What I'm looking at doing is starting at the unions under the driver.
Should I leave the unions where they are or should remove the union and the rusted line between the union and the black plastic? and then remove the black plastic to find clean brake line. put the fitting on, flare the line, and attach the union at this point.
Removing those brake fittings will be troublesome at best. It may be difficult to find those fittings. I did both of my 2001s, one I pulled out those fittings and the other one I left them in and used unions. The original uses no unions at all.
And I noticed one of the retaining clips under the doors has broken away from the frame. Are there replacements you should get?
And are there "spacers" that can used to keep the lines separate when they are going along side the gas tank where it is really hard to see the positioning of the brake lines?
I counted at least six unions on the two brake lines. Why they end up doing that?
here is one near the emergency brake lines come together by the rear of the driver's door and another as the brake lines emerge at the rear of the gas tank.
I believe the whole system uses ISO bubble flare for the brakes. I did the replacement and used Teflon coated brake hose but should have used the nickel based tubing. When you install the Teflon coated any nicks in the coating will start to corrode quickly. I don't have any pics but go to a pull a part JY and look at the layout and grab some clips.
I was thinking of cutting the line. Then being able to get a box end wrench or a socket on the fitting. And, hitting it with some pb blaster.
But, your saying the proportioning block fitting are going to be tough to do. The other option is to deal with the rusty unions (don't know how tough that is) and when finished there is a stub of old line that hasn't been replaced.
Seem like a pay me now or pay me some now and pay me more later situation.
I agree with you. My lines going to that valve were not rusted that bad so I used unions. It was also a quick repair. Cutting them off and using a socket will be your best option. It is also tricky to get a sharp bend that close to the fitting but I did it with tubing bending pliers from Harbor Freight. Fittings maybe standard ones that you can replace easy, but I reused mine on the one car I did. You could also see if Ford sells the whole line.
were you able to just raise the brake line in place at the rear of the vehicle. there is the rear control arm and the exhaust hanger connection. How were you able to get the long piece of brake line to go up beside the gas tank. I'm working in the driveway so not a lot of room to bend and twist a brake line.
in the picture on the link. in the right most pic does the right side (side away from the foot) go to the rear of the vehicle?
how do you remove the brake line clips? do they push one/pull off, twist on, or ?
It's been two or three years so I can't remember the details but I removed the brake line in one piece from your front couples to the prop. valve. I then bent the new line using the old as a template and was able to slip it into place without any issue. I didn't remove the clips but just pried the line out of the clip and pushed the new one back in. I didn't replumb the lines going to each rear brake just feeding the prop valve.
in the picture on the link. in the right most pic does the right side (side away from the foot) go to the rear of the vehicle?
Yes that side had the fitting on that connects to the prop. valve. Since the bend is so tight on the OEM lines the flare needs to be done first the fitting installed and the the line bent with tubing pliers. Then you can bend the rest of the line..
I looked at the date and that was over three years ago so details are a little foggy. I had the rear wheel off and the car jacked up but wasn't really that high.
you say the original lines had a tight 90 at the proportioning block. Lines on my vehicle aren't original. And, the bend isn't that tight. which is probably why there are the unions near the proportioning block. They made a stub with the 90 at the proportioning block and then they didn't have to try fishing the "hook" past the gas tank. It will be interesting to see how the lines come out.
Your brake lines have been spliced / repaired several times, hence the unions. There are prebent lines available on Ebay that will make the job easy. Or bend them yourself if all you have is time. Use copper / nickel and old nuts. Do not patch the old line: your life depends on this.
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