Rear brake hose replacement

[maxthebird]

Been doing some refreshing of my 1998 4runner Limited and planning to replace the front and rear brake hoses. The fronts are readily accessible but the rear hose is up above the rear end and hard to see. Looking for some guidance on replacing it. Found one video on youtube that addresses it but it's not very clear and says that it's very difficult and requires special tools. Has anybody else had the need to do this and is it that difficult? It's not leaking, but is 24 year old rubber and I don't want it to suddenly let go.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Bad Luck]

I replaced front and rear soft lines with braided steel lines on my Limited. Only took a couple flare nut wrenches of the correct size for the fittings and a screwdriver and hammer for the line retaining clip. Make sure your rear brake bleeders work before replacing the line.

 

[phattyduck]

The '96-'00 4Runners are just a single line. Nothing special if you have the tools to replace any other brake line - flare nut wrenches, etc.

Remove the spare tire, roll the rear up on ramps and you'll have plenty of room/access.

-Charlie

 

[Spiker Engineering]

Here are some photos of the single line ('96-00), old and new. Just two connections, one on top one on bottom. Hope these help.

 

[maxthebird]

Thanks for the pics and all the responses. Exactly what I was looking for. Looks very doable.

 

[Pyral]

Im replacing my my soft lines, can I completely drain the fluid so I dont make a mess when I remove the line.

I saw a video where the guy uses vice grips on the old hose to hold back the fluid, but I dont have vice grips.

 

[Reinout]

Im replacing my my soft lines, can I completely drain the fluid so I dont make a mess when I remove the line.

I saw a video where the guy uses vice grips on the old hose to hold back the fluid, but I dont have vice grips.

Hey, You CAN completely drain the fluid, but there's a bigger chance of trapping air making bleeding a little more difficult and could potentially put air into your master cylinder. You could use a plug of some sort to do the job as well and keep the brake fluid from running out to some degree.

Any sort of clamp could function as well.

Good luck!

 

[2TH4IST]

Do not completely drain the system! Bleeding a early abs system is a royal PITA. Do no pinch off any lines. They can cause a tear inside the hose. You can't clamp a hard line.

Use a vacuum plug to cap off the hard brake line.

Start by taking off the vehicle side of the hard line first, cap the line, then replace the soft hose. Then uncap the line and tighten it to the soft hose. It's messy no matter what you do. But water cleans up brake fluid nicely.

Then bleed the brakes normally.