Need some rear brake line assistance.

[James McCracken]

OK so my rear brake line is split. (northern use)

I have a 2004 XLT NON traction control because I have one line from the ABS module to the distribution block in the rear that is of course assembled in three separate sections to make one. My cousin works at ford (not a dealer actually for Ford) and she tried to look it up but she is stating that the dealers are instructed to fabricate one for replacement.

Based off her information here are the options I have come up with.

1. Hit the local pick a part for a good used one here in the south.

2. Buy a whole kit which I do not need as the front has been done already.

3. Take it to a shop for repair and have them make a new line which is what I do not want.


Does anyone know where I can buy a new rear line at without buying a full kit or are my only options listed above?

 

[Trainmaster]

Why don't you want to make one? The stuff is very easy to work with. That's usually what's done. You can use the connectors off the old one if they are still good.

If you are fixed on having one made up, try Inline Tube. They offer pre-bent and fabricated brake lines for most about anything. If they don't have it, they may know someone who does.

 

[James McCracken]

Why don't you want to make one? The stuff is very easy to work with. That's usually what's done. You can use the connectors off the old one if they are still good.

If you are fixed on having one made up, try Inline Tube. They offer pre-bent and fabricated brake lines for most about anything. If they don't have it, they may know someone who does.

I saw this in another post. I am considering this route. Just need to find out if it's flexible enough to work with without a tube bender.

https://www.autozone.com/brakes-and...s-brake-line-pax-372/198105_0_0?checkfit=true

 

[Repo5280]

I just went through this with my 2003. All of the lines were rusted to hell and back. Ended up buying a roll of brake line off Amazon and made mine. It’s simple to do honestly it’s Flaring the pipe that sucks!

Easiest way to do it as far as cost goes would be to hit the junkyard...otherwise if you have a bench to work with take two 1/4 drive sockets and stagger them about a half an inch apart from each other to bend the pipe. I used a 2x4, screwed the sockets down to the wood and made the bends in the pipe that way...I also didn’t follow the same routing as what came factory on the car either, I ran the lines down the frame rail on the drivers side to the rear axle then across to the right rear. Haven’t had a problem since I put mine in.

You can rent a flaring tool from Autozone but they kinda suck. Harbor Freight sells a half decent one which is what I used.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Trainmaster]

Brake tubing is dirt cheap and every auto parts store sells one kind or another in pre-flared lengths. You may want to learn to work with the stuff. If you want to buy them pre-made, the proper ends may be a challenge Ford has the frustrating habit of mixing different size fittings on the same tube, so you may need adapters if you go that route.

Spend five bucks and buy a piece to practice bending. Most bend pretty easily with your bare hands without kinking. You can always buy a tool to bend it, or use sockets (or anything else round) as Repo suggests. The cheap tools are simply moon-shaped guides that you curl the tool around. They work fine.

Flaring can be a little challenging, mainly because of the quality of tools these days. The less experience you have, the more difficult it is to work with crappy tools. Look for an old USA-made double flaring set on ebay. You can try your hand at a parts-store or Harbor Freight $10 Chinese flaring set, but the quality is inconsistent, with some tools made so poorly that it's impossible to get them to make a good flare. You'll know you have one as soon as you produce a lop-sided flare.

Seriously, get a small tubing cutter, flaring set and length of tube. Look at some videos about making flares and double flares and try your hand at it. Put a drop of oil on everything you flare and clean up each cut before you flare it, that will help.

Really not that hard. Watch a couple of videos. The challenge these days is finding a tool that works properly.

 

[James McCracken]

Brake tubing is dirt cheap and every auto parts store sells one kind or another in pre-flared lengths. You may want to learn to work with the stuff. If you want to buy them pre-made, the proper ends may be a challenge Ford has the frustrating habit of mixing different size fittings on the same tube, so you may need adapters if you go that route.

Spend five bucks and buy a piece to practice bending. Most bend pretty easily with your bare hands without kinking. You can always buy a tool to bend it, or use sockets (or anything else round) as Repo suggests. The cheap tools are simply moon-shaped guides that you curl the tool around. They work fine.

Flaring can be a little challenging, mainly because of the quality of tools these days. The less experience you have, the more difficult it is to work with crappy tools. Look for an old USA-made double flaring set on ebay. You can try your hand at a parts-store or Harbor Freight $10 Chinese flaring set, but the quality is inconsistent, with some tools made so poorly that it's impossible to get them to make a good flare. You'll know you have one as soon as you produce a lop-sided flare.

Seriously, get a small tubing cutter, flaring set and length of tube. Look at some videos about making flares and double flares and try your hand at it. Put a drop of oil on everything you flare and clean up each cut before you flare it, that will help.

Really not that hard. Watch a couple of videos. The challenge these days is finding a tool that works properly.

I wound up skipping the DYI repair and let my buddy do it that owns a shop. It's been 90 plus degrees still and I really did not want to tackle it in the heat. He charged me $150 to run a new line and blead out the whole system. Well worth it considering I had AAA tow it to his shop (free) at 5pm Wednesday he had it finished Thursday by 10:30am.

I would have not been able to get to it till next week sometime.

 

[TobyU]

At least he only did what you needed and 150 isn't too big of a rip. I would say 75-100 is more fair though.
You just get the metric bubble 3/16 lines and metric bubble unions to connect them.
Get a 4-6 inches longer than you need and you hook them together and run it up the front and bend it into place .Run along frame rail or zip tie to existing lines and then loop or zig zag the end so the length is correct.
Hook front up first and fill master cyl and let is gravity bleed for a few to fill the line then hold finger over end and let someone pump pedal to get all air our then hook up. Then you might have to crack open bleeder screw on that wheel or bleed both depending on which line you replaced.
NOTE: DO NOT GET BRAKE FLUID IN EYES.
It is worse than super glue and carb cleaner. Been there.

 

[rjdelp7]

My local shop replaced my driver side rear, for $90. They used flexible copper, flared the ends and shaped/bent it to fit.

 

[TobyU]

My local shop replaced my driver side rear, for $90. They used flexible copper, flared the ends and shaped/bent it to fit.

That's a fairly good deal. The problem is the most shops you get in there for one brake on replacement and they just won't replace it up until the next fitting or replace the bad part they want to replace a bunch of lines and it's three to four hundred dollars every time you walk in.