Christmas Eve frustrations (ss brake line install)

[montijo505]

Don’t ask why I’m doing this Christmas Eve lol. Dinner was under way since early this morning, the wife and MIL were cooking up a storm. Turkey dinner and tamales! Things got pretty mellow, so I decided to tackle the ss brake line install I’ve been putting off for about three months.

I specifically bought flare nut wrenches to avoid stripping any of the flare nuts. Got to the second nut on the first front line and stripped it a bit. Got that side done no problems.

Go to the other front side and stripped both top and lower nuts a bit. I’m wondering if the wrenches I got are trash (Napa) or if I was just impatient.

Gonna give it a rest for now and go get some vice grips Thursday as that’s my next available time to do it besides tomorrow, but all stores are closed. I’m WD-40’ing everything now.

Any suggestions?

Merry Christmas Eve you filthy animals!

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[rdruss]

Those flare nuts round pretty easy and they are in there pretty solid when trying to remove first time. Like you said: patience and easy with the vice grips!

 

[firebirdguy]

use a propane torch to heat up the nuts, that will usually break free any corrosion or rust.

2 ways to use heat, best way is to heat the part that the nut/bolt goes into to expand it & turn the nut/bolt while the part is still hot. try to keep the flame off the nut/bolt, the idea is to expand the receiver part & not the nut/bolt.

the other option if you cant heat the part the nut/bolt goes into because its too large like a cast iron block or brake caliper (you wont get it hot enough in a concentrated area) or its in an area you cant get the heat to, then you want to heat the nut/bolt itself to expand it which will help break free any corrosion or rust... then let it cool so it contracts & try to bust it loose.

using heat & some penetrating lube (not wd40) i have been able to get the worst rusted frozen bolts/nuts free. but if the flare nut still doesnt come loose with a flare wrench & heat, then use vice grips or since you are replacing the lines, last resort is to cut the line so you can get a real box end wrench or socket on it.

 

[JackDuggan]

I ran into the same problem. I thought my Harbor Freight flare set was the problem. I always thought a single wrench would be better quality than a cheap set so I got a single from O' Reilly's but it fit the same. I was doing the front brakes and wanted to change the flex lines. I got one side easily with penetrating oil, but put off the other. I'll try the heat method. I also thought about replacing the section above the flex line now that the bolt is a little stripped. I don't think there's enough line to cut and re-flare.

 

[AuSeeker]

Just an FYI lots of people use the "line" wrenches they have and don't think about what of type flare nuts are they trying to undo, i.e. if they are standard or metric and just use the wrenches they have and if you use a standard size on a metric nut or a metric on a standard size they can strip the nut, not sure if this is the issue some are having or not.

The proper line wrench on a undamaged nut should fit snugly because they are in fact a type of opened end wrench and can spread and can still slip on the nut although not to the degree a full opened end wrench can.

 

[montijo505]

Just an FYI lots of people use the "line" wrenches they have and don't think about what of type flare nuts are they trying to undo, i.e. if they are standard or metric and just use the wrenches they have and if you use a standard size on a metric nut or a metric on a standard size they can strip the nut, not sure if this is the issue some are having or not.

The proper line wrench on a undamaged nut should fit snugly because they are in fact a type of opened end wrench and can spread and can still slip on the nut although not to the degree a full opened end wrench can.

I used a 10mm flare nut wrench as per the write ups I’ve seen on here. I think the issue is the sides of the wrench that hug the nut were flimsy and spread and stripped the nut when pressure was applied.

I borrowed a pair of Vice grips and got the rest of the truck done no problem. Broke the nuts loose with the grips and then used a regular 10mm wrench to get them off the rest of the way. Same thing for installing the new lines.

By far the fronts gave me the most trouble due to not having the right tools. The rear center lines weren’t as bad as people make them out to be, just less room to work. I’d suggest undoing the pan hard and moving it out of the way to have more room to access the lines.

Bleeding was a piece of cake with a helper. This is the part I was most worried about, and turned out to be the easiest.

My brakes have never felt better! Much firmer pedal and much more responsive. I guess all 6 lines swapped to SS and fresh fluid made a difference.

I used the goodridge +2 kit and have no complaints. I read there was some issues with fitment but the only one I ran into was the banjo bolts not fitting in the original notch on the caliper. They have to be rotated away from the caliper and seem more exposed but I don’t see them getting hung up on anything.

Overall not too bad of a job.


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