Luck

I will give that a shot. It looks like I will be back in the garag this weekend!!

good luck-

I had a garage look at mine the other day and they say the brake lines are rusted out- the price for them to do the work was at the most, $700..if you can do it yourself, do it-

I was amazed at how rusted mine are. It is just the rear line, but they look like hell. As soon as I touched it with the wrench to pull out the soft line the fitting and the line fell apart.

I am glad I found it doing this, rather than when hitting the big pedal hard

NAPA has the line, fittings and even a flaring tool. I ended up buying the 25' roll as it seems i'm starting to do this job three times a year anymore.

You have ABS? If you do it's a bubble flare at the pump, the rest of the job is double flare. I was able to simulate the bubble using the double flare kit after a few attempts.

IIRC you need about 9'. I found it easiest to put the front end up on ramps (stock suspensions) to give you some additional room. Cut the old one out at rear axle and again at bottom of firewall. Then the other half underhood. This makes it easier to pull it all out and use as a reference for your bends. You dont need a bender really, can be easily bent over a vice/tube/pulley etc to get a very close raduis. Just dont kink and collapse the inner ID. Your replacement will be one piece.

With a second hand you should be able to fish the whole length back underneath and above crossmember You can slightly bend the area under seats to get it in, restraighten and attach to clips on unirail.

I purposely left each end a tad (1") long.. just incase the flare had a leak.. i could cut it back off and reflare.

Use linewrenches to tighten the fittings. Flush the master while your at it.

that is what I was thinking of the job.

I DO have ABS, do I have to do anything different when I bleed the lines/master? I have heard if I get air into the ABS controller it can mess up the unit?

I read that too, i had no issues.

It looksl like NAPA, auto zone, and all of the stores around me carry all the stuff.

They also carry PVF coated brake line, according to the website it gives 30 times the corrosion resistance. It only costs a dollar more per 25 feet. I think for the buck, if it makes it last a little longer then it might be a good idea? Expecially here in PA winters where salt covers the roads 3 months out of the year

have you ever worked with this stuff

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/par...uestid=1982804

I've replaced brake lines on my trucks and cars. I enjoy it. I got one of those cheap tubing bender tools from harbor freight and double flare kit from somewhere (had it for 20 years or more).

Get the right diameter (yeah the auto parts store can tell you what you need if you take a piece of the old one in), the right length (measure with a tape measure and get more), get the right new fittings and have fun.

On my son's 91 RS Camaro we painted the the rear axle housing gloss black (when it was out for a rebuild) and then painted all the new brake lines/fittings a nice shiny red. Between the fresh undercoating and the new black tubulor trailing arms, red springs, etc. it really looked nice when you were under it looking up.....:icon_smile:

I just did my rear hard lines this winter and it wasn't too bad. I used the rented tool from Autozone and the 25' coil of the non-coated stuff. Rather than use the wing nut on the flaring tool I clamped the jig in a shop vise and it worked much better. Definitely try the double flare a couple of times to practice and remember to put the nut on before you do the flare otherwise you will have to do it over. :brickwall:

Just took my xj around the block after putting in the new hardlines and it works fine. No ABS light and stops as well as any jeep. :thumbup:

Gotta tell ya, that was MUCH easier than I imagined. I got the 25' of line, fitting, rented the tool and that was really it. Before I started to work on the jeep I practiced the fittings and bending at the bench until I was comftorble with them.

I pulled the old line, used that as a template and then put the new one in. It really was that simple.

The only problems I ran into was the bleeder screws on my calipers were so corroded I had to pull the calipers and remove the screws on the vice. Now there are nice new ones