Help! Brake line issues...

[lil_Blue_Ford]

So recently I blew a hard line on my Ranger in two places... the truck has been sitting on a trailer in the driveway for the past week while I scrambled to find parts but I ended up with a few questions now that I started working on it...

One of the questions is how the heck to get the brake line free of the stupid plastic clips that Ford put on the frame (that also hold the fuel lines, how convienent... ). I got it free from the ones I have access to, but there's a couple back in where the line runs between the gas tank an frame and I have so far been unsuccessful in getting it out... any suggestions?

Another issue I've run into deals with the line I got... Instead of going with plain coated steel line, I found where I could get stainless steel brake line, and a bag of assorted threaded fittings in stainless.

My problem has become that I find a need to use some standard brass fittings in addition to the stainless... do I need to be concerned about metal compatibility with this?

The biggest problem that I've hit though seems to be that the stainless line is significantly harder than the standard steel line as I've found it nearly impossible to do a standard double flare. Does anyone have experience with stainless hard line?? Is it something that takes just a single flare or are there any suggestions for getting a double flare in it?

Thanks for any help!

 

[86ford]

ZIP TIES are your friend! my trail rigs get the new line zip tied to the old line and i call it good. as for double flaring stainless, i have never done it but i always leave an extra 4-6 inches to fix any bad fittings once its all back together.

86

 

[Mark_88]

+1 on the zip ties...

Depending on where the clip is, in some cases you can pop them out from the other side as the ones I had were just plugs that clipped into the frame rail...and the brake/fuel lines should part somewhere before your rear axel so it should be on the lower part of the rail...should be accessible as they were on my truck...the hardest part is not to disturb the fuel line...

As for how compatible the lines are I have no idea since I've never worked with that line before or tried to mate them...but if you can find adaptors where you need to splice the lines I know I've seen all kinds of them for various step-downs or step ups in line sizes.

If you use teflon tape on the connectors it should seal the line and prevent any metal mis-match issue (maybe I misunderstood you though)...

 

[martin]

stainless lines are not worth the trouble. As soon as you have two dissimilar metals together you will have issues. DO NOT use teflon tape on any high pressure hydraulic lines. Don't bother about removing the old lines that pass between the tank and frame, just leave them there.