05 Steel brake lines pre bent.

[Big Jeff]

Time to ask the forum after unsuccessfully searching...

I have an 05 that has seen some northern winters... So one of the steel brake lines corroded enough to fail. Passenger front to be exact. Thats the one that goes over the front crossmember from the ABS block. So upon further inspection it looks like all 4 are pretty corroded near the block itself. So I figured its time to replace all 4.

Has anyone done all 4 at the same time and outside of being a PITA to snake through did you have any gotchyas to look out for?

Also and more importantly who sells prebent lines in a kit? I don't care if its stainless or not, I just don't want to bend them myself.

Thanks,
Jeff

 

[Big Jeff]

Well I know know exactly why there are no prebent brake lines for this thing...

Snaking coiled brake line through was a PITA on the passenger side front, it was ugly but no kinks.

I have the OTC Stinger bubble flare tool incoming. Going to have to practice end making before I do actual line to make sure I can get them right...

 

[darmahsd]

I just did that same brakeline on my '05. Snaking the lines is a PITA,
especially if you're replacing with steel again. Those lines were put
on the frame probably before the motor & body on the assembly line.
And it was a shame that Ford used steel, especially for trucks coming up
here where I am in the Northeast. Apparently they don't care about the serious
danger of corroded brake lines. We're lucky our son, who had borrowed the
Expy and had gotten his license only within the last year, handled the truck
with skill after the brakes failed. Volvo and some other makes are using
copper/nickle brakeline OEM now. That's what most SUV's should be coming
with, considering that most are going to harsher climates with their 4WD
and all. Copper/nickle won't rot through, not at least in my lifetime. That might
not be much of a concern in South Carolina, but here's the other advantage:
Having found out that my Ford dealer didn't have pre bent lines available, using
copper/nickle was a no brainer - and real easy. You can practically twist it
like a pretzel without it kinking. What makes it even easier is to order the
stainless shielding spring that you slide over it to help in bending and to
protect the line. If you go with steel, there is steel brakeline available that
incorporates the spring. You will see it on parts of the damaged line that
you remove, but not the whole length. You will only need to replace the
front left and right brakeline, and the rear only going midway back. After
that, there is a union to what appears to be better quality brake line, probably
stainless steel, which goes the rest of the way back, then splits left&right
to the rear wheel hoses. On my truck, this part of the brake system
didn't have one spot of rust or corrosion, and that's a good thing because
it looks to be even more of a PITA to replace, going over the fuel tank and
all. One more thing: I got myself a $250-$350 MityVac hydraulic flaring tool
and had used it in the past to do the whole system on my old '97 Expy and
my son's cars. I used this for the '05, which required bubble flares
rather than double flares. When you consider a job like this at the
dealer going for maybe $1500 or more, a good flaring tool will
more than pay for itself.
Stephen

 

[Big Jeff]

Amazing... After those unions, its like those lines are brand spanking new. I did all 4 lines. I left most of the old brake line in. I cut off the ends, wire wheeled them up to look like new and used them on the new line. I went with Steel replacement line... Expy was in Western NY for a few years... Now it lives in SC so I went that way. I also was a little more budget conscious and went with the OTC Stinger bubble flare tool. It makes some really good flares in line but you have to put some muscle in to it. It was 32 bucks from amazon. If I was planning on doing flares for a living I would have bought that hydraulic flare tool in a heart beat. For 8 flares, I went the cheaper route. I hand bent the steel line without kinking it. Home depot has a spring tube bender thas has 1/4 inch spring in a set for like 10 bucks, I used it over the 3/16' lines. Not an exact fit but as long as your not ham ****** you'll be fine bending it. Even the 90's bends. Zip tied the lines in. Not pretty but they are out of harms way.

To anyone else doing these. At the unions towards the back the union connecter is actually a bubble to a double flare. One side is reversed from the other, presumably so you don't cross the lines... Since I didn't have a double flare tool, I used a bubble flare union instead that I grabbed for a couple bucks from the local auto parts store.

Be forewarned, its a completely crappy job to do. Buy the Harbor Freight pneumatic bleeder for bleeding the brakes. Makes quick work of bleeding.