Brake lines: DIY or shop

The main hard line that runs front to back on my 225 rusted out, so its time to replace all the hard lines. I have two options.
Option 1: InlineTube full pre-bent stainless steel set, w/clips and shipping, ~$250, I do it myself in my driveway on jack stands.
Option 2: Local Monro gave me a rough estimate of $300-$350 for a brake line replacement, regular steel.

I like to save money and do work on my car myself. I have a cordless dremel that I believe would aid me in removing the old rusted lines. Just looking for some advice from the more experienced here.

 

stainless wont rust out again
i did notice that the prebent line kits seem to need some tweaking
to fit nicely but are pretty close
its not a bad job but get some saftey glasses because of rust and other
garbage falling off the bottom of the car
you will probablely be happyer with the job you do ,i seen some crappy
work done at other shops that i wouldnt pay money for.

 

Zach,
I did this very same repair on my Electra. Its not hard but you need to have patience. Start soaking the brake line that goes into the proportioning valve and the one that connects to the splitter over the rear end now so you dont have problems, i.e. stripping it. I bought two lengths of brake lines and ran it from the front to the back. It can be difficult to bend it by hand exactly but you always could buy a brake line bender, I think there about $20. I ran the new line first and was told by my former boss that it was ok to just secure it to the old one, "why go through all the trouble of undoing the old one I do it all the time." Needless to say after I got home I removed the old brake line, not hard no special tools needed, and proceeded to bend the brake line into its correct position. I think I spent $40 on parts and didnt buy a bender, however I think it would have taken longer to use the bender but I would also come out with a more accurate line. I did the rear end ones after the splitter as well, those would have been much nicer and therefore easier if I used a bender. It was my first time and its the only way to learn. I forget where the front ones are but I can't imagine they would be too difficult, alot more bends though.

 

If you feel confident doing brakes yourself - then do it yourself. It's not hard, saves money, and gives you satisfaction of having done it yourself.

 

Just an FYI, if you end up doing any tube flaring yourself, they must be double-flared.

Devon

 

Is it acceptable to replace just a few feet or inch section?

I have a line that rusted through in one spot. (dirt collected around it)

I did it once on a caddy, but want to ask you guys experiences.

Funny thing, same body style, failed in same place.

ElectraJim

 

yes as long as you remove any junk spots and use the correct fittings/flare/connector
do not use a compression connector = bad

 

i would go with the steel line. i have also used compression fittings many many times with no problem.

 

Just an fyi...I've also seen some shops do crappy brake line work...they use pre flared lines of varying lengths, and if there is too much line they wrap it around stuff or put squiggles in it...looks very stupid. Also, before you use compression fittings, check your state inspection laws, some states don't allow them because they tend to restrict the inside of the brake line.

 

Correct. SS is much harder than mild steel. and if this is a summer only car or a car in a salt free climate mild steel will give you years and years of service.

there are some guys that will actually install copper cone washers in their connections with SS lines just so they can use the stainless.

changing your brake lines is easy it's the bleeding them correctly is the tough part. I've done it many times but the buick gave me problems and had to spend 75 bucks to have it power bled.

 

Bend The steel lines take them off clean off with some thiner and rattle can them with clear. works great even with a high dollar resto!:TU:

 

jason, factory brake lines rot out beacause of age, weather, moisture and road salt. the spiral wrap has nothing to do with it. compression fittings used properly wont leak and will last for years. take it from someone who has wrenched for a living the last 35 years.

 

From the fuel/brake line engineer:

No compression fittings, ever. SAE inverted flare unions should be used when splicing lengths of line together. Avoid the newer ISO "bubble" flare fittings whenever possible. SAE is proven to be more more robust.

Stainless is great, but as has been said, much more difficult to double-flare. More prone to seat cracking during flaring too, so check your work with a magnifying glass. If the flare is not round or the seat nonconcentric, you'll have sealing problems. Usually the mating part will give you a good visual indication if the flare has these problems when you inspect the conical sealing surface in the female port...an even 360 impression left by the difference in angle between the flare & port is a good sign. If all you have is a manual flaring tool, don't mess with stainless. For best results with stainless you should get into the hydraulic endforming tools.

A single flare can be made to work, but only on seamless stainless steel tubing...and you just never see that in brake tubes. Double flare all SAE inverted flares to be safe.

Spiral wrap is/was used for areas of the tubing requiring more impact protection due to possible stone pecking. Yes, it holds dirt and moisture, but because of it the brake lines have longer life than they would've without it, not shorter life. If the design called for spiral wrap, use spiral wrap during replacement, or come up with another abrasion/impact protector yourself. Current trends since the late '90's make use of low carbon brazed tubing with a coextruded layer of nylon. Not for the faint of heart since the nylon doesn't hold well with manual flaring tools and poor endforms result. In nasty applications we even put spiral wrap over the nylon coated tubing.

Something not mentioned, but a mistake often made...do not replace rubber brake jounce hoses with stainless braided hoses on a street car unless you can afford to replace them annually. The stainless does not have the long term fatigue resistance necessary for regular driving and needs to be replaced regularly.

Hope that helps...

Devon