Brake line

[Chuck52]

I gotta replace the master cylinder and brake line on my 91 F150. The price for a new master cylinder and the brake line was going to be over $300 mainly due to the labor, so I figure I'll do it myself, since I work cheap. Seems the line is cheap, but you have to bend it yourself, and I bet that gets to be fun. I looked into flexible line, but all I found was some expensive stuff intended for folks who raise their trucks. Can you get the stuff pre-bent for your application, or is there some cheaper flex available? I mainly haul stuff for the yard and garden in this truck and have already spent $700 on it this year keeping it going, so I'd like to get this little problem fixed without hitting the old pocketbook too hard.

Chuck

 

[Bird]

Can you get the stuff pre-bent for your application

Have you asked a Ford dealer and/or an auto parts store such as NAPA, Advance Auto Parts, O'Reilly's, Pep Boys, AutoZone, or whoever you have in your area? I sure thought you could buy the pre-bent lines, but maybe not.

 

[AlanB]

You will need to bend your own.

Get this bender

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=3755

Not the springs etc, it will produce very nice results.

Take your time, work from one end, figure out how you will handle the excess length (cut and re-do the double flare or make an extra loop somewhere)

It really is not bad, and you have the pattern in front of you to go by.

Good luck.

 

[Chuck52]

Thanks guys. I'll call around some more to make sure I can't get the pre-bent, but if I can't I do have a Harbor Freight in town so I can get the bending tool. I also already have a flare tool available if I need to make a new fitting. Should be fun!

Chuck

 

[dbdartman]

A cheap Harbor Freight type bender will work just fine bending brake lines. I've bent so many over the last few years I no longer bother with the bender & just use my hands. Might use a piece of pipe if I want a tight bend. The brake line you'll get from the auto parts store bends easily by hand & it's surprisingly difficult to kink after you've made a few bends & get a feel for it. Last piece I made was for my '90 Caddy; the piece that goes from the rear driver's side frame rail to the rear passenger's side brake, around the fuel tank, over the exhaust & around the suspension. All bent with finger power, took about 45 minutes to make (because I had to buy another piece of line with the correct "not quite double-flared" ends, then double-flare & union those ends to the center piece). All the brake (except the 2 lines from master to distribution block), fuel, & trans cooling lines in my Dart were home bent. Total cost was around $100, compared to around $120 for only the pre-bent brake lines!

Since you are replacing existing lines, you have a pattern to use, & that makes the job even easier! The only thing I suggest you get is a GOOD double-flare tool (I use a Rigid brand set). Figure out how much you need, get an extra 6'-10' & a couple extra unions, to practice on (& in case of really bad errors), & go at it! Oh, most important thing to remember is to ALWAYS PUT THE FITTING ON THE LINE BEFORE FLARING!!!!! DAMHIK (don't ask me how I know)

 

[RobertN]

You can get tube bending widgets from NAPA, Checker/Kragen etc too.

Does the new line have the correct fittings? If you have to add fittings, get a double flare tool too as others have mentioned; brake lines and single flare do not work together...

As others have said too, if you're not sure about the bend, take your time.

Thanks guys. I'll call around some more to make sure I can't get the pre-bent, but if I can't I do have a Harbor Freight in town so I can get the bending tool. I also already have a flare tool available if I need to make a new fitting. Should be fun!

Chuck

 

[Chuck52]

Thanks again. I'll be taking the old line off before I buy anything, so I'll make sure I have the correct fittings and tools. Fotunately I'm in no big hurry.

Chuck

 

[Egon]

As suggested -- go for a good double flaring tool.

As an alternative could you cut and bend all the line required and then take it too a shop for flaring??

ALWAYS PUT THE FITTING ON THE LINE BEFORE FLARING!!!!! DAMHIK (don't ask me how I know)

You mean others have this problem too! I like leaving part of the plug off when I'm making up extension cords.

 

[TheKid]

When I replaced a line on my old Dakota I took the old one off and then used a string to trace the length of the old line. Measured the string and bought a replacement length with fittings on both ends, and a cheap aluminium bender at the auto parts store. It was a couple of inches longer than the original so I just put a small bump in it to take up the excesss.

Take the old line with you and compare the fittings. It's no fun to bend it so it fits and then find out they gave you a line with metric fittings. Don't ask me how I know.

 

[SPIKER]

like the KID mentioned take a pare of linesmen pliers and or a good part of diagonal cutters & cut the RUST LINE just above the threaded fitting, & take that along with ya, I think (but am not 100% sure) that the 91 ford is BUBBLE flare NOT standard FLARE fitting so you can't use standard flare fittings on them. now my 93 ford crown vic has standard flare on the brake lines at the brake line to rubber and bubble flare on the rest, the t-bird 93 has bubble flares at both ends on master cylinder as well as at the rubber to hard line connections, (replaced one of those Friday night!) I use standard flare fittings when connecting the two halves of lines together as I already have the std flare tool. one good hint/tip is after cutting lines and b4 flaring use a GOOD sharp drill bit slightly larger than the outside dia to clean up the inside burr off of the line so that the flare tool comes out of the tube after flaring, (oh and ya don't ask me how many times I've done perfect flares only to remember I didn't put the nut on first ) I think HAGGEN or KRAGEN? has a great bubble flare tool for 20 something bucks that we have at work, I just barrow it when I need to make bubble flares now so I didn't buy any. I have a HF double flare tool which works quite well and I think I only paid 7 bucks for it. they don't have the bubble flare tool as of yet, (or at least last time I looked for it they didn't) most fords ~1990 + use the bubble flares from what I've found, but so far all of them 93+ have except that crown vic which I think had replacement hoses on and the replacements may have just been why it had double flares on those ends... I think newer Honda's and Masdas also use the bubble flares as well as maybe more?


mark M