I need to replace the brake hoses on my 1990 GTA.. They're cracked and bulging in places.

So, I got a wrench on the hose and one on the hard line. When I twist to loosen things, the wrench slips on the brake hose nut. The nut is deforming as the wrench slides over it. The nut on the hose side is thin and doesn't have much for the wrench to grab on to.

Is there a magic way to break the hose loose from the line? (I've got it soaking in penetrating oil right now)...

Thanks in advance.....

 

use a good quality line wrench, if all else fails get a new tube nut and flare the line.

 

Vise-grips. Since you don't care about the brake hose, clamp it good with some vice grips.

Other tricks are to use a little bit of heat. And to tighten a smidgen before trying to break it loose. It can also help to back up the other wrench (on hard line) solidly, then whack the vise-grips with a heavy block of wood. The sudden impact can help break it loose.

RBob.

 

One rusty crappy brake line usually leads to another, Once you break one you may as well replace it from wheel to master cylinder all at once,after the 3rd trip to the parts store I bought enough to do the whole car.

 

Thanks guys for the quick responses..

I'm going to pick up some line wrenches (will make a nice addition to my kit).. If that doesn't work, then it's vice grips and if that doesn't work, then it's new lines.. At least I know all my options

 

Getting the nut out of the flex line is the easy part. The trick is getting the nut to spin around without twisting off the steel line. Heating the nut red hot will both enlarge it and burn off most of the rust. It can ususally then be easily removed with a flare wrench and a quick whack.

If you don't have heat, altenatively you can reapply penetrating oil several times over the course of the day and then try to get it out tomorrow. Again, do not slowly twist the wrench, get a good grip on the nut and give a sharp whack.

 

Ive never had luck with line wrenches on anything other than fresh, clean, non-rusted lines. If you already started to deform it, you'll likely slip with the line wrench too. It'll spread.

You're better off just gripping the crap out of it with vise grips and giving it some small back and forth wiggling to try to break it loose from the line itself. Once you get it loosened up, then remove the vise grips and try to remove it the rest of the way with a wrench.

You can file the nut back into shape, but the best way to go is cut it off and reflare a new nut on the line. Its super easy, cheap, and you can rent the flare tool for free at autozone.

J.