Well, at long last I have received my new 1/4" steel brake line kit. Has anyone used one of these pre-bent kits before? Do I need to buy additional hardware, tee's, couplers, etc? There are no instructions on how all 7 pieces connect together, but I'm sure I can lay it all out and get there. I also have new brake flex hoses, clips and fasteners. Any advice is welcome. I have read the string on bleeding, but didn't find anything about the line sets. Thanks, Larry
I'm assuming that there are no lines in the truck right now. When I took out the old lines in my truck, I labeled each one so I would know where to put the new ones once I bent them. Just curious....where did you get yours and how spendy were they? The ones with the really tight radius bends near the fittings go to the front wheel cylinders. Two smaller ones go to the rear cylinders. Long one feeds the connection where the rear hose goes and comes off the brass "T" on the passenger side of the frame near the front of the cab. That "T" also has the front passenger line and the larger diameter line that runs from the master cylinder on it. That larger diameter line runs along and is clipped to the cross member with 2 special clips, clutch head screws and square "stovebolt" nuts. Left front line goes to fitting at the master cylinder along with the larger diameter cross member line. There are special line clips that "snap" onto the smaller lines and then clip into holes that are pre-drilled in the frame. These are often lost or at least many of them go missing as they rust out very fast. Most vendors carry them. Do NOT tighten ANYTHING down until all parts are together loosely by hand only, incuding the master cylinder mounting hardware. Once all lines are together and fitted by hand only, tighten up the master cylinder mounting hardware and tighten all lines using a LINE wrench ONLY. Adjust the pedal travel as per Nate, bleed as per Nate, do the rest as per Nate. Andy
Brakes Lines Pretty good explanation from Andy. He has a better memory than me!! I did my brake lines using the SS lines from CP in December. Had pulled all of the old ones off and as usual didn't mark anything I went to some of the catalogs and from the pics you can see what goes where. I had all of the brass blocks from the original installation, had bought new clips from CP. All of the copper washers were available locally. If you have to buy new blocks, the only place I saw them was Jim Carters. (After I saw their price I decided my original ones could be cleaned up!!) I agree with Andy, set it up loose and then go back and tighten everything. Even then when you start the bleeding process you'll find a few leaks you will have to fix by tightening. After I got it bled using the old fassion method (The vacuum bleader didn't work worth a flip) we then went back and adjusted all of the brake shoes to get rid of the play. They work great now!!
Time for an editorial comment! It's really easy to look at an assembly and say to yourself: "Oh yeah, that's simple". Then you tear it apart, clean it up and put it in a box, get busy doing something else, and lo and behold, six months later it becomes "Oh crap, how does that go back together? What is this part for? It doesn't seem to fit that way!" We're all guilty of that. Guys, when you take something apart, take pictures, label your parts, draw diagrams, take notes. Nothing is more frustrating than to start again on a part of your truck only to find out that you forgot how something fits. Trust me on this one. Been there more than once, done that more than once, and if I were more flexible, I'd kick myself in the butt!
Btw : All the previous advice is dead on , DO NOT put a wrench to ANTHING until you've hand turned the fitting a buncha times (technical term there) as cross threading is easy and instantly ruins your spiffy new brake pipe . Re-use all the brass blocks and be _SURE_ to use ALL the tiny clips , buy new ones as needed else the pipes will vibrate and make tiny holes & leak out the brake fluid whilst you're driving.... The special wrench needed to tighten / loosen the brake pipe nuts is called a : Flare Nut Wrench and your FLAPS has them in stock , no need to buy a Snap-On $85.00 one . Oh , BTW : the hollow brake pipe nuts are called...... Flare Nuts (duh) Carry on then .
Whew! I haven't torn into the existing lines yet. I'll follow the lines one at a time from the master cylinder. I figured that the lines were broken into seven pieces to ship, but it sounds like they are OEM. Thanks everyone, keeping this rookie on track. Oh, the pipes came from JC $138+$22 shipping. The hardest part so far, besides trying to figure out how to put things back together, is trying to get all the parts on hand to complete a job...Larry
Mission accomplished We have brakes! Thanks guys for all the coaching and advice. I left a half pint of fluid on the garage floor from some poorly seated bleeder valves, but that just helping the bleeding process. Attached is a photo showing the DPO cross threaded T block (I ordered a replacement from Obsolete Chevrolet) and a union that was installed on the long line to the rear.
Good News Indeed ! Brakes & steering are the two singlemost important parts of any vehicle , glad to hear you got it sorted out .
