Hi all, the other day I was under the car looking for the culprit of my exhaust rattle that I have at certain RPMs (still looking), when I noticed my brake lines at rear of the car were very badly rusted. The rust was even flaky in some sections. Question, for those who live in the rust belt, has anyone tried to replace the long steel brake lines on their 4th gen Max? If yes, what was your experience and issues, and where did you purchase the lines. The brake lines I'm talking about are those that run from the master cylinder to the rubber brake line at the wheels.

Thanks,

 

Had a similar problem on my 1990 Hardbody. I had trouble finding metric replacement lines, but ended up going with SAE lines from Napa, and using adapters. It's a tedious job getting the bends right, and you don't really need a tubing bender as long as you are careful, and not trying to make too sharp of a bend. Use your thumbs as fulcrums, holding the tubing in both of your hands, and bend slow. A flaring tool is something that might make your life easier, so you can cut your lines to length. I ended up getting away with some creative bending to get the lines to the proper length, but I had a little more room underneath my truck.

As for the rattle, I'd look for loose heat shields (i.e. missing/broken fasteners). I also saw the ring on a flex joint holding the protective metal braiding at the ends come loose once.

 

i would just cut off the pieces that are bad and flare good pieces on there. Trying to replace the full length of the lines will be pretty PITA. Tried it on the 3rd gen, i still have the oem lines sitting at my house. Winded up just splicing and putting new lines where i needed.

 

Good suggestions, thank you. I like the part about just replacing the bad sections as it might be easier done while being under the car.

Thanks again.

 

http://www.ehow.com/video_2328133_to...ake-lines.html

that is a very good video tutorial. I would rent the flare tool and tube bender. You will need the tube cutter which is like $6. And a bunch of different lines and u joints. Flaring the tube yourself is not as hard, took me about 3 times to get it right and then i was doing it perfectly.

 

That definitely might be easier, I guess it depends on how widespread the rust is. Let us know how it works out.