Abubaca

iTrader: (3)

I have a leaking brake line. There is a hole along the hardline as it heads back towards the rear of the vehicle. There's a span of about 6 inches with the spring/coil wrapped around it, right as it straightens out along the frame rail, coming from the engine bay. Right there adjacent to the bell housing. You get the idea, lol. I can't physically SEE a hole, but with a rag, I can determine about where it is.

Questions.
1 - can it be repaired/spliced with a new section of line, or do I need to replace the whole line coming down from the master cylinder?
2 - if I've gotta replace the whole line...how tricky is it to do? Seems things get tight around the header for snaking long pre bent lines properly into position.

thtanner

iTrader: (1)

We replaced the whole line, wasn't too bad on 4 jack-stands.

QwkTrip

iTrader: (22)

Personally I would replace the whole line. A brand new, pre-formed line is cheap! Doing it any other way would be more hassle.

Replacing the line is not difficult. You might have to move a couple things, or maybe not. It doesn't really matter either way because you're going to have to fix it regardless.

thtanner

iTrader: (1)

Oh yea, snake it in from the rear of the car towards the front

ironwill

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. This is especially relevant when it's the brake system. If there's one rust hole now, there's gonna be more; replace the entire line. While you're at it, replace all the flex hoses as well if they're old.

It's a relatively simple job once the car is up in the air/on jack stands.

Drew

iTrader: (58)

^^^This^^^

Assuming it's leaking from corrosion, either from the interior or exterior of the line, how long before another spot goes? If it were a beater, that only has to make it til spring, maybe you could get away with cutting it and popping in a compression fitting, but I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess the car isn't going anywhere - time to get a reproduction line and replace the entire length. The other correct fix would be to cut a section out, flare the lines, splice in a new piece with flares and flare couplers, which would work but it'd be that many more places to potentially leak, and it'd look goofy if you're the kind of person to worry about such things.

Abubaca

iTrader: (3)

Yeah, the more I think about it, I agree with replacing the whole line. Thanks.

....all four calipers and flex lines are new. Well....fronts are a few years old, but they should be fine. The hardlines are original though. I'll replace the whole line.


Thanks

91ls1t56

When I repair a brake or fuel line like that I will cut the lines at the fittings so a socket can be used vs an open end wrench if they are stubborn. I then do my best to finagle the line out without distorting it to badly. If it will come out in one peice it can go back in that way and now you have at least an idea of how to route it to get it back in and where to put an accessible FLARED union if need be. With the line removed they are super easy to replicate. I had to replace every line on my truck. The front passenger side line goes from the abs box under the drivers seat to the front, crosses over to the passenger side and back to the wheel well. The replacement line comes in three sections, stainless line with mild steel tube nuts. The premium price of stainless with all the disadvantages of mild steel. I did it in one peice, in all of the factory routing clips. I can't say it was any more difficult than struggling with the extra connections in cramped areas that could leak. I prefer to do one peice replacements without unions if possible.

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

These guys are all telling you straight. I couldn't agree more with them.

I recently had to replace the brake lines on my DD (04 Avalanche). I was able to buy a COMPLETE set of stainless ones for I think it was $112 and change. That got me 2 from the MC to the PV, 2 from the PV to the ABS, & 4 to all the wheels. They were not too terribly hard to put in, except for getting them all to meet and cooperate and thread into the ABS pump; and the 2 rear ones that go behind the fuel tank, necessitating dropping that, which OF COURSE it was full at the moment the one line decided to pop as a light changed to red at the intersection while I was pulling a trailer. Thank Bozye, I didn't hit the car in front of me, but it was close though.

I HEARTILY recommend getting stainless pre-bent ones. Pretty sure some one of the repop mfrs makes them; Fine Lines, Classic, Inline, maybe others to check out as well, not sure which one(s) but it'd definitely be worth finding it out. The thing about one of those lines failing is, ALL OF THEM have EXACTLY the same # of miles, the same exposure to road salt or the ocean or whatever, the same amount of driving in the rain, for the same length of time. If there's a problem at one place, there'll be more problems elsewhere REAL SOON, you may be sure. Might as well bite the bullet and do it, and just put the whole mess behind you forever.

IROCZman15

iTrader: (25)

yes. i agree. do the whole line. snake it in from the rear. classictube and in-line tube are two compnies I have used. the lines are pre-bent, pre flared, etc. for the long line it will be bent in half (and marked/labeled) and all you have to do is unbend that point and you are set.

However, i recently did make my own brake lines out of the nickle-copper (NiCop) and flare them for my 12 bolt rear. it was incredibly easy to work with. especially flaring it. stainless is hard to flare if you wind up having to ever do it under the car its a difficult job. NiCop was great. i'll be making custom lines in my engine bay in January to relocatethe line lock etc, so I cant use a pre-made line...so i'll be going custom NiCop

Abubaca

iTrader: (3)

Thanks guys! appreciate the input.

thtanner

iTrader: (1)

Was just under the wifes car and I did not like the state of her hard lines. Going to be replacing the entire front to back set of fuel lines next weekend. $250 for the 4 pre-bent lines. Not tea bag

I'll be happy to take photos if you'd like - if you haven't done yours yet.

thtanner

iTrader: (1)

Just finished dealing with this. Best bet is to drop the trans cross-member .