One of the steel brake lines (under the chassis) blew out recently - I had it fixed but I'm thinking perhaps it's time to replace all the steel lines. Is there a source for a complete set of pre-bent steel brake lines for a 89 XJ two door? I did some searching and found some sets but nothing for an XJ that old.

 

Try "89 cherokee brake lines" on ebay. Look for listings selling Inline Tube brake line kits.

 

I would look into learning how to form and make your own brake lines, its an invaluable skill. You can get a roll of poly-coated 3/16" brake line tubing for about 25-30 bucks and a pack of fittings for about 10 bucks. A flaring tool is required and can either be rented from most parts stores or simply purchased.

 

Look into nickel copper brake line. It is expensive but super easy to form and lasts a very long time.

 

From my experience on pre made steel lines, the shorter ones can be fine as they aren't bent for shipping. The longer ones however are a pain to work with. Say the front to back line is approx 3m long, it'll come in a box no linger than 1m so has 2 bends you need to straighten out. Being steel this isn't the easiest job to remove the full bend.

I personally make them up with copper brake tube, flare tool and fittings, if this isn't really an option to you, if you can find a pre made kit, go for a more flexible metal.

 

I agree. Just did my 2000 with pre-bent stainless. All was easy to deal with except the one on pass front. It was bent for shipping and they were suppose to have a stickers letting you know which bends needed to be straight for installation of course it did not so a couple of spots looks like crap but at-least it came in 2 pieces. If I had to do over again would of went with nickel copper lines and flared/bend my own.

 

My mechanic doesn't have any steel brake lines in his shop anymore, but he has enough fittings to sink the proverbial battleship! He also has a cool pump-type flaring tool. It's like a tiny hydraulic jack you hold in your hand. He bought that for stainless, but won't use that stuff.