I have been asking that for years. With all the recalls and lawsuits because of safety you would think something so prone in the brake system would be mandatory stainless.

 

Isn't "stainless" more brittle? As an alloy that term covers a lot of territory. All this stuff is probably made overseas now anyway so it's anybodies guess what's in it from week to week. Sleep well, America.

 

When I lived in the rust belt, I changed all steel brake lines every 10 yrs. Routine maintenance and not a big deal. Heck, I bet a lot of driver/users don't even change/flush brake fluid until a caliper goes south.

 

You are correct, the 1/4 was from the rear tee forward, the 3/16 was from the tee to the rear calipers.

 

The nickel copper alloy is standard on many European models, and is very easy to bend and flare.

 

I know my fuel filler neck and lines needed to be replaced, they were rotted through near the neck and would leak when filling.

 

Put me on that list. I've driven for almost 50 years, mostly in Florida, and have never flushed the brake fluid on a vehicle. Almost 500,000 mile on the 3 Fords that I have now and pads, shoes, and rotors is all I've done to the brakes. Same for all my previous Fords.

 

I wish we could get 10 years out of a brake line!

If I were to do replacement of steel brakes lines as a preventive maintenance dead here I would have to do it every single year! I have new steel brake lines rot out within 2 years!

I have installing nicopp line in all our trucks now when first putting them on the road. Haven't had to replace a line yet on any of these!

Attachment 289194

 

OK, so how much of each size line do I need to replace all the lines on my Excursion?

And what about the fittings, what do I search for to find those?

 

i used one 25' roll of 1/4" for the rear and one half roll of 3/16 to do the front portions that i didnt buy from ford. up by the abs unit i reused the original fittings and where i could i got them from the parts store

 

All of the nicopp lines I have done are all holding up well yet! Oldest is 3 years on the road now I believe, beat out allot of replaced steel lines already!

 

Got it. Ok, last question - can you bend that NiCop line by hand with no special tools? I'll just need to rent a double flare tool from the Auto Parts store, correct?

 

Yes, very easy to bend and work with as it is nearly half copper. I used no tools to bend up the lines for the last 3 work trucks we have. But when I bend up lines for nice cars I use tools so the bends are uniform and nice.

It also flares easily, cleanly, and seals very well when the fitting is tightened. I have found you don't need to tighten the fittings down nearly as much as steel line to get the joints to seal.

 

I have even used it for fuel lines on our diesels.

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